IEEE PEDS 2011, Singapore, 5 - 8 December 2011 Light Load Efficiency Improvement for AC/DC Boost PFC Converters by Digital Multi-Mode Control Method Wei-Shung Wang Ying-Yu Tzou, Member, IEEE Power Electronic Systems and Chips Lab. Department of Electrical Engineering National Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan Power Electronic Systems and Chips Lab. Department of Electrical Engineering National Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan Power Quality Rechargeable Battery Adaptor Adaptor PC, Monitor, LCD TV PC, LCD TV 100% PFC Target Efficiency 95% Lighting Ballast 90% 85% 80% 0% BLDC Motor Light Load Operation Region 20% 40% 60% 80% Off-line power supplies are widely used in every kind of computer, communication, and home appliance equipments. Power-factor-correction (PFC) control schemes have been developed to comply with the EN61000-3-2 standard for input line current harmonic components [1]. Various active PFC techniques for single-phase boost converters have been widely discussed by academic and industrial researches over the past ten years [2, 3]. In general, a PFC converter will result a lower efficiency and higher harmonic distortion under light load operation conditions, for load smaller than 20% of its rated load, as shown in Fig. 1. With the continuously increasing power efficiency target by 80 PLUS [4], U.S. Energy Star [5] and Climate Savers [6], it becomes a design challenge for AC-DC PFC technology to improve its power quality as well as efficiency over a wider operating range [7]. Front-end power supplies, as shown in Fig. 2, used in distributed power supply systems provide a common DC voltage bus for system integration and redundancy and are widely adopted in server and telecommunication power supply systems. The PFC converters used in the front-end This work was supported by the National Science Council, Taipei, Taiwan, R. O. C. Project no. NSC99-2622-E-009-014-CC1. 100% Motor Drive Load Fig. 1. PFC control challenge for light load efficiency improvement. POL Power Supply +48V Front-End Power Supply I. INTRODUCTION Energy Saving Charger Efficiency Abstract⎯ This paper presents a method to improve light load efficiency and reduce the THD of input current of a boost PFC converter used in applications to high performance server power supply units. The conventional constant frequency average current mode control scheme will result lower efficiency and high THD current distortion under light load operation. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a digital multi-mode control scheme with variable switching frequency control. A nonlinear control scheme with modified gain scheduling has been used to improve dynamic response under light load condition with discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) operation with lower switching frequency. A green mode controller has been developed to change its control mode based on the required line current command under various load conditions. The proposed control scheme has been verified by using simulation and realized by using a DSP TMS32028035 in applications to a single-phase 675W boost PFC AC/DC converter. Experimental results are given to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed control scheme. Index Terms—Power Factor Correction, Digital Multi-Mode Control Method, Green Mode Controller, Light Load Efficiency power bus Intermediate-Stage Power Supply Utility 50-60 Hz AC input VRM CPU Buck Memory 12V DC/DC Converter 85-260V . . . Serial Interface Total Output Power = 600W Efficiency > 90% @ Maximum Load Size: 3.8” × 1.9” × 0.5” Load regulation < 2% Current Limit: 120% Temperature: -40°C - 80°C 5V Regulator 3.3V 2.5V BuckBoost LCD Regulator Inverter CCFL LDO Fig. 2. PFC front-end power supply in distributed power supply architecture for server and telecommunication applications. power supplies are required to meet stringent specifications on its efficiency, power factor, harmonic distortion, and voltage regulation. Most of these key performance indices are closely related with its output power and input voltage. Conventional PFC controller ICs are analog solution based on fixed operating mode and can not satisfy modern requirements of power quality and efficiency over wider operation range. The front-end boost PFC converter used in server power applications is designed to be operated in continuous conduction mode (CCM), when the converter is operating in light load condition, it will operate in DCM condition and the 978-1-4577-0001-9/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE 1025 IL,CCM [A] Envelope iL ∆IL,CCM(ωt) iL toff ton x Angle [rad] (a) CCM Operation π/2 Envelope ∆IL,CRM(ωt) IL,avg 0 π/2 x Angle [rad] IL,DCM [A] (b) CRM Operation Envelope IL,avg 0 π/2 Toff ton imax toff imax iL (nT ) 0 IL,CRM [A] IL,avg ΔiL I c [n] imin iL (nT ) (n + 1)T nT t I c [n] (n + 1)T nT (a) ΔiL t (b) Fig. 4. Inductor current of a boost PFC converter in steady state over a switching period in (a) CCM and (b) DCM operation. at the same time to reduce the THD of input current of a boost PFC converter used in applications to high performance front-end server power supplies. II. PREDICTIVE CURRENT CONTROL ∆IL,DCM(ωt) x Angle [rad] (c) DCM Operation Fig. 3. Inductor current of the PFC converter when operating in different operating modes: (a) CCM, (b) CRM, and (c) DCM. voltage conversion ratio becomes nonlinear as a function of inductor current and input voltages, this results increased line current distortion [8]. The inductor peak current will be higher when operating in DCM and results higher switching losses with fixed switching frequency control scheme. In order to improve the current distortion or efficiency at light load, many control methods have been recently proposed [9]-[15]. A sample correction method which introduces a correction factor to compensate sampling error of the inductor current is developed in [9]. A duty-ratio feed-forward control scheme is developed in [10] to compensate this nonlinear voltage distortion. Reference [11] combines these two methods to reduce the line current distortion. A mixed-mode input current sensorless predictive current control scheme at constant but two different switching frequencies has been proposed in [12] to improve line current harmonic distortion. These control schemes focus on the improvement of line current distortion with fixed switching frequency and without caring about the efficiency in light load condition. An adaptive on-time control scheme is develop in [13] to improve the efficiency of the PFC converter when operating in light load condition. The switching frequency is reduced to about 25% when operating in light load condition and the switching frequency becomes higher as the line current is increased. Further researches focus on the development of control schemes for efficiency improvement for PFC converters operating in light load condition [14]-[16]. This paper presents a method to improve light load efficiency and Different PWM control schemes will result different current profiles over the half period of a PFC converter as shown in Fig. 3. These current waveforms will also vary as the load or line voltage is changed. This is the key reason that complicates in the development of a total solution of a PFC controller to maintain high efficiency and low line current THD over the entire load line. The current loop controller of a PFC converter should be designed to keep a low tracking error of the average inductor current. Predictive current control scheme calculates the control duties based on the sampled-data model of the PFC converter circuit with the feedback signals. Predictive current control scheme is employed for the synthesis of the PWM control duties with variable frequency control. Since the switching frequency is much higher than the line frequency, the input and output state variables can be assumed as constant value during one switching cycle. The inductor current waveforms of a boost converter operating in CCM and DCM are showed in Fig. 4. The inductor current when operating in CCM can be expressed as ΔiL [n] = Vin [n] V [n] − Vin [n] Ton = o Toff , L L (1) where vo[n] is the output voltage and vin[n] is the applied input voltage to the boost converter during the n-th switching period. The ON-time of the boost converter in CCM mode can be derived as Ton = Vo [n] − Vin [n] V [n] − Vin [n] T= o . Vo [n] Vo [ n] f s (2) The OFF-time for CCM and DCM can be derived as follows: Toff _ CCM = Toff _ DCM = Δi L [n]L , Vo [n] − Vin [n] Vo [n] ⋅ i L , peak [n]2 ⋅ L 2 ⋅ (Vo [n] − Vin [n]) ⋅ Vin [n] ⋅ I in [n] (3) − Ton . (4) The on-off time can be calculated cycle by cycle based on the selected operation mode to improve the current dynamic 1026 fsw f_max(70kHz) Switching frequency Vg (t) Input Line Voltage Vg(t) 85-260V,rms 50-60Hz C Vou(t) fss (20kHz) Load Ig (k) Sync. Sampling K State Machine A/D KVg[n] Green Mode Controller A/D Rsig[n] fs (k) Multiplier Adaptive Periodic Error Compensator DPWM 16~200kHz Predictive Current Controller d[k]=aid[k-1]+ki(bie[k]-cie[k-1]) Current Loop Regulator freq. div. PFM Control DCM Control 120Hz HVout(t) Mixed-Mode Control CCM Control t Pout Kf Vg (k) Ig (k) Vo (k) Io (k) Rsig (k) KVg (k) f_min (20kHz) Variable Frequency Current Control Load power 100% A/D t <50% <10% Notch Filter ei[k] Voltage Loop Regulator Voltage Loop Controller ev[n] u[k]=avu[k-1]+kv(bvev[k]-cvev[k-1]) HVout[n] Fig. 6. Adaptive switching frequency control strategy of the multi-mode PFC control scheme. Vref D 1.0 Vo = constant I oB, max = Fig. 5. Block diagram of the proposed multi-mode digital PFC controller. response for current tracking under various line voltage and current conditions [17]. Fig. 5 shows the block diagram of the proposed multi-mode digital PFC controller. The multi-mode PFC controller includes a predictive current controller, a voltage loop controller with notch filter, a green mode controller, and an adaptive periodic error compensator. The predictive current controller calculates its PWM duties cycle-by-cycle with a given switching period based on a measured inductor current. The switching period is determined by the green mode controller. The sensing of the average inductor current for a PFC converter when operating in different operating modes may result sampling error and plays an important role in realization of the current loop controller [18]. Different current sampling schemes have been developed to solve this problem [19]. Over-sampling technique is adopted for the inductor current sensing during light load condition to achieve high signal-to-noise ratio for the noise corrupted feedback signals. III. DIGITAL MULTI-MODE PFC CONTROL The core concept for the design of the power circuit of a boost PFC converter is to minimize its magnetic components, which include the boost inductor and EMI inductor filter. In order to keep a minimize size of the boost inductor, the inductor current is designed to achieve an optimum current ripple factor to make a compromise between switching losses of the power semiconductor devices and inductor size. The switching frequency plays a key factor in the control of a PFC converter both for low switching losses and low line current harmonic distortion. Therefore, the adaptive control of the switching frequency and modulation scheme for the PFC converter when operating on various load conditions and line voltages becomes a key technique for the improvement of the PFC converter over a wider operating range. The multi-mode PFC control strategy employs adaptive control of the switching frequency and modulation scheme according to its steady-state operating condition. Fig. 6 shows the adaptive frequency control strategy of the multi-mode PFC controller. The controller includes four control modes: CCM, mixed-mode, DCM, and PFM. A mode selector is 2 TsVo 27 L Multi-mode CCM PFC 0.75 Vi = 0.25 Vo 0.50 Vi = 0.5 Vo 0.33 0.25 discontinuous 0.75 0.8 0 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.25 1.5 1.75 2.0 Io IoB, max Fig. 7. Operating trajectories of the multi-mode PFC control scheme compared with the conventional fixed-frequency PFC control scheme. designed based on the measured average values of load current and line voltage. This adaptive frequency control strategy can reduce the switching losses while at the same time to maintain a low current THD when operating in DCM mode. The switching frequency over the DCM mode can be expressed as f DCM = 2 ⋅ (Vo [n ] − Vin [n]) ⋅ Vin [n] ⋅ I in [n] . Vo [n] ⋅ i L, peak [n]2 ⋅ L (5) The switching frequency can be adaptively adjusted over the half period of the line voltage according to the measured instantaneous values of the PFC converter. For load below 10%, PFM control with burst switching of 20 kHz is used to minimize switching losses in very light load condition. Fig. 7 shows the operating trajectories of the multi-mode PFC control scheme compared with the conventional fixed-frequency PFC control scheme when operating with fixed switching frequency. Compared with the conventional average CCM control scheme, the on-time will be slightly increased for the multi-lode PFC control scheme when the PFC converter enters the DCM operation region. This makes a nonlinear compensation of the voltage gain distortion across the DCM region. When the PFC converter is operating in light load condition, the inductor current can be discontinuous and the switching frequency can be lower to maintain a constant output voltage ripple factor. The current control loop should be designed to achieve a low THD of its line frequency component. Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 show the simulation results of the line current and inductor current at rated load condition by 1027 (a) (a) (a) Average current mode control (b) Multi-mode digital control Fig. 8. Simulation results of the line current and inductor current at rated load condition (a) average current control and (b) multi-mode digital control. (a) Average current mode control (b) Multi-mode digital control Fig. 9. Simulation results of the line current and inductor current at 20% load condition (a) average current control and (b) multi-mode digital control. using the conventional average current control and the proposed multi-mode PFC control scheme at rated load and 20% load conditions, respectively. Fig. 10 shows simulations results the two different current control methods in 15% load and their corresponding switching losses are compared based on a same power switch model. The switching losses can be reduced about 4% ~ 15% over its load operating range from 100% to 10%. With the developed adaptive switching control scheme of the multi-mode PFC controller, both the line current distortion and switching loss can be reduced for in light load operating area. IV. IMPLEMENTATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS A high performance PFC controller designed in applications to server power supplies is required to possess three major control functions. These include a digital current loop controller to ensure low THD and high power factor operating both in DCM and CCM, a digital voltage loop controller with wide voltage adjustable range and fast dynamic response under large step load disturbances, and a green mode controller to maintain high efficiency across the entire load variation range. To achieve these design goals, it is only feasible to devise sophisticated digital control algorithms with adaptive functions and realized by using advanced single-chip DSP controllers designed in applications to digital power converters [20]-[25]. In order to verify the proposed multi-mode digital PFC control scheme, a 675 W boost PFC converter was built with a boost inductor of 553μH, dc-link capacitor 470μF, and a nominal switching frequency of 70 kHz. The PFC converter is designed to operate in CCM only for load ratio > 70% and DCM only for load smaller than 10%. (b) (b) (c (c) Fig. 10. Simulation results at 15% load condition with (a) conventional average current control, (b) multi-mode digital current control, and (c) loss distribution of these two methods. For the realization of the proposed digital PFC control scheme, a 32-bit floating-point digital signal controller, the TMS320F28335, from Texas Instruments is adopted. This 32-bit single-precision floating-point DSP controller provides 16x16 and 32x32 MAC operation with one cycle instruction, This feature makes it suitable to realize complicated adaptive control and signal processing algorithms with high sampling rate without worrying about the numerical scaling and quantization effect when using the fixed-point controller. This design approach provides advantages in focusing the design issues on the control architectures and algorithms in development of digital power controllers. Optimization for chip implementation of a designed programmable digital power controller can be treated as another research issue. The TMS320F28335 is a 32-bit floating-point DSP controller with a clock frequency of 150 MHz with a 1.9 V core supply voltage. In applications to the designed digital PFC controller with a maximum switching frequency of 70 kHz, this processor can execute 2142 instructions during each switching period. The I/O supplying voltage is designed with 3.3 V to ensure a proper signal dynamic range for analog signal processing. The on-chip 2x8 channel input multiplexed 12-bit A/D converters can achieve a 8-nsec conversion rate let it provide 178 samples per switching period when applying over sampling technique for noise corrupted inductor current sensing. This on-chip high-performance A/D converter significantly improves the stability and robustness when applying digital control in noise corrupted power processing environment. The digital pulse-width modulator (DPM) plays a key role in the realization of high-performance digital PFC controller. The DPM must provide a required pulse-width resolution as well as a cycle-by-cycle adjustable switching frequency. The TMS320F28335 provides 18-channel PWM outputs, in which 6 PWM output channels can be programmed with 150 ps micro edge positioning (MEP) resolution and this corresponds to about 16-bit control resolution for a 70 kHz switching frequency. A DPM is also required to provide a synchronized PWM generator to generate the PWM signals in applications for the multi-phase interleaved PFC converter. The programmable timer can be used as a software-controlled interrupt generator to generate the sampling signals for A/D converters for the sampling of inductor current. The numerical realization of digital power controller 1028 15% 1.00 Analog PFC Digital PFC 0.98 10% Digital MMC Analog PFC 0.96 Digital PFC 5% Digital MMC 0.94 0.92 0% 10% 20% 60% 80% 100% 10% (a) Power Factor 20% 50% 100% (b) THD Fig. 13. Performance comparison of three different PFC control schemes. 100% PFC Target Efficiency Efficiency 95% 90% 85% 80% 0% Light Load Operation Region 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Load Fig. 11. Control flowchart of the proposed digital multi-mode PFC control scheme. v iinn v iinn v in v in iin iin ii n P F = 0 .9 9 T H D i = 4 .5 % (a) Rated load (100%) iin P F = 0 .9 9 T H D i = 8 .8 % (b) Half load (50%) Fig. 12. Measured line voltage and line current under (a) 100% load and (b) 50% load. needs a compromise between its hardware implementation of control interfaces and software programming of the digital control and signal processing algorithms. Fig. 11 shows the control flowchart of the proposed digital multi-mode PFC control scheme. A mode selector is used to determine the operating mode of the PFC converter under different line and load operating conditions. Fig. 12 shows the measured line voltage and line current under rated load and half load conditions. It shows the line current achieves a smooth sinusoidal waveform with low THD for both DCM and CCM operation. Fig. 13 shows performance comparison of three different PFC control schemes: a conventional average current mode control with analog PFC IC realization, a constant switching frequency digital PFC controller, and the proposed digital multi-mode PFC controller. It can be observed the developed digital multi-mode PFC controller can achieve high power factor Fig. 14. scheme. Measured efficiency of the multi-mode digital PFC control over a wider load variation range. Fig. 14 shows the measured efficiency of the developed multi-mode digital PFC control scheme. With the proposed adaptive switching frequency green-mode control strategy, 96.5% efficiency at 50% load and 91% efficiency at 5% load has been achieved with a 675W rated power PFC converter. Experimental results verify the feasibility of realization of sophisticated digital PFC control scheme using advanced floating-point DSP controller with improved power quality and efficiency over wider load variation range from 5% to 100%. V. CONCLUSION This paper has presented a digital PFC control scheme with multi-mode operation to adjust its PWM modulation scheme and switching frequency to improve efficiency and power factor over large line variations and wide load operation range. The switching losses are reduced 5~15% for load condition below 20%. A green mode control strategy has been developed for mode selection and frequency scheduling for the digital PWM controller. A digital dynamic signal scalar has been developed to provide improve signal-to-noise ratio under light load condition. These techniques result in improved efficiency and reduced current distortion over a load variation range from 5% to 100%. 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