STUDY AND DESIGN OF BUCK

CONVERTER
ANIRBAN DASGUPTA & ANTIP GHOSH

ELECTRICAL ENGG., NIT, ROURKELA

ABSTRACT

This project is based on the study and design of a buck converter which is
basically a dc-dc converter. It steps down the voltage which is dc in nature
and hence it is used where transformer fails. It also emphasizes on the
study of switched mode power supply. After a detailed study, a matlab
code was written and then it was converted to its corresponding Verilog
code using Simulink HDL coder for hardware implementation.

INTRODUCTION

Over the years as the portable electronics industry progressed, different

requirements evolved such as increased battery lifetime, small and cheap

systems, brighter, full-color displays and a demand for increased talk-time in

cellular phones. An ever increasing demand from power systems has placed power

consumption at a premium. To keep up with these demands engineers have

worked towards developing efficient conversion techniques and also have resulted

in the subsequent formal growth of an interdisciplinary field of Power Electronics.

However it comes as no surprise that this new field has offered challenges owing

to the unique combination of three major disciplines of electrical engineering:

electronics, power and control.

Why use a switching regulator?

Voltage regulation conventionally has been done by Linear Regulators but slowly is
being replaced with Switching Regulators. To realize the importance of a switching
regulator we will first compare its efficiency with a linear regulator. The resistance
of the linear regulator varies in
accordance with the load resulting in a constant output voltage.

Linear Regulator

The figure shows a simple Linear Regulator. If we consider an example, where

V = 24 and we want to have a V = 12. In this case we need to drop 12 volts
across the regulator.

Using standard power equation:

P=I*V

If the output current = 10A, this will result in 10 A * 12 V = 120 W. Now the regulator
must dissipate 120 W of heat energy. This results in a mere
50% efficiency for the linear regulator and a lot of wasted power which is
normally transformed into heat. Provision for heat sinks for cooling makes the
regulator bulky and large. Hence, where size and efficiency are critical, linear
voltage regulators cannot be used.
The above figure is a very basic switching regulator. The switching regulator is a
simple switch (and hence ideally no resistance or very low resistance). This
switch goes on and off at a fixed rate (usually between 50 KHz to 100 KHz).

Comparison between Linear & Switching Regulators

DC- DC converters
These are electronic devices that are used whenever we want to change DC

electrical power efficiently from one voltage level to another.We have mentioned

the drawbacks of doing this with a linear regulator and presented the case for

SMPS. Generically speaking the use of a switch or switches for the purpose of

power conversion can be regarded as an SMPS.From now onwards whenever we

mention DC-DC converters we shall address them with respect to SMPS. A few

applications of interest of DC-DC converters are where 5V DC on a personal

computer motherboard must be stepped down to 3V, 2V or less for one of the

latest CPU chips; where 1.5V from a single cell must be stepped up to 5V or more,

to operate electronic circuitry. In all of these applications, we want to change the

DC energy from one voltage level to another, while wasting as little as possible in

the process. In other words, we want to perform the conversion with the highest

possible efficiency. DC-DC Converters are needed because unlike AC, DC can’t

simply be stepped up or down using a transformer. In many ways, a DC-DC

converter is the DC equivalent of a transformer. They essentially just change the

input energy into a different impedance level. So whatever the output voltage

level, the output power all comes from the input; there’s no energy manufactured

inside the converter. Quite the contrary, in fact some is inevitably used up by the

converter circuitry and components, in doing their job.

WHAT ARE SMPS?

High frequency switching converters are power circuits in which the semiconductor
devices
switch at a rate that is fast compared to the variation of the input and output
waveforms.
The figure shows a generic block diagram of a SMPS. The difference between the
switching frequency and the frequency of the external waveforms is large enough
to permit the use of low-pass filters to remove the unwanted switching frequency
components. High frequency switching converters are used most often as
interfaces between dc systems of different voltage levels. These converters are
known as high-frequency dc/dc converters, and examples of their use are the
power supplies in computers and other electronic equipment. High frequency
switching converters can also be used as an interface between dc and ac systems.

TYPES OF CONVERTERS

Dc/dc converters can be divided into two broad categories:

a) Non-isloated dc/dc converters

b) Isolated dc/dc converters

Non- Isolated DC/ DC Converters

The non-isolated converter usually employs an inductor, and there is no dc voltage

isolation between the input and the output. The vast majority of applications do
not require dc isolation between input and output voltages. The non-isolated dc-dc
converter has a dc path between its input and output. Battery-based systems that
don’t use the ac power line represent a major application for non-isolated dc-dc
converters.

Isolated DC/ DC Converters

For safety considerations, there must be isolation between an electronic system’s
ac input and dc output. Typical isolation voltages for ac-dc and dc-dc power
supplies run from 1500 to 4000V, depending on the application. Isolated dc-dc
converters use a switching transformer whose secondary is either diode-or
synchronous-rectified to produce a dc output voltage using an inductor capacitor
output filter. This configuration has the advantage of producing multiple output
voltages by adding secondary transformer windings. For higher input voltages
(48V) transformer isolated converters are more viable.

Why work on Buck Converters?

The buck converter is the most widely used dc-dc converter topology in power

management and microprocessor voltage-regulator (VRM) applications. Those

applications require fast load and line transient responses and high efficiency over

a wide load current range. They can convert a voltage source into a lower

regulated voltage. For example, within a computer system, voltage needs to be

stepped down and a lower voltage needs to be maintained. For this purpose the

Buck Converter can be used. Furthermore buck converters provide longer battery

life for mobile systems that spend most of their time in “stand-by”. Buck

regulators are often used as switch-mode power supplies for baseband digital core

and the RF power amplifier.

BUCK CONVERTER- THEORY OF OPERATION

The name “Buck Converter” presumably evolves from the fact that the input

voltage is bucked/chopped or attenuated, in amplitude and a lower amplitude

voltage appears at the output. A buck converter, or step-down voltage regulator,

provides non-isolated, switch-mode dc-dc conversion with the advantages of

simplicity and low cost. Figure shows a simplified non-isolated buck converter that

accepts a dc input and uses pulse-width modulation (PWM) of switching frequency

to control the output of an internal power MOSFET. An external diode, together

with external inductor and output capacitor, produces the regulated dc output.

A Simplified Figure of Buck Converter

Let us consider the circuit in figure, containing a single pole double-throw switch.

A resistor with single- pole double- throw switch

The output voltage equals the input voltage when the switch is in position A and it
is zero when the switch is in position B. By varying the duration for which the
switch is in position A and B, it can be seen that the average output voltage can
be varied, but the output voltage is not pure
dc.
 Effect of an inductor

Now an inductor is added in series with the load resistor. An inductor reduces
ripple in current
passing through it and the output voltage would contain less ripple content since
the current through the load resistor is the same as that of the inductor. When the
switch is in position A, the current through the inductor increases and the energy
stored in the inductor increases. When the switch is in position B, the inductor acts
as a source and maintains the current through the load resistor. During this
period, the energy stored in the inductor decreases and its current falls. It is
important to note that there is continuous conduction through the load for this
circuit. If the time constant due to the inductor and load resistor is relatively large
compared with the period for which the switch is in position A or B, then the rise
and fall of current through inductor is more or less linear.
 Circuit with an LC Filter

Now we add a capacitor across the load resistor and this capacitor reduces the
ripple content in voltage across it, whereas an inductor smoothes the current
passing through it. The combined action of LC filter reduces the ripple in output to
a very low level.
It is possible to have a power semiconductor switch to correspond to the switch in
position A and a diode in position B.
The circuit that results is as shown in the figure below

Buck Converter with Load resistor

When the switch is in position B, the current will pass through the diode. The Buck
Converter transfers small packets of energy with the help of a power switch, a
diode, and an inductor and is accompanied by an output filter capacitor and input
filter. All the other topologies such as the Boost, Buck-Boost Converter etc, vary by
the different arrangement of these basic components. This circuit can be further
modified by adding the feedback part which is integral for a SMPS because based
on the feedback it stabilizes the output.

Step down switch mode power supply

The PWM Controller compares a portion of the rectified dc output with a voltage
reference and varies the PWM duty cycle to maintain a constant dc output
voltage. If the output voltage wants to increase, the PWM lowers its duty cycle to
reduce the regulated output, keeping it at its proper voltage level. Conversely, if
the output voltage tends to go down, the feedback causes the PWM duty cycle to
increase and maintain the proper output. A buck converter or step-down switch
mode power supply can also be called a switch mode regulator.

Purpose of different components in the Buck Converter:-

The Buck converter consists of five standard components:

 1. pulse-width modulating controller

2. transistor switch (active switch)

3. diode (passive switch)

4. Capacitor

5. Inductor

DETAILS OF EACH COMPONENT

Switch

In its crudest form a switch can be a toggle switch which switches between supply
voltage and ground. But for all practical applications we will deal with transistors.
Transistors chosen for use in switching power supplies must have fast switching
times and should be able to withstand the voltage spikes produced by the
inductor. The input on the gate of the transistor is normally a Pulse Width
Modulated (PWM) signal which will determine the ON and OFF time. Sizing of the
power switch is determined by the load current and off-state voltage capability.
The power switch (transistor) can either be a MOSFET, IGBT, JFET or a BJT. Power
MOSFETs are the key elements of high frequency power systems such as high-
density power Supplies. Therefore MOSFETs have now replaced BJT’s in new
designs operating at much higher frequencies but at lower voltages. At high
voltages MOSFETs still have their limitations. The intrinsic characteristics of the
MOSFET produce a large on-resistance which increases excessively when the
devices' breakdown voltage is raised. Therefore, the power MOSFET is only
useful up to voltage ratings of 500V and so is restricted to low voltage applications
or in two-transistor forward converters and bridge circuits operating off-line. At
high breakdown voltages (>200V) the on-state voltage drop of the power MOSFET
becomes higher than that of a similar size bipolar device with similar voltage
rating. This makes it more attractive to use the bipolar power transistor at the
expense of worse high frequency performance. As improvements in fabrication
techniques, new materials, device characteristics take place than MOSFETs are
likely to replace BJTs.

Another new device likely to displace the BJT in many high power applications is
the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). This device combines the low power
drive characteristics of the MOSFET with the low conduction losses and high
blocking voltage characteristics of the BJT. Therefore the device is highly suited to
high power, high voltage applications. However, since current transport in the
device is by the same process as the BJT, its switching speed is much slower than
the MOSFET, so the IGBT is at present limited to lower (<50kHz) applications.

Operating Frequency

The operating frequency determines the performance of the switch. Switching

frequency selection is typically determined by efficiency requirements. There is

now a growing trend in research work and new power supply designs in increasing

the switching frequencies. The higher is the switching frequency, the smaller the

physical size and component value. The reason for this is to reduce even further

the overall size of the power supply in line with miniaturization trends in electronic

and computer systems. However, there is an upper frequency limit where either

magnetic losses in the inductor or switching losses in the regulator circuit and

power MOSFET reduce efficiency to an impractical level. Higher frequency also

reduces the size of the output capacitor.

Inductor

The function of the inductor is to limit the current slew rate (limit the current in

rush) through the power switch when the circuit is ON. The current through the

inductor cannot change suddenly. When the current through an inductor tends to

fall, the inductor tends to maintain the current by acting as a source. This limits

the otherwise high-peak current that would be limited by the switch resistance
alone. The key advantage is when the inductor is used to drop voltage, it stores

energy. Also the inductor controls the percent of the ripple.

Capacitor

Capacitor provides the filtering action by providing a path for the harmonic

currents away from the load. Output capacitance (across the load) is required to

minimize the voltage overshoot and ripple present at the output of a step-down

converter. The capacitor is large enough so that its voltage does not have any

noticeable change during the time the switch is off. Large overshoots are caused

by insufficient output capacitance, and large voltage ripple is caused by

insufficient capacitance as well as a high equivalent-series resistance (ESR) in the

output capacitor. The maximum allowed output-voltage overshoot and ripple are

usually specified at the time of design. Thus, to meet the ripple specification for a

step-down converter circuit, we must include an output capacitor with ample

capacitance and low ESR.

Freewheeling Diode/ Transistor

Since the current in the inductor cannot change suddenly, a path must exist for

the inductor current when the switch is off (open). This path is provided by the

freewheeling diode (or catch diode). The purpose of this diode is not to rectify, but

to direct current flow in the circuit and to ensure that there is always a path for

the current to flow into the inductor. It is also necessary that this diode should be

able to turn off relatively fast. Thus the diode enables the converter to convert

stored energy in the inductor to the load. This is a reason why we have higher

efficiency in a DC-DC Converter as compared to a linear regulator. When the

switch closes, the current rises linearly (exponentially if resistance is also present).

When the switch opens, the freewheeling diode causes a linear decrease in
current. At steady state we have a saw tooth response with an average value of

the current.

Feedback

Feedback and control circuitry can be carefully nested around these circuits to

regulate the energy transfer and maintain a constant output within normal

operating conditions. Control by pulse-width modulation is necessary for regulating

the output. The transistor switch is the heart of the switched supply and it controls

the power supplied to the load.

States of Operation

There are two – the ON State and the OFF State.

ON State

The operation of the buck converter is fairly simple, with an inductor and two

switches (usually a transistor and a diode) that control the inductor. It alternates

between connecting the inductor to source voltage to store energy in the inductor

and discharging the inductor into the load.

ON state
OFF State

In the OFF state the switch is open, diode D conducts and energy is supplied from

the magnetic field of L and electric field of C. The current through the inductor

falls linearly. When the FET switch is off, the inductor current discharges, inducing

a negative voltage drop across the inductor. Because one port of the inductor is

tied to ground, the other port will have a higher voltage level, which is the target

output supply voltage. The output capacitance acts as a low-pass filter, reducing

output voltage ripple as a result of the fluctuating current through the inductor.

The diode prevents the current flowing from the inductor when the FET switch is

off.

OFF State

Continous Mode/ Discontinuos Mode

During the ON state and than the subsequent OFF state the Buck Converter can
operate in Continuous Mode or Discontinuous Mode. The difference between
the two is that in CCM the current in the inductor does not fall to zero.

Current flows continuously in the inductor during the entire switching cycle in
steady state operation. In most Buck regulator applications, the inductor current
never drops to zero during full-load operation. Overall performance is usually
better using continuous mode, and it allows maximum output power to be
obtained from a given input voltage and switch current rating. Energy from the
battery is supplying the load and is being stored in the inductor L as a magnetic
field. The current through the inductor is rising linearly.
In the DCM the current in the inductor falls to zero and remains at zero for some
portion of the switching cycle. It starts at zero, reaches a peak value, and returns
to zero during each switching cycle. In applications where the maximum load
current is fairly low, it can be advantageous to design for discontinuous mode
operation. In these cases, operating in discontinuous mode can result in a
smaller overall converter size (because a smaller inductor can be used). Often
the output capacitor must be large to keep the voltage constant.

Synchronous Buck Converters

Introduction

Synchronous buck converters have received great attention for low-voltage power
conversion because of its high efficiency and reduced area consumption. One of
the main reasons for not using a synchronous FET earlier was that there was a
much greater cost difference between FETs and Schottky diodes years ago.
Moreover, since output voltages were generally higher (5V or greater), the drop
across the Schottky was not as large a percentage as it is now. As FET technology
has improved, providing better and better conductivity at ever lower price, the FET
has become the main choice over the Schottky. Even more importantly, the
“forward” voltage drop of the FET can be arbitrarily low compared to the Schottky
a major issue with output voltages hovering around 1 volt. The synchronous buck
topology is also considered suitable for Envelope Tracking Power Supply because
of its simple dynamics and symmetrical slewrate
Capability.

Topology

This topology uses the complementary switches to transfer energy to the filter
inductance from the power source.

TThe synchronous buck converter is essentially the same as the buck step-down
converter with the substitution of the “catch” diode for another FET switch, or
Synchronous Rectifier. The upper MOSFET conducts to transfer energy from the
input and charges the inductor current. When the switch control is off, the lower
MOSFET switch turns on to circulate the inductor current and provides a current
path for the inductor when discharging. The control and driver circuits synchronize
the timing of both MOSFETs with the switching frequency. The synchronous PWM
control block regulates the output voltage by modulating the conduction intervals
of the upper and lower MOSFETs. This topology improves efficiency with faster
switch turn-on time and lower FET series resistance versus the diode. Under light
loads, the control block usually turns the lower MOSFET off to emulate a diode, this
is because more power is lost in turning a large FET switch on and off, than lost
due to the resistance of the switch itself.

Problems

This topology requires more components and additional switch logic sequencing.
Also this power conversion topology suffers from a degraded problem that can
severely limit the battery lifetime of portable devices that spend a substantial
amount of time in "stand-by" mode and hence resulting in a substantial reduction
in converter efficiency. Since many portable devices
operate in low-power standby modes for a majority of the time they are on,
increasing light-load converter efficiency can significantly increase battery lifetime.
The SRBC requires two off-chip passive filter components. These components
greatly increase the overall size and cost of the system. Synchronous rectification
with discrete MOSFETs causes variable switching delays because of the variations
in gate charge and threshold voltage from one MOSFET to another. Standard
control circuits compensate for these variations by delaying the turn-on drive of
the lower MOSFET until after the gate voltage of the upper MOSFET falls below a
threshold. This delay creates a dead time in which neither MOSFET conducts. The
dead time eliminates the possibility of a destructive shoot-through condition in
which both MOSFETs conduct simultaneously. Standard designs use the same
method to delay the turn-on of the upper device.

Improvements

Synchronous rectification increases the efficiency of a buck converter by replacing

the Schottky diode with a low-side NMOS FET. The resultant voltage drop across
the MOSFET can be smaller than the forward voltage drop of the Schottky diode.
To show that the efficiency is greatly increased by replacing the diode with a
MOSFET can be shown with the following set of equations.
The equation for power loss across a diode can be calculated by:
it is multiplied with (1-D) for the OFF time. Because the diode conducts in the OFF
state. Assume that the input is 5V and the output is 3.3 V, and the load current is
10A. In this case the duty cycle will be 66% and the diode will be ON for 34% of the
time. A typical diode with a 0.7V would suffer a power loss of 2.38 W.

Now we take the equation for a switch

It can be seen that the power loss is very much dependent upon the duty cycle. A
synchronous rectifier generally has lower losses than a conventional or Schottky
diode, and so its use is quite popular in low voltage DC/DC converters. Also for
increased efficiency the following relation must be true

Practical Issues of Buck Converter

Calculation for Duty Ratio

For calculation of the duty ratio we will first of all assume that the converter is in
steady state. The switches are treated as being ideal, and the losses in the
inductive and the capacitive elements are neglected. The analysis also has the
assumption that the converter is operating in Continuous conduction mode. Since
in steady-state operation waveform must repeat from one time period to the next,
the integral of the inductor voltage L v over one time period must be
zero, where Ts= Ton+Toff.
From Figure, it implies that areas A and B must be equal. Therefore,

Calculation for Inductor

From Figure (a) we can derive a simplified differential equation based on the
assumption that the voltage across the load, and thereby across the capacitor, is
fairly constant. The differential equation in terms of the current through the
inductor, when the switch is closed, may now be written as
Now, suppose IL is the current prior to closing of switch.

The inductor current increases linearly with time and attains its maximum value

Change in current will be

zs

Let us now analyze the circuit when the switch is in its open position. The
inductor current completes its path through the lower side MOSFET and the
corresponding differential equation, for 0≤ t ≤ T OFF , is

From the solution of the above first-order differential equation-

Where I L,max is the maximum value of the current in the inductor at the opening
of the switch or the beginning of the off period.

As t → T OFF= (1− D)T , the inductor current decreases to its minimum value
IL,min such that

Hence,

Graph for inductor current

The average current in the inductor must be equal to the dc current through the

load.

The expressions for the maximum and minimum currents through the inductor

may now be written as

The current supplied by the source varies fro ILmin to ILmax during the time the

switch is closed and is zero otherwise.

Assuming ideal conditions output power = input power

Figure: Current through the low side MOSFET

When it operates in the continuous conduction mode, there is always a current in
the inductor. The minimum current in the continuous conduction mode can be
zero. Consequently, there is a
minimum value of the inductor that ensures its continuous conduction mode.

Hence,

Calculation for Capacitor

The output capacitor is assumed to be so large as to yield vo (t) =Vo .However,

the ripple in the output voltage with a practical value of capacitance can be
calculated by considering the waveforms shown in figure for a continuous
conduction mode of operation. Assuming that all of the ripple component in iL
flows through the capacitor and its average component flows through the load
resistor, the shaded area in figure represents an additional charge ΔQ.
Peak to peak voltage,

during toff

Where switching frequency fs=1/Ts and

The above equation shows that the voltage ripple can be minimized by selecting a
corner frequency fc of the low pass filter at the output such that fc <<fs. Also, the
ripple is independent of the output load power, so long as the converter operates
in the continuous-conduction mode. We should note that in switch-mode dc power
supplies, the percentage ripple in the output voltage is usually specified to be less
than, for instance, 1%.
• PWM CONTROLLER

The heart of a switching power supply is its switch control circuit (controller). One
of the key objectives in designing a controller for the power converter is to obtain
tight output voltage regulation under different line and load conditions . Often, the
control circuit is a negative-feedback control loop connected to the switch through
a comparator and a Pulse Width Modulator (PWM). The switch control signal
(PWM), controls the state (on or off) of the switch. This control circuit regulates the
output voltage against changes in the load and the input voltage.

PWM

PWM is the method of choice to control modern power electronics circuits. The
basic idea is to control the duty cycle of a switch such that a load sees a
controllable average voltage. To achieve this, the switching frequency (repetition
frequency for the PWM signal) is chosen high enough that the load cannot follow
the individual switching events and they appear just a “blur” to the load, which
reacts only to the average state of the switch.

Comparator and Voltage to PWM converter

Switching power supplies rely on negative feedback to maintain the output

voltages at their specified value. To accomplish this, a differential amplifier is used
to sense the difference between an ideal voltage (the reference voltage) and the
actual output voltage to establish a small error signal ( Vcontrol ).
 •

• Voltage Reference Comparator

The PWM switching at a constant switching frequency is generated by comparing

a signal-level control voltage control v with a repetitive waveform as shown in
figure.

PWM Comparator Signals

The frequency of the repetitive waveform with a constant peak, which is shown to
be a sawtooth, establishes the switching frequency. This frequency is kept
constant in a PWM control and is chosen to be in a few hundred kilohertz
range.When the amplified error signal, which varies very slowly with time relative
to the switching frequency, is greater than the sawtooth waveform, the switch
control signal becomes HIGH, causing the switch to turn on.

Feedback Control System

The output voltages of dc power supplies are regulated to be within a specified

tolerance band (e.g., ±1% around its nominal value) in response to changes in the
output load and the input voltage lines. This process is accomplished by
employing a negative feedback system which can be seen in figure.
•

The Power stage of the switch converter is not linearized. When modeling non-

linear systems, it is common to approximate them as linear, where possible.

 •

• Linearized Feedback Control System

After linearising, we can get small signal transferfunction

switch duty ratio.

Buck Converter

Now we will linearise the power stage and the output filter of the buck

converter given in the figure. The two switches are represented by diodes.

rL is the inductor resistance, rC is the equivalent series resistance of the

capacitance, and R is the load resistance.

 •

Where a zero is introduced due to the equivalent series resistance of the

output capacitor at the frequency

Pulse Width Modulator

In the direct duty ratio pulse-width modulator, the control voltage vc (t) , which is
the output of the error amplifier, is compared with a repetitive waveform vr (t) ,
which establishes the switching frequency fs ,as shown in the figure . The control
voltage vc (t) consists of a dc component and a small ac perturbation component

The transfer function of Modulator is given by:

Compensator

•
After the values for external filter components are chosen (according to our
requirements) than only the power stage is complete. The original filter of the
buck converter by itself has a very low phase margin which needs to be increased.
A better phase margin can be included by adding a suitable controller in a closed
loop configuration. Proper compensation of the system will allow for a predictable
bandwidth with unconditional stability. In most cases, a Type II or Type III
compensated network will properly compensate the system. The ideal Bode plot
for the compensated system would be a gain that rolls off at a slope of -20dB
/decade, crossing 0db at the desired bandwidth and a phase margin greater than
45° for all frequencies below the 0dB crossing.

Type III Compensation

Type III network shapes the profile of the gain with respect to frequency, but
utilizes two zeroes to give a phase boost of 180°. This boost is necessary to
counteract the effects of an under damped resonance of the output filter at the
double pole. The Type III compensation circuit has two poles, with two zeros and a
pole at its origin providing an integration function for better DC accuracy. Optimal
selection of the compensation circuit depends on the power-stage frequency
response.
 •

After solving above circuit, we get:-

Voltage/ Current Mode Control

The perceived advantage of CMC is feedback loop response; today’s high-

frequency VMC controlled converters closely rival their CMC counterparts. Most

feedback controllers closely rival their CMC counterparts. Most feedback

controllers in buck converters use both the PWM voltage and current mode

controllers to produce a better steady-state response and to reduce the voltage

overshoots during start-ups.

Voltage Mode Control

 •

This is a classical control & simple method in which there is only one feedback
from the output voltage. PWM voltage mode controllers have disadvantages. Since
the input voltage is a significant parameter in the loop gain, any changes in the
input voltage will alter the gain and will change the dynamics of the system. The
central issue is that a voltage mode controller alone cannot correct any
disturbances or changes until they are detected at the output. In the voltagebased
controllers the compensation loop is difficult to implement.

Current Mode Control

•
 • In a current-mode control, an additional inner control loop is used as shown
in figure, where the control voltage directly controls the output inductor
current that feeds the output stage and thus the output voltage. Ideally, the
control voltage should act to directly control the average value of the
inductor for the faster response. The fact that the current feeding the
output stage is controlled directly in a current-mode control has a profound
effect on the dynamic behaviour of the negative feedback control loop.
•
•

Designing a practical Buck Converter

Factors to consider when deciding on a regulated voltage supply solution include:

• Available source input voltage

• Desired supply output voltage magnitude

• DC-DC converter efficiency (Pout / Pin)

• Output voltage ripple

• Output load transient response

• Solution complexity

• Switching Frequency (for switch-mode regulators)

Before implementing any design it is important to know which parameters are of

the utmost concern. The various concerns could be the optimization for circuit
performance, component cost or power density. e.g. if fast transient response or
high power density is paramount, then a high operating frequency is in order. On
the other hand if high efficiency is the most important parameter to achieve,
then a low switching frequency may be the best choice.
The first step in designing the Buck Converter is to determine the values of the
inductor and the capacitor in the Output Filter.

• Table: Buck Converter Specifications

The applications for which these specifications could be useful for mobile phones
(amongst other applications) where there is a continuous demand for
progressively lower-voltage supplies.

Design Equations
The power rating for the load to be driven is 200 mW. So according to this rating
the value of load resistance should be 5 Ω. To ensure reliable operation, inductor
must at least be 20% greater than its minimum value and the voltage ripple
should be within 1%.

Input Parameters

For fsw = 100 KHz, ESR = DCR = 1. The reason for selecting these values was
because for these values the specifications which are mentioned were met. Using
the MATLAB code we calculate the values of the different components.

Buck Converter Circuit

Transistors T1 & T2 are sized as 12μ & 6μ respectively and form the driver. T3 is the
power switch sized at 1200μ and the low side NFET is 600μ. The large sizing of the
transistor has been optimized so as to reduce the resistance and hence the power
lost in the switching.
 •

Calculating Parameters

The values of the capacitor and inductor will vary. The values that have been
calculated are for an ideal case, but they do provide us some rough values to start
the designing and analysis of our Buck Converter.
 •

MATLAB Code

Here is the MATLAB code for the design of the buck converter
% Calculates all the values and plots all the graphs for a Type III
% Compensation
function buck()
Vd = input('Enter input voltage');
Vo = input(' Enter output voltage');
Vr = input('Enter reference voltage');
R = input(' Enter the load');
fsw = input(' Enter Switching Frequency in KHz ');
Ripple = input(' Enter allowed percentage ripple ');
fsw = fsw*1E3
deltaV = (Ripple/100)*Vo
DC = Vo/Vd;
LC = 0.125*((1/fsw)^2)*(1-DC)*(Vo/deltaV)
C = input(' Enter value of Cin uF ' );
C = C*1E-6;
L = LC/C
R1 = input(' Enter value of R1 (K) between 2 & 5');
R1 = R1*1E3;
rC = input(' Enter value of ESR');
rL = input(' Enter value of DCR');
DBW = 0.3*fsw
FESR = 1/(2*3.1415926535*rC*C)
FLC = 1/(2*3.1415926535*sqrt(L*C))
Rz2 = (DBW/FLC)*(Vr/Vd)*R1
Cz2 = 1/(3.14159*Rz2*FLC)
Cp1 = Cz2/((2*3.14159*Rz2*Cz2*FESR)-1)
Rz3 = R1/((fsw/(2*FLC))-1)
Cz3 = 1/(3.14159*Rz3*fsw)
s = tf('s');
% Transfer Function of Buck Converter
G = Vd/Vr; % 1/Vr is the effect of PWM
N = 1+s*(rC*C);
D = 1+s*((L+((rC+rL)*R*C))/R)+(s^2)*(L*C);
Buck = (G*(N/D));
figure(1)
margin(Buck)
% transfer function of compensator
G1 = (R1+Rz3)/(R1*Rz3*Cp1);
N1 = s+(1/(Rz2*Cz2));
N2= s+(1/((R1+Rz3)*Cz3));
D0 = s;
D1 = s+((Cp1+Cz2)/(Rz2*Cp1*Cz2));
D2 = s+(1/(Rz3*Cz3));
Type3 = G1*((N1*N2)/(D0*D1*D2));
figure(2)
bode(Type3)
grid
%Total open loop transfer function of Buck Converter.
BuckType3 = Buck*Type3
figure(3)
margin(BuckType3)
grid
Output

Enter input voltage1.55

Enter output voltage1

Enter reference voltage1

Enter the load.2

Enter Switching Frequency in KHz 100

Enter allowed percentage ripple 1

fsw =

100000

deltaV =

0.0100
LC =

4.4355e-010

Enter value of Cin uF 5

L=

8.8710e-005

Enter value of R1 (K) between 2 & 560

Enter value of ESR1

Enter value of DCR1

DBW =

30000

FESR =

3.1831e+004
FLC =

7.5570e+003

Rz2 =

1.5367e+005

Cz2 =

2.7410e-010

Cp1 =

3.6920e-011

Rz3 =

1.0683e+004
Cz3 =

2.9796e-010

Transfer function:

23.15 s^3 + 6.278e006 s^2 + 3.558e011 s + 5.219e015

------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.435e-010 s^5 + 0.0006816 s^4 + 262.1 s^3 + 2.901e007 s^2 +

6.283e010 s

Graphs
Figure 1 : Bode plot of Buck Converter
 Figure2 : Bode plot of type III Compensation

Network
 Figure 3: Bode plot of Total Loop Buck Converter

Verilog Code Generation And Simulation

Matlab code was modified by converting transfer functions of compensator

and power stage including output filter from S-domain to Z-domain by

Bilinear transformation and writing it in difference equation form to run the

code in simulink HDL coder. Then the modified Matlab code was loaded to

generate Verilog HDL in simulink HDL coder.

Verilog Code

‘timescale 1ns/1ns

module buck (clk,reset,clk_enable);

input clk;
input reset;

input clk_enable;

wire enb;

real TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport6_out1; //double

real TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport5_out1; //double

real TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport4_out1; //double

real TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport3_out1; //double

real TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport2_out1; //double

real Constant_out1; //double

wire [63:0] s; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_1; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_2; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_3; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_4; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_5; //ufix64

wire [63:0] s_6; //ufix64

real Embedded_MATLAB_Function_out1; //double

initial

begin

TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport6_out1=0.0000000000000000E+0
00;

end

initial

begin

TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport5_out1=0.0000000000000000E+0
00;

end
initial

begin

TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport4_out1=0.0000000000000000E+0
00;

end

initial

begin

TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport3_out1=0.0000000000000000E+0
00;

end

initial

begin

TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport2_out1=0.0000000000000000E+0
00;

end

initial

begin

Constant_out1 =1.0000000000000000E+000

end

assign s=$realtobits(Constant_out1);

assign s_1=$realtobits(TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport2_out1);

assign s_2=$realtobits(TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport3_out1);

assign s_3=$realtobits(TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport4_out1);

assign s_4=$realtobits(TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport5_out1);

assign s_5=$realtobits(TmpGroundAtEmbedded_MATLAB_FunctionInport6_out1);

Embedded_MATLAB_Function Embedded_MATLAB_Function
(clk.(clk),.clk_enable),.reset(reset)

.fsw(s),.Ripple(s_1),.C(s_2),.R1(s_3),rC(s_4),.rL(s_5),.Vo(s_6)
 always@*Embedded_MATLAB_Function_out1<=$bitstoreal(s_6);

endmodule

module Embedded_MATLAB_Function (clk,clk_enable,reset,fsw,Ripple,C.R1,rC,rL,Vo);

input clk;

input reset;

input clk_enable;

input [63:0] fsw;

input [63:0] Ripple;

input [63:0] C;

input [63:0] R1;

input [63:0] rC;

input [63:0] rL;

output [63:0] Vo;

reg [63:0] Vo;

initial

Vo=$realtobits(0.0);

initial

begin

Vo=$realtobits(1.0);

end

endmodule

Future Work

Most of the simulations have been done using ideal components or modelled in

Verilog code. It would be a good challenge to include the transistor level modelling

there and see the responses of the overall system. Eventually the layout for a fully

testable and working DC-DC Converter could be done in 90nm process. Extensive
study was not made into the reduction of the overshoot that is observed in the

output and main emphasis remained on the ripple during steady state.

Conclusion

This project has given a basic insight in to the working of a buck converter that

could be considered to be manufactured on-chip. Though a few of the issues have

not been solved but they have been highlighted as potential areas in which more

refinements are required. The effect of the system when RL switches from one

value to another have also been observed. Though we have considered the ideal

cases only but if all non-ideality would be considered than we would see that

ripple would increase and the efficiency would also decrease. We have generated

the Verilog HDL code and simulated in SILOS Verilog HDL Simulator which can be

further implemented on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) to observe the

output.

References

Books

[1] Ned Mohan, Tore M. Undeland, William P. Robbins, “Power Electronics:

Converters, Applications, and Design”, 3rd Edition, Wiley.

[2] B. J. Baliga, “Modern Power Devices”, New York: Wiley, 1987.

Papers

[1] Jinwen Xiao, Angel Peterchev, Jianhui, Seth Sanders, “An Ultra-Low-Power

Digitally-Controlled Buck Converter IC for Cellular Phone Applications”, Applied

Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2004. Nineteenth Annual IEEE,

Volume 1, Issue, 2004 Page(s): 383 - 391 Vol.1

[2] Michael D. Mulligan, Bill Broach, and Thomas H. Lee, “A Constant- Frequency

Method for Improving Light-Load Efficiency in Synchronous Buck Converters”,

Power Electronics Letters, IEEE Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2005