A High Efficiency DC/DC Converter as the Front-end stalgeof

High Intensity Discharge Lamp Ballasts for Automobiles*

Qun Zhao, Yongxuan Hu and Fred C. Lee Juan A. Sabate and Faye Li

Center for Power Electronics Systems Philips Research

The Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering 345 Scarborough Road
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510-2099
Blacksburg, VA 24061-01 11

Abstract - High step-up DC/DC converters have many operation. Cathode needs to be larger than anode because of
applications, such as the front-end stages of High Intensity the migration electrode material from cathode to anode.
Discharge (HID) lamp ballasts. Conventionally, DC/DC Therefore, the ballast should periodically change the polarity
converters with coupled inductors or transformers are of the lamp current for not specially designed HID lamps [l].
employed to achieve high voltage gains. However, the An approximately zero DC component is recommended,
efficiency is poor because of the high loss associated with the which is the AC drive scheme.
leakage inductor. Active clamp circuit can increase the
Unfortunately, acoustic resonance can occur in the
efficiency at the price of increasing the cost and the control
discharge tube when the AC operation frequency is higher
complexity. This paper presents a high efficiency, high step-
than 1kHz. This phenomenon may lead to visible arc
up DC/DC converter, which operates similarly to the
distortions, resulting in decreased lamp lifetime. Acoustic
counterpart with an active clamp circuit, while the proposed
resonance at high frequency can be considered as a limitation
converter employs only a diode instead of an active switch.
factor for a wide and reliable application of high frequency
The efficiency of the proposed circuit can be significantly
electronic ballast supplying HID lamps. To avoid the acoustic
improved because the leakage energy is recovered and the
resonance, the operation frequency can be either higher than
switch voltage stress is much lower. A 35W prototype as the
700kHz or lower than 1kHz.
HID ballast front-end stage experimentally verifies the
proposed converter. Extremely high frequency (:>700kHz) ballast eliminates
Key words: DC/DC converters, high efficiency, high voltage acoustic resonance and has relative simple circuit structure.
gain, HID ballast. The topologies in this operation frequency range are the
resonant converters to utilize parasitic parameters [3], [4].
Unfortunately, the resonant converters presented in [3], [4]
I. Introduction have high voltage stress, and are difficult to achieve high
efficiency. Low efficiency converter will dramatically
High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps have significant increase the thermal managelment cost in automotive
advantages over the conventional lamps, such as longer life, applications. Another problem alf this approach is the high
better color rending properties, and higher efficiency to Electromagnetic Interference (EIMI). To commercialize this
convert the electrical power to visible light. Applying HID kind of converters, high cost EM1 filters are unavoidable.
lamps as automotive headlamps has attracted considerable
attention in recent years. To utilize HID lamps, HID ballasts Another way to prevent HID lamps from acoustic
resonance is low frequency (<lkllz) AC operation. However,
with either DC or AC drive scheme are necessary.
low frequency converter has large volume magnetic
The DC operation of a HID lamp requires the electrode component. In order to reduce the cost and weight of a
be vertical or horizontal. It limits the application range of a ballast, the structure with a high frequency DCDC converter
DC ballast. The so-called cataphoretic effect may result when followed by a low frequency I W A C converter shown in
a HID lamp is operated with DC current. The cataphoretic Fig. 1 is a good candidate although the circuit is slightly more
effect is demixing of the gas-filling as the sodium is complicated than the resonant version.
transported toward the cathode side of the tube, making the
lamp inadequate for lighting pq,oses. Obviously, the The output of the high frequency DC/DC converter is
situation is different for special HID lamps designed for DC tightly regulated for constant 351N output power with 60V to

This work was sponsored by Philips Research, and was supported in part by the ERC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award
Number EEC-973 1677
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lOOV output voltage determined by the lamp characteristics. d
The frequency of the DC/DC converter is designed between Vo=-.n*Vi
1-d
lOOkHz to 200kHz to minimize the size and reduce EM1
problems. There is an unregulated low frequency DC/AC full- Where, V,: the average value of the input voltage.
bridge converter containing no magnetic component after the d: the duty ratio of the converter.
DC/DC converter. This DC/AC converter is used to chop the n: the turns ratio of the coupled inductor.
DC voltage with 50% duty cycle at 400Hz low frequency. In Vi: the average value of the input voltage.
this case, the voltage applied to the lamp is low frequency
symmetrical AC waveform, which can avoid both acoustic The output and the input in [6] have the same ground as
resonance and cataphoretic effects. shown in Fig. 2. It is obvious that the coupled-inductor is

.
[-bl mY&fn DC/DCI
Converter Full Bridge
HID Lamp used not to provide isolation but to get the high voltage gain.
Although it is easy to get high voltage gain employing
coupled inductor, the leakage of the coupled inductor not only
induces high voltage spike but also dramatically degrades the
efficiency. The best efficiency of a Flyback converter for HID
ballast including control is about 85% under the nominal
operation condition. Employing active clamp circuit can
recycle the leakage energy, minimize the switch voltage
stress, and increase the efficiency. However, the additional
Fig. 1. Block diagram of a HID ballast for automobiles active switch will increase the cost and the control
complexity.
The performance of the front-end DC/DC converter
dominates the performance of the whole ballast system
because the second DC/AC stage is an unregulated low
frequency full-bridge converter without magnetic
components. A high performance DC/DC stage is the major
concern to develop HID ballasts for automotive;applications.

11. A High Efficiency Clamp Mode Coupled

Fig. 2. The coupled inductor is used not to provide
Inductor Buck-boost Converter isolation but to get high voltage gain

The front-end DC/DC converters for high performance This paper proposes a new high efficiency DC/DC
HID ballasts in automobiles need to meet the following converter with high voltage gain. Compared to the active
requirements: clamp Flyback converter described in [2], the proposed
High step-up voltage gain: because the 12V nominal converter can achieve similar clamp function with a diode
voltage of an automobile battery is much lower than the instead of an active switch.
60-1OOV operation voltage of a 35W HID ballast, it is Because there is no isolation requirement in the
necessary to use a power converter with high step-up applications, the Flyback converter could be modified as the
voltage gain to boost up the battery voltage. center-tapped inductor buck-boost converter as shown in
Fig. 3. Both Flyback converter and this center-tapped
0 High efficiency: since the thermal management of a
converter are derived from the buck-boost converter.
ballast in an automobile is very expensive, a high
efficiency DC/DC converter can significantly reduce the DO+ .ID0
cost of the ballast. I n 1 I

No isolation is required.
Conventionally, the DC/DC converter employs a Flyback, I 1
or an isolation SEPIC converter [ 6 ] . Both topologies utilize
the coupled inductors to achieve high voltage gain, which is
I Sd4f
given by (1): Fig. 3. Coupled inductor buck-boost converter

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 Compared to the Flyback converter, the center-tapped To analyze the circuit, the coupled inductor is modeled
inductor buck-boost converter has higher voltage gain given as an ideal transformer. with the turns ratio of n:l, a
by (2): magnetizing inductor L,, and a leakage inductor Lk. as shown
in Fig. 5. .I

Although the coupled inductor buck-boost converter has

higher voltage gain, the loss and the switch voltage stress
associated with the leakage inductor degrades the efficiency.
The proposed clamp mode coupled inductor buck-boost
converter shown in Fig. 4, which only needs one additional
small capacitor C, and one diode D, as in the shaded block,
Fig. 5. Analysis model of the proposed clamp-mode
can recover the leakage energy, and reduce the switch voltage Coupled inductor buck-boost converter
stress. Therefore, the performance of the converter is
significantly improved.

111. Analysis of Operation Modes

Fig. 6 illustrates the six topological states in one
switching cycle for the proplosed clamp mode coupled
inductor buck-boost converter Fig. 7 shows the key
waveforms of the operation modes corresponding to the
different topology states in Fig. 6. The six operation modes
Fig. 4. The proposed clamp-mode
coupled inductor buck-boost converter
are briefly described as the following.

De D o t 100 .

De DO+ ID’ -

[T4, T 5 ]

Fig. 6. Operation modes of the clamp-mode coupled inductor buck-boost converter

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To - TI: Switch S is on, and the output rectifier Do is reversed Based on the volt-second balance of the coupled
biased. The magnetizing inductor and the leakage inductor, the average voltage of the clamp capacitor is given
inductor are being linear charged by the input by (3):
voltage source.
yo=-. dv! (3)
TI - T2: Switch S turns off at TI. The parasitic capacitor of 1-d
the switch Cs is charged by the magnetizing current
in an approximate linear way. The operation of the proposed converter is similar to
that of the active clamp Flyback converter stated in [2]. The
Tz - T3: At T2, the parasitic capacitor Cs is charged to the difference .between these two circuits occurs at [T4 T5].
voltage of V,+V,. Clamp diode Dc conducts. Almost During [T4 T5], the clamp capacitor C, in the proposed
all magnetizing current begins to charge the clamp converter is linearly discharged by the secondary reflected
capacitor Cc. magnetizing current, while the clamp capacitor resonates with
T3 - T4: At T3, VcCis charged to the point that output diode the leakage inductor in the active clamp Flyback converter.
Do is forward biased. The reflected voltage from the Due to the secondary reflected magnetizing current is much
secondary side of the coupled inductor clamps the smaller than the primary magnetizing current, the [T4 T,]
primary side. Leakage inductor Lk and the clamp period in the proposed converter is longer than that in the
capacitor C, begin to resonate. active clamp Flyback converter. A longer [T4 TS] period
makes the [T3 T4] shorter in the proposed converter compared
T4 - T5: At T4, the resonant current reaches zero. All the to the active clamp Flyback converter. The proposed
magnetizing current is reflected to the output side. converter has less circulating energy in the clamp circuit.
The clamp capacitor is then discharged by ID,.
T5 - To: Switch S turns on at T5. The leakage inductor is A brief design guideline is described in Fig. 8. The key
quickly charged until the leakage inductor current is design equation to calculate the turns ratio is given by (4)
equal to the magnetizing current. The output rectifier after selecting a device with a voltage rating Vos:
Do 1s reversed biased. Then the next switching cycle Vo - max
begins. n= -1 (4)
VDS- Vi - min
.. ... ... ... ... ...
.. .. .. Once the switch is selected, a trade-off design including
s 1: . .
.... ... ...
. . .
.. . .. ... ..
. . . .. ..
II. .
... ...
to define the switching frequency with the converter size and
efficiency consideration could be given by performing the
.. .. .. .... .. ..
Im 1 .. . . . . process shown in Fig. 8.

F
Select a switch with specific voltage

. ... .. .
Determine the tums ratio by Equation (4)
... ... ... ... .. ..
VC
..
. ...
.. .. .. ... ..... I
A.
Select Lm that keeps continuous current
VS

ID0 Calculate the input and output current,

TO ' Ti i T3;
T2T4 T5
Fig. 7. Key waveforms of the clamp-mode
coupled inductor buck-boost converter .
It is should be pointed out that the time periods ET,,T,],
[Tz, T3], and [Ts, To] are much shorter than those shown in
Repeat above process, and get
a good trade-off design I
Fig. 8. Brief design procedure
Fig. 7 to clearly show the waveform variations.

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 IV. Experimental Verification V. Concliusions

The nominal input voltage of a 35W HID lamp ballast for This paper presents the theoretical analysis, practical
automobiles is 12V or 13.8V, while the output voltage is 60 design, and experimental results for a novel high efficiency,
to lOOV determined by the lamp condition. A converter high step-up clamp-mode coupled inductor buck-boost
targeted at the automotive applications with the following converter. The operation of the proposed converter is similar
circuit parameters is built: to that of the active clamp Flyback converter, while the new
converter needs a diode instead of an active switch. By
Ni=14T, Nz=82T, C,=l .36uF, adding a simple clamp circuit cconsisting of a diode and a
D,: 3A, 1OOV (Schottky Diode) small capacitor, the leakage einergy is recovered and the
S: IRFH75N10, Do: MUR860. switch voltage stress is significantly reduced. The measure
efficiency is about 91% under the nominal operation
Because the converter needs to generate 400V open conditions.
circuit voltage to ignite the HID lamp, the voltage rating of
the active switch is selected as 1OOV. The maximum voltage
stress is measured to be 70V when the 400V open circuit
voltage is generated.
References
Fig. 9 shows the experimental waveforms of the
proposed circuit. It can be found that the waveforms agree Janos Melis, Bnllnsr Design Overview.
[I]
with the analysis very well and the voltage of the switch is .cond.
httn:~~’w~~\,.ballastdesim
effectively clamped. R. Watson, F.C. Lee, and G . C. Hua, “Utilization of an Active-clamp
[2]
Circuit to Achieve So/r Switching in Flyback Converters”, Power
Electronics Specialist Conference, pp.909-916, 1994.

[3] Michael Dulko and Sam Ben-Yaakov, “A MHz Electronic Ballast for
VC Automotive-Type HID Lamps ”, Power Electronics Specialist
1OVlDiv Conference, pp.39-45, vol.1, 1997.
[4] Alonso, J.M.; Blanco, C.; Lopez, E.; ,Calleja, A.J.; Rico, M.,
“Analysis and design of a LCC resonant inverter for high intensily
discharge lamps ”. Power 13lectronics Congress Technical
Proceedings, pp.102-IO, 1995.
[5] Ron Fiorello, “Powering a 3 5 W DC mefnl hnIide high intensiry
discharge (HID) lamp using the UCC3305 HID lamp controller”,
Unitrode application handbook U- 161.
Vin=12V, Vo=IOOV. Po=35W, Fs=IOSkHz Ron Fiorello, “Driving a 35W AC metal halide high intensity
[6]
Fig. 9. Experimental waveforms discharge lamp with the UCC3305 HID lamp controller”, Unitrode
application handbook U-162.
Fig. 10 is the measured efficiency under nominal
operation conditions. The overall efficiency is over 90%,
which is very promising.

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