Current Mode Control-1

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits

Dr. Qadeer Ahmad Khan

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group
Department of Electrical Engineering
IIT Madras
Voltage Mode Control
▪ Switch duty cycle controlled by the error voltage between output and
reference
▪ L and C forms a pair of complex poles which makes the system inherently
unstable
▪ Requires complex PID compensation to achieve high loop BW (good
transient response)
Forms complex
poles

Vout

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 2

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Current Mode Control
▪ Uses concept of LDO Regulator where output voltage is
by controlling the output current using VCVS
▪ In case of LDO, pass transistor acts as a lossy VCCS hence
exhibits poor efficiency VCCS
▪ In case of current controlled dc-dc, Inductor is converted
into a lossless VCCS
LDO

VCCS
Vout

Ve
Vsense
Vsense

Vsw

Current Mode Controlled DC-DC

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 3

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Complex – Real Pole Transformation
▪ Unlike the Voltage Mode controlled, the complex poles due to L & C is converted
into real pole because of the inner current loop

complex poles 1
wp =
LC o
X

VMC X
Co = C L

1
wp =
real pole RL C o

X
CMC

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 4

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Voltage Mode Vs Current Control
▪ Duty cycle is controlled only by ▪ Duty cycle is controlled by both
voltage voltage and current
▪ Uses an external ramp ▪ Doesn't require external ramp
VIN VIN
SP SP
L VO IO Current
L IO
Sense
VPWM Gate
VSW VPWM Gate VSW VO
Driver
Driver
CO RO IL RO
CO
SN
SN

IL
VCTRL Ve -
Compensator Q R ICTRL Compensator
Ve -
+
S +
VRAMP Tsw
VREF
Vm Tsw VREF

VRAMP ICTRL

VCTRL IO
IL

TON TOFF
VPWM VPWM

TSW Tsw

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 5

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
VMC vs CMC Frequency Response
▪ Phase and Magnitude roll-off is in CMC is not as steep as in VCM
– Smoother frequency response
▪ It becomes easier to stabilize the loop due to single pole
– Only PI (type-II) compensation is required

Brian Lynch, “Current mode vs. voltage mode control in synchronous buck converter”, Texas Instruments

Mid-band Gain is
extended

Before compensation After compensation

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 6

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Current Mode Control Techniques
▪ Peak Current Mode Control
– Peak Current (high side) is used to control the duty cycle

▪ Valley Current Mode Control

– Valley current (low side) is used to control the duty cycle

▪ Emulated Current Mode Control

– Both peak and valley currents are used to control the duty cycle

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 7

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Peak Current Mode controlled
▪ Senses the peak inductor current information when the power switch is
on, then uses it to turn off the switch → trailing edge PWM
▪ Suffers from sub-harmonic oscillation at duty cycles higher than 50%
▪ Easy to operate at higher duty cycle but difficult at lower duty cycle

S. Sarhan, "Hitchhiker's ride to the world of current mode control", eetimes, 2007

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 8

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Valley Current Mode controlled
▪ Senses the valley inductor current information when the power switch is
off, then uses it to turn on the switch → leading edge PWM
▪ Contrary to Peak CMC, it suffers from sub-harmonic oscillation at duty
cycles lower than 50%
▪ Easy to operate at lower duty cycle but difficult at higher duty cycle

S. Sarhan, "Hitchhiker's ride to the world of current mode control", eetimes, 2007

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 9

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Emulated Current Mode controlled
▪ Uses valley current sensing to predict the peak current in order to
emulate exact inductor current waveform
▪ Combines the advantages of valley CMC (low duty cycle operation) and
peak CMC (good line transient)

S. Sarhan, "Hitchhiker's ride to the world of current mode control", eetimes, 2007

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 10

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras
Voltage Mode Control (VMC) vs. Current Mode Control (CMC)

Parameter VMC CMC

Line transient Good with line feedforward Good (inherent line feedforward
(VM  VIN ) in peak current mode)
Bad in valley CMC
Load transient Good (bandwidth is Good at high BW but degrades
independent of load current in at lower load current
CCM) (BW is dependent on load
current)
Very low duty cycle operation Good Poor

Noise insensitivity Good Poor

Compensation Complex (Type-III) Simpler (Type-II)

EE5325 Power Management Integrated Circuits 11

Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, Department of EE, IIT Madras