Analog Design Journal Analog

Improve power density with a baby

boost converter in a PFC circuit
Sheng-Yang Yu
Systems Applications Engineer

Benjamin Genereaux
Systems Applications Engineer

LiehChung Yin
Systems Applications Engineer
would need a total capacitance of over 1.3 mF, which
Introduction would consume at least 30% of the overall space. To
In the year 2000, server front end power-supply units further improve power density, you must reduce the bulk
(PSUs) – with an AC input to a 12-V/48-V DC rail – capacitance.
achieved around 10 W/in3 of power density, with about
Relay FET VBulk

85% peak efficiency [1]. Today, so many server PSUs VOUT

can meet 80 Plus Platinum (94% peak) and 80 Plus

Titanium (96% peak) requirements [2] that the latter RELAY_CTRL

HFFET_HS
LFFET_HS

requirement, along with very high power density (>90 W/

in3), are both now becoming minimum requirements. VAC Isolated DC-DC
Converter
Load

One reason why server PSUs can achieve higher power CBULK

density levels is because of technological innovations

Hall
sensor

in the semiconductor industry. New semiconductor HFFET_LS LFFET_LS

fabrication processes enable devices to have lower Single Phase

Totem Pole Bridgeless PFC

parasitics and better figures of merit [3], significantly

Figure 1. Server PSU block diagram.
improving power dissipation and facilitating higher power
density. In this article, the concept and operational principles of a

Topology and architecture innovations are also behind “baby” boost converter (a compact boost converter that

PSUs with high power density. Applying a totem-pole only operates during AC dropout events) is introduced

bridgeless power factor correction (PFC) circuit to the to reduce the bulk capacitance. Test results on a PFC

AC/DC rectifier stage of new server PSUs – along with reference design [6] with a baby boost converter show

wide bandgap devices such as gallium nitride (GaN) that a 910-µF bulk capacitor (as opposed to a 1.3-mF

and silicon carbide (SiC) (Figure 1) – achieves the capacitor) is enough to hold the output voltage above

best converter efficiency over other bridge or bridgeless 320 V for more than 10 mS after AC dropout with a 3-kW

PFC topologies [4] [5]. Although higher efficiency does load.

minimize the area needed for heat dissipation, a bulk

capacitor (CBULK in Figure 1) is still required to hold the
output voltage in regulation after AC dropout. In order to
accomplish this for more than 10 mS, a 3-kW server PSU

Improve power density with a baby boost converter in a PFC circuit 1 ADJ 2Q 2022
Analog Design Journal Analog

BYPASS
Relay FET FET
VBulk VBB

Selecting CBulk capacitance

VOUT

The server front end PSU shown in Figure 1 generally

RELAY_CTRL

HFFET_HS
LFFET_HS

consists of two stages: an AC/DC rectifier stage and BBFET Isolated DC-DC
VAC Load LOAD
Converter

an isolated DC/DC converter stage, with peak efficiency CBULK

targets of >98.5% and >97.5%, respectively. In order Hall

sensor CBB

for the isolated DC/DC stage to achieve an efficiency HFFET_LS LFFET_LS

target >97.5%, the operational input voltage range of Single phase

totem pole bridgeless PFC
Baby boost

the isolated DC/DC converter (VBulk) generally has to Figure 2. Server PSU block diagram with a baby boost converter.
be limited inside 320 V to 410 V (VBulk,max). Assuming
a nominal bulk capacitor voltage (VBulk,nom) of 390 V, Baby boost converter design considerations
Equation 1 calculates the capacitance required for Although a baby boost converter can reduce a
holding up 3 kW for 10 mS as: bulk capacitor’s size and capacitance, minimizing the
converter’s footprint will help preserve the original high
2POUT × tℎoldup
CBulk = 2 2 = 2 × 3 kW
2
× 10 mS
2 (1) power density goal. Since a baby boost converter
V Bulk, nom − VBulk, min 390 V − 320 V
= 1.207 mF operates in a very short amount of time (an AC dropout
event), the peak operational current and voltage stresses
Considering VBulk voltage ripple and capacitance
will determine your power-stage component selections,
tolerance, the system shown in Figure 1 would require
instead of continuous power dissipation. At VBulk,min,
a capacitor with over 1.3 mF of capacitance. It is
current stress should be at maximum. Select the boost
notable that the capacitor energy used to hold up the
diode and metal-oxide semiconductor FET (MOSFET) to
output voltage after AC dropout is only 32.6% of the
handle current stress at VBulk,min while rated for VBulk,max.
total energy stored in the bulk capacitor during normal
The baby boost inductor needs to handle peak current at
operation.
VBulk,min.
Inserting a baby boost converter stage in between the
Equation 2 determines the baby boost inductor
AC/DC rectifier stage and the isolated DC/DC converter
inductance:
stage (as shown in Figure 2) makes it possible to turn
off the bypass field-effect transistor (FET) and enable the V
LBB = Bulk,∆min
× VBB − VBulk, min
iLBB × Fs, BB × VBB (2)
baby boost converter to allow the charging of CBB to
above 320 V from CBULK after AC dropout. VBulk can where VBB is the voltage at CBB, ΔiLBB is the baby boost
then go much lower than 320 V, thus requiring less inductor peak-to-peak ripple current and Fs,BB is the
capacitance on the bulk capacitor to hold the output baby boost converter switching frequency.
voltage for the same amount of time.
Since the goal is to minimize the footprint of the inductor,
Assuming that VBulk can go down to 240 V (VBulk,min) with Equation 3 assumes that the peak-to-peak ripple current
the baby boost converter during the AC dropout period, equals twice the input current at VBulk,min and the
using Equation 1 equates to a required CBULK of 635 μF, maximum output power:
using 62% of the total capacitor energy.
2P
∆ iLBB = V OUT = 2 240
× 3 kW
V = 25 A (3)
Bulk, min

With VBB regulating to 390 V and assuming Fs,BB = 500

kHz, Equation 2 calculates LBB as 7.385 µH.

Improve power density with a baby boost converter in a PFC circuit 2 ADJ 2Q 2022
Analog Design Journal Analog

Because the footprint is a higher design priority than It is also possible to estimate N iteratively. Assuming that
the power dissipation, an inductor core with a higher a given inductor has an inductance that operates at a
saturation point is preferable; in the case of the baby certain H with a given current, you can use Equation
boost converter, a powder iron core is a better choice 4, Equation 5 and Equation 6 to evaluate whether the
than a ferrite core. The soft-saturation characteristic of calculated H is close to the assumed H.
the powder iron core [7] makes the design of the baby
For example, if your initial guess is that H = 140 Oe with
boost inductor design a bit tricky, however. With the
I = 25 A and the inductor has an inductance of 7.385 µH,
core permeability dropping (inductance dropping) as the
Equation 4 calculates µi% at 39.65%. Then, taking the
current increases, you must ensure the LBB calculated in
LBB calculated from Equation 2 and Equation 3, along
Equation 2 is the inductance at iLBB peak. Equation 4
with the µi% calculated into Equation 4, N is then 20.8.
estimates the inductance at a given magnetizing field:
To verify H using Equation 6 with calculated N, you
L = AL × μi% × N2 (4) have H = 125.67 Oe. Since there is still error between
the guessed H and the calculated H, you can make a
where AL is the inductance factor in henry/turns2, µi%
second guess about H and calculate H again until the
is the remaining percentage of the initial permeability at
error becomes negligible. You will find the correct turns
a given magnetizing field, and N is the number of turns
(operation point) after a couple of iterations. Using the
applied to the inductor.
iterative method, H is 108.75 Oe, with N = 18.009. The
Equation 5 expresses the relationship between µi% inductance is 7.385 µH at 25 A.
and the magnetizing field, according to the core
manufacturer: Design implementation and test results
Figure 3 shows the Texas Instruments (TI) 3.6-kW Single­
1
μi% = (5)
a + bHc Phase Totem-Pole Bridgeless PFC Reference Design
with >180-W/in3 Power Density, which uses a baby
where a, b and c are constant coefficients and H is the boost converter [6]. TI’s LMG3522R030 GaN device,
magnetizing field. which has zero reverse-recovery charges, minimizes
Assuming the application of a Magnetics 0076381A7 [8] switching losses in the totem-pole bridgeless PFC. All of
(a Kool Mμ Hƒ core [9]) for the baby boost inductor, the components are placed in an x and y dimension less
the constant coefficients a, b and c would be 0.01, than 68 mm by 121 mm, with a maximum component
4.064∙10-7 and 2.131, respectively. height of 32 mm. The reference design achieves >180­
W/in3 power density and 98.7% peak efficiency. The
According to Ampere’s law, Equation 6 expresses the
selected CBULK is a 910-μF 450-V aluminum capacitor.
relationship between H and N:
Although the required capacitance is only 635 μF, the
H = N l× I (6) ripple current rating on available capacitors with less
e
than 910 μF of capacitance is not enough to handle the
where I is the current through the winding and le is the ripple current generated by a single-phase 3-kW PFC.
effective magnetic path length in centimeters. Two 1-µF 450-V ceramic capacitors serve as CBB, which
With Equation 2 and Equation 3 calculating LBB, are nicely utilized in the space under the bulk capacitor.
Equation 4, Equation 5 and Equation 6 determine the N The design applies a Magnetics 0076381A7 core to the
needed to achieve the inductance at a given magnetizing baby boost inductor, with 23 turns on the inductor. The
field. inductance at 0 A and 25 A is 22.75 μH and 9.1 μH,

Improve power density with a baby boost converter in a PFC circuit 3 ADJ 2Q 2022
Analog Design Journal Analog

respectively. The 9.1-μH inductance allows peak current

less than the 25-A target. References
1. Jovanovic, Milan M. Power Supply Technology –
Past, Present, and Future. Published in Power
Conversion and Intelligent Motion China Conference
for Power Electronics (PCIM China), Shanghai, China,
March 21-23, 2007.
2. CLEAResult.com. What is 80 Plus Certified?
Accessed May 6, 2022.
3. Texas Instruments: GaN FET-Based CCM Totem-Pole
Bridgeless PFC
4. L. Huber, Y. Jang and M. M. Jovanovic,
Figure 3. 3.6-kW single-phase totem-pole bridgeless PFC
reference design with >180-W/in3 power density. "Performance Evaluation of Bridgeless PFC Boost
Rectifiers," in IEEE Transactions on Power
Figure 4 shows the measurement of an AC dropout
Electronics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 1381-1390, May 2008.
event on the 3-kW PFC reference design. When the AC
5. Texas Instruments. n.d. “4-kW Single-Phase Totem­
voltage drops down to 0 V (as does the AC current),
Pole PFC Reference Design with C2000™ and
CBULK and CBB continuously deliver the energy stored
GaN.” Texas Instruments reference design No.
to the load. Once VBulk drops down to 340 V, the
TIDA-010203. Accessed May 6, 2022.
bypass FET turns off and the baby boost converter
6. Texas Instruments. n.d. “3.6-kW Single-Phase
starts to operate, boosting VBB to 380 V. The baby boost
Totem-Pole Bridgeless PFC Reference Design
converter continuously operates until VBulk drops down
with a >180-W/in3 Power Density.” Texas
to 240 V. VBB remains above the targeted isolated DC/DC
Instruments reference design No. PMP23069.
minimum operational input voltage of 320 V for 14 mS.
Accessed May 6, 2022.
7. Magnetics. “Learn More about High Flux Cores.”
Accessed May 6, 2022.
8. “0076381A7 Kool Mu Hƒ core.” Magnetics data
sheet. Accessed May 6, 2022.
9. Magnetics. "Kool Mµ Hƒ Material Curves."
Accessed May 6, 2022.

Figure 4. Waveforms at an AC dropout event.

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