20/03/2015
Practical Considerations in
Implementing Switching Power-Poles
Gate Driver ICs
Design Considerations
Thermal Considerations
Magnetic Components
Capacitors
Selection of Switching Frequency
Diode Reverse Recovery Characteristic
Conduction Losses
Increase in Switching Losses
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Gate Drivers
In order for PE converters to operate
efficiently, switching losses must be
minimised.
Resonant converters can help but might
not be possible at high switching
frequencies or if feedback control is
needed
Need to drive the switches on and off as
quickly as possible
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Initial conditions for drive ccts
The drive circuit must provide adequate
drive power (e.g., IB for BJTs or Vgs for
MOSFETs) to keep the switch fully in the ON
state where conduction losses are low
The drive circuit should also provide the
ability to quickly turn the power switch OFF
and keep it OFF even in the presence of
substantial switching noise
The drive circuit is solely the interface
between the control circuit and the power
switch (we are not considering how to create
3
the control signal).
The drive circuit may need to output
significant power (compared to control
circuits). e.g., power BJTs have low values of
(typically around 10), so the IB supplied by the
drive circuit can be substantial if Ic is large.
The basic form of a drive circuit depends on:
Does the drive circuit output need to be unipolar or
bipolar (unipolar circuits are simpler than bipolar
circuits)?
Is the drive output a current source or a voltage
source?
Is electrical isolation required between the control
signal and the switch drive signal?
Maximum switching frequency?
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Can it provide the necessary (peak) gate current?
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Additional functionality may be required
from the drive circuit:
Switch over-current protection
Creation of blanking times
Wave-shaping of control signals to
enhance switch on and/or switch off
performance
Number of independent output channels
Maximum charge per pulse (Qout/pulse);
output caps of the driver must be able to
deliver the gate charge for charge and
discharge
5
Choosing the wrong one Resistor that
is!
Overheated/burnt low peak power, nosurge proof resistor
EMI small gate resistors used
Gate oscillations high resistors
Increased Switching losses High
resistors
So what values?
Use switch data sheets Rt
Select Rt < Rg <2Rt
Also Rg(off) = 2Rg(on)
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MOSFET (& IGBT) drivers
MOSFETs (& IGBTs) are voltage controlled devices
where an input voltage determines the output current
Commonly, a VGS that is 5 15 V higher than VT is
sufficient to ensure the MOSFET is fully on.
Switching a MOSFET off requires reducing VGS below
VT
The charge associated with the gate capacitance can
require high pulse currents for high frequency
applications and drive circuit must be able to source
and sink
Totem pole
A very common circuit
configuration used to
provide the high
source and sink
current needed is the
totem pole
arrangement (double
emitter follower; pushpull buffer)
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Electrically Isolated drivers
Sometimes need to electrically isolate the
control signal from the output signal to the
switch
This is usually due to the position of the
switch in a power circuit where the source (or
emitter) terminal voltage shifts high or low
depending on whether it has been switched
on or off.
To ensure correct operation, the drive signal
must be able to float with the rising and falling
source terminal voltage.
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Gate Driver Integrated Circuits (ICs) with Builtin Fault Protection
VCC
Vext 12 V
vc
S
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Optically isolated drivers
Optocoupler IC with high speed
phototransistor
The drive cct is then constructed on the
floating side with its own DC Power
supply
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Transformer Isolated
Transformer isolation no need for a dc power
source
Works well for HF
Core saturation is a problem secondary V is bipolar
so need to worry about negative VGS
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Current controlled devices - BJTs
Power BJTs are current controlled devices. To
ensure a BJT is fully saturated (switched on), the
current through the base must be at least equal to
IC/.
Switching speed determined by how quickly the drive
signal can source and sink the charge associated
with the capacitance effect in forward biasing the
base-emitter p-n junction
For fast switching in power BJTs need a base drive
signal that provides an initial very high current to
quickly charge (or discharge) the base-emitter
capacitance, which falls to a steady-state value
capable of maintaining saturation.
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A simple but effective cct
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20/03/2015
When the drive voltage falls to zero for turnoff, the charged capacitor creates a high
negative current pulse that quickly discharges
the base-emitter capacitance.
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Gate driver ICs:
Save 30% on parts count
50% on PCB space
The input signal Vc from the controller is
referenced to the logic level ground
Vcc is the logic supply voltage
Vext to drive the gate is supplied by the isolated
power supply referenced to the MOSFET source
S.
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Quiz #1
In the switching power-pole shown above, the
negative terminal of the input voltage is
grounded and the control voltage to control the
transistor is a logic-level signal generated with
respect to Ground.
In the output stage of the gate-driver IC shown in
the earlier slide, the power supply Vext must be
isolated from ground.
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A. True
B. False
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Switching Frequency
Selection of Transistors and Diodes
Magnetic components
Capacitor Selection
Ap
LII
rms
k w J max Bmax
Ap
ESL
kconv V y I y ,rms
k w Bmax J max f s
ESR
Figure 2-10 Capacitor ESR and ESL.
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PSpice Modeling:
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Simulation Results: Individual and Total Admittances
50A
40A
30A
20A
10A
0A
1.0KHz
I(L2)
I(L1)
3.0KHz
-I(V3)
10KHz
30KHz
100KHz
300KHz
1.0MHz
Frequency
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10
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Thermal Design
T j Ta ( R jc R cs R sa ) Pdiss
isolation pad
heat sink
Tj
case
Tc
R jc
chip
Ts
Ta
Rcs
R sa
ambient
Ta
Pdiss
Tj
Tc
Ts
(a)
Ta
(b)
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Design Tradeoffs
size
Heatsink
Magnetics and
capacitors
fS
Size of magnetic components and heat sink
as a function of switching frequency 22
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Diode Reverse Recovery and Power Losses
D
Pdiode, F (1 d ) VFM I o
Diode Forward Loss:
VGG
Diode Reverse Recovery Characteristic:
ta
trr
iD
vDS
iD
Vin
I0
tb
VFM
I RRM
Qrr
Vd , neg
Diode Switching Losses:
1
Pdiode , sw ( I RRM tb ) Vd , neg f s
2
23
Concept Quiz #2
In the switching power-pole shown in the
earlier slide, what is vd,neg equal to in
magnitude:
A. Essentially Vin
B. 0
C. Depends on the diode characteristic
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Effect of Diode Reverse Recovery Current:
D
G
VGG
Vin
iD
vDS
vDS
iD
t fv
t fv
Vin
I RRM
I0
Io
iD
0
psw
0
t
tri
ta trr
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Summary
Practical Implementation Considerations
Gate Driver ICs
Design Considerations
Thermal Considerations
Magnetic Components
Capacitors
Selection of Switching Frequency
Diode Reverse Recovery Characteristics
Conduction Losses
Increase in Switching Losses
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Quiz #1
In a switching converter, the switching power loss in a MOSFET is 100 W.
It is decided to redesign this converter and replace the original MOSFET with a new one
that has twice the switching speed, that is, it has one-half the voltage and current risetimes and fall-times compared to the original MOSFET.
This new converter is to be operated at twice the switching-frequency compared to the
original converter.
Question: What happens to the switching power loss in the MOSFET of the new
converter, compared to that in the original converter?
A.
B.
C.
Doubles
Remains the same
Becomes one-half
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Quiz #2
In the MOSFET of a switching power-pole,
the average power dissipation is 30 Watts.
The junction temperature of this MOSFET
must not exceed 1000C, and the ambient
temperature is given as 400C. Calculate
the maximum thermal resistance that can
be present between the ambient and the
MOSFET junction.
A. 20 C/W
B. 3.330 C/W
C. 4.660 C/W
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