NL2003293C2 - Dc-dc voltage converter having off-phase controlled parallel switching branches. - Google Patents

Dc-dc voltage converter having off-phase controlled parallel switching branches. Download PDF

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Publication number
NL2003293C2
NL2003293C2 NL2003293A NL2003293A NL2003293C2 NL 2003293 C2 NL2003293 C2 NL 2003293C2 NL 2003293 A NL2003293 A NL 2003293A NL 2003293 A NL2003293 A NL 2003293A NL 2003293 C2 NL2003293 C2 NL 2003293C2
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Netherlands
Prior art keywords
converter
branch
voltage
control
input
Prior art date
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NL2003293A
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Dutch (nl)
Inventor
Menno Kardolus
Mark Alexander Groninger
Jacobus Harmen Schijffelen
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Intivation Holding B V
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Priority to NL2003293A priority Critical patent/NL2003293C2/en
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Publication of NL2003293C2 publication Critical patent/NL2003293C2/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M3/00—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output
    • H02M3/02—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac
    • H02M3/04—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters
    • H02M3/10—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
    • H02M3/145—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal
    • H02M3/155—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only
    • H02M3/156—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators
    • H02M3/158—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
    • H02M3/1584—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Dc-Dc Converters (AREA)

Description

- 1 -
DC-DC VOLTAGE CONVERTER HAVING OFF-PHASE CONTROLLED PARALLEL SWITCHING BRANCHES
The present invention relates to a DC-DC converter 5 comprising at least two parallel branches fed by a converter input voltage, each branch comprising a series arrangement of a controllable switch having a control input for influencing the branch current concerned, and an inductor for deriving a converter output voltage.
10 EP-1.356.576 discloses two embodiments of a low voltage solar converter. The present invention is delimited from the first embodiment.
The first embodiment (see figs. 1 and 2) comprises 15 two solar cell connected inductors included in parallel switching branches having a low voltage step-up converter and a second converter respectively. The low voltage converter has two inductor coupled in-phase controlled parallel branches having switches holding control inputs 20 controlled by a first oscillator. The first switch which is a bipolar transistor switch comprises a self starting step up facility for starting the converter on low solar input voltages by adding thereto a supplementing pulsed step-up voltage. After the step-up, at a higher internal converter 25 supply voltage, the second switch which is a MOSFET transistor switch comes in and deactivates the first switch. Thereafter, at a still higher supply voltage, the second converter starts conversion by means of switching the current through the second inductor, thus further 30 boosting the power conversion to a final level at which the second converter is deactivated, where after only the second switch takes over.
The second embodiment (see fig. 3) discloses a low voltage step-up converter comprising an inductor which is 35 connected to a parallel arrangement of an oscillator controlled step-up switch and a software driven MOSFET switch. As soon as the voltage supplied by the step-up switch is high enough it is deactivated and the latter - 2 - switch takes over the conversion.
It is a disadvantage of the known converter that the control of the switches in particular by means of 5 oscillators draws a lot of power from the total DC power generated by converter, in particular at start up of the converter with low input voltage, such as for example derived from solar cells.
10 It is the object of the present invention to provide a more efficient converter, whose DC power yield is high, specifically in conditions wherein the input power is low.
Thereto the converter according to the invention is 15 characterised in that the converter further comprises phase shifting means coupled to at least one of the control inputs for creating a timing difference between the branch currents .
A converter having phase shifting means for control 20 of the switches consumes less power than oscillators used for control of the switches. Therefore the total efficiency of the converter according to the invention has increased.
In addition less hardware components are included in such phase shifting means, which reduces chip area, as well 25 as costs both for components and for the manufacturing of the converters according to the invention. This reduces the overall cost price of such converters.
In general the converter has one branch which functions during initial start-up when the input voltage is 30 relatively low. This branch has its own inductor which in practise is chosen to have an inductance with the help whereof the start-up of the converter is as short and effective as possible, also under circumstances of low input power. The same goes for the switch and the way the 35 switch is controlled, in practice its frequency and pulse duration, which preferably are chosen, controlled and tailored to the input source and its provided DC power, are optimised for maximum input power extraction.
- 3 -
After an initial start-up when already some DC output power is available, the next branch may come in and if both branches work together for simultaneously creating DC power they do so due to the phase shifting means on a different 5 time scale, in order not to place a too heavy load at this stage on the input source.
The timing difference will normally be controllable in order to gradually increase or decrease the load on the input source when the momentary conditions of the input 10 voltage so require. This way the converter according to the present invention is capable of coping very well with dynamic converter input conditions.
Under circumstances the converter described so far having two branches may be a pre-converter whose activities 15 are taken over once the initial and further start-up have ended and normal input power conditions apply. This is however no requirement, but a possibility.
Further detailed possible embodiments, which are 20 defined in the other claims, are discussed in conjunction with the associated advantages in the description below.
The converter according to the present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the 25 figure below, which shows a functional circuit diagram of possible embodiments of the converter according to the invention .
The figure shows a part of a DC-DC converter 1, 30 comprising in this case two parallel branches B1 and B2 which are fed by a converter input voltage on converter input terminals 2. The branches B1 and B2 each comprise a series arrangement of a controllable switch SI and S2 each having a control input Cl and C2 and branch coil inductors 35 LI and L2. By appropriately control on the control inputs
Cl, C2 the associated switches SI, S2 are opened and closed for influencing the respective branch currents II and 12 through the series arrangements. One way conducting - 4 - semiconductors for simplicity shown as simple diodes D1 and D2 are connected between connecting points PI and P2 of the conductors LI, L2 and the switches SI, S2 respectively and a converter output terminal 3 for a converter output 5 voltage. Between terminal 3 and ground the converter 1 has a capacitor 4.
In general the converter 1 may comprise more than two parallel branches, and/or one or both inductors LI, L2 may be shared with two switches, such as described in EP-IO 1.356.576. The complete disclosure of that prior patent publication is supposed to be inserted here, by reference thereto, as it contains features, elements and details which may be combined with the disclosure of the present description, and may serve to provide an additional 15 explanation of technical elements.
One of the branches say branch B2 is the start-up branch. If its switch S2, like SI, is open an input voltage on terminal 2 above a transition threshold of the semiconductors Dl, D2 will load capacitor 4. If the 20 capacitor 4 is sufficiently loaded a trigger circuit 5 between output terminal 3 and the control input C2 of switch S2 will provide switching control pulses to control input C2, in order to self start the switching of current 12 through inductor L2. This will provide a higher 25 converter output voltage on output terminal 3. Preferably the self starting branch B2, comprises a MOSFET switch which requires a relatively low gate voltage for controllably changing its conduction state. An inductor L2 having an inductance of around 47 pH is found to be most 30 suitable to function in the start-up branch B2 at switching frequencies ranging from 50-500 KHz.
For cases where a very low input voltage on converter input terminals 2 is to be expected the converter 1 may comprise a supplementary circuit 6 generally coupled to the 35 converter output terminal 3. The circuit 6 then adds supplementary step-up power to the converter output voltage 3 during start-up, in order to allow the output voltage to be built up to a level which is sufficient to self start - 5 - switching of branch current 12 with a very low converter input voltage.
EP-1.356.576 mentioned earlier gives a detailed example of a pulsed oscillator voltage added to a low solar 5 input voltage in order to enhance the self starting of a branch, wherein the current through one inductance is being switched by two parallel controllable switches. Similar supplementary circuits 6 for application in a separate branch can be devised in an obvious way by the man skilled 10 in the relevant art. In general such a supplementary circuit 6 may comprise a voltage multiplier, for example a voltage doubler based on the loading of stacked capacitors, some capacitive energy source, an auxiliary battery, an LC resonant energy source, an oscillator, a magnetic energy 15 source for example a transformer energy source, and the like .
Possibly in addition to the above circuits 6 the converter 1 may comprise one or more control devices 7, which device in case of one branch B2 is coupled to the 20 control input C2. If more branches BI, B2 et cetera are applied, as will be elucidated hereafter, the control devices may be coupled to further control inputs Cl, C2 et cetera of the respective switches SI, S2 et cetera in de applied branches BI, B2 et cetera. Details of the circuitry 25 included in such control devices 7 are set out in WO
2008/120970. The complete disclosure of that prior PCT patent publication is supposed to be inserted here, by reference thereto, as it contains features, elements and details which may be combined with the disclosure of the 30 present description, and may serve to provide an additional explanation of relevant technical elements. In relation to the control devices 7 it is noted that essentially the control signals on the control inputs Cl, C2 et cetera are pulse width modulated signals included in an overall pulse 35 width period. The pulse width of these signals normally define the time span wherein the switches are closed and magnetic energy builds up in the inductors LI, L2 et cetera, which energy is released upon opening of the switch — 6 — concerned into the capacitor 4. At least one control device 7 which in case of one start-up branch B2 will be coupled to its control input C2, is equipped for controlling the overall pulse width period to reduce power consumption of 5 the converter, in particular during start-up with low converter input voltage. This provides an extra measure to ensure that power is saved during the start-up phase wherein possibly not much power might be available.
If more than one branch BI, B2 is included in the 10 converter 1 power can be saved by safeguarding that the branch currents embodied by II, 12 in case of two branches BI, B2 do not flow simultaneously or at least are not at their maximum at the same time. This way maximum power in a given time span is extracted from the input source, such as 15 a solar cell, connected to the input terminals 2. This can be achieved by the inclusion of phase shifting means 8 which serve to create a timing difference or delay between the branch currents. Such phase shifting means 8, which may be embodied by varying phase shifting means, are easier to 20 built, have fewer components and consume less power than oscillators. Given the fact that the start-up branch say B2 is current switching and creates power the control voltage for control input Cl can be derived through the phase shifting means 8 from for example that branch current 12 or 25 from the control signal on control input C2 of switch S2. The phase shifting means 8 will then at least on one side be coupled to the control input Cl of the switch SI. If the switches SI and S2 are identical it may be preferred to connect the phase shifting means 8 between the control 30 inputs Cl and C2, as shown in the figure.
In an alternative embodiment not shown in the figure the connection point P2 in branch B2 of the controllable switch S2 and the inductor L2 is crosswise linked through the phase shifting means 8 to the control input Cl of the 35 controllable switch SI in the branch B1.
In general the converter 1 may comprise more than two branches having switch control inputs so linked through the phase shifting means 8 to the connection point P2 in the - 7 - start-up branch B2, or to one another.
The phase shifting means 8 can for example be embodied by a parallel arrangement of simply a possibly variable capacitor and a possibly variable resistance which 5 are easy to integrate on limited chip area, or an inductance and a resistor, or combinations thereof.
If B2 is the start-up branch then it is preferred to embody switch B1 as a bipolar switch, which is arranged in series with the inductor Ll having an inductance of around 10 10 mH.
The controllable switches SI, S2 may be controllable semiconductors, such as bipolar transistors or FET's.

Claims (6)

1. Een DC-DC omzetter omvattende twee parallelle door een converter ingangsspanning, afkomstig van één of meer 5 zonnecellen, gevoede takken waarbij elke tak een serieschakeling van een bestuurbare schakelaar met een stuuringang voor beïnvloeding van de betreffende takstroom, en een inductor bevat voor het afleiden van een converter uitgangsspanning, en de omzetter verder faseverschuiving 10 middelen omvat die gekoppeld zijn met beide stuuringangen voor het creëren van een instelbaar tijdverschil tussen de taksstromen waarmee de momentane belasting van genoemde zonnecellen te beïnvloeden is, waarbij de ene tak die is ingericht voor het op basis van de ingangsspanning zelf 15 starten van een schakelen van diens takstroom is voorzien van een MOSFET schakelaar met een lage gate-source drempelspanning en in serie daarmee geschakeld diens inductor met een inductantie van rond 50 pH, en waarbij de andere niet zelfstartende tak is voorzien van een bipolaire 20 schakelaar en in serie daarmee geschakeld diens inductor met een inductantie van rond 10 mH.1. A DC-DC converter comprising two parallel input voltage supplied by a converter from one or more solar cells, each branch comprising a series connection of a controllable switch with a control input for influencing the relevant branch current, and an inductor for deriving a converter output voltage, and the converter further comprises phase shifting means coupled to both control inputs to create an adjustable time difference between the branch currents with which the instantaneous load of said solar cells can be influenced, wherein the one branch which is arranged for the on the basis of the input voltage itself starting a switching of its branch current is provided with a MOSFET switch with a low gate-source threshold voltage and connected in series with its inductor with an inductance of around 50 pH, and wherein the other is not self-starting branch provided with a bipolar switch and in series The inductor is switched with an inductance of around 10 mH. 2. De omzetter volgens conclusie 1, met het kenmerk dat een aansluitpunt in een tak tussen diens bestuurbare 25 schakelaar en diens inductor via de faseverschuiving middelen is verbonden met de stuuringang van de andere bestuurbare schakelaar in de andere tak.2. The transducer according to claim 1, characterized in that a connection point in a branch between its controllable switch and its inductor is connected via the phase shift means to the control input of the other controllable switch in the other branch. 3. De omzetter volgens conclusie 1 of 2, met het 30 kenmerk dat de omzetter een suppletie circuit omvat dat met een converter uitgangsklem is gekoppeld voor het aan de converter uitgangsspanning toevoegen van suppletie vermogen, in het bijzonder gedurende het opstarten met een lage converter ingangsspanning. 353. The converter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the converter comprises a make-up circuit coupled to a converter output terminal for adding make-up power to the converter output voltage, in particular during start-up with a low converter input voltage . 35 4. De omzetter volgens conclusie 3, met het kenmerk dat het suppletie circuit een spanningsvermenigvuldiger, bijvoorbeeld een spanningsverdubbelaar, een capacitieve - 9 - energiebron, een LC energiebron, een batterij, een oscillator, een magnetische energiebron bijvoorbeeld een transformator energiebron en dergelijke omvat.The converter according to claim 3, characterized in that the make-up circuit comprises a voltage multiplier, for example a voltage doubler, a capacitive energy source, an LC energy source, a battery, an oscillator, a magnetic energy source, for example a transformer energy source and the like. 5. De omzetter volgens één van de conclusies 1-4, met het kenmerk dat de omzetter één of meer stuurinrichtingen omvat voor het verschaffen van een stuursignaal op de stuuringang van ten minste één van de schakelaars, welk signaal een pulsbreedte gemoduleerd signaal is dat is 10 opgenomen in een gehele pulsbreedte periode.The converter according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the converter comprises one or more control devices for providing a control signal at the control input of at least one of the switches, which signal is a pulse width modulated signal that is 10 recorded in an entire pulse width period. 6. De omzetter volgens conclusies 5, met het kenmerk dat de ten minste ene stuurinrichting is uitgerust voor regeling van de gehele pulsbreedte periode ter beperking 15 van het energieverbruik van de omzetter, in het bijzonder doch niet uitsluitend gedurende het opstarten met een lage converter ingangsspanning.6. The converter according to claim 5, characterized in that the at least one control device is equipped for controlling the entire pulse width period to limit the energy consumption of the converter, in particular but not exclusively during start-up with a low converter input voltage .
NL2003293A 2009-07-27 2009-07-27 Dc-dc voltage converter having off-phase controlled parallel switching branches. NL2003293C2 (en)

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Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4384321A (en) * 1980-04-29 1983-05-17 California Institute Of Technology Unity power factor switching regulator
US5278489A (en) * 1992-05-29 1994-01-11 Scitex Digital Printing, Inc. Multi-phase switching power supply
EP1356576B1 (en) * 2001-01-30 2004-10-06 True Solar Autonomy Holding B.V. Voltage converting circuit
EP1562278A2 (en) * 2004-02-06 2005-08-10 HONDA MOTOR CO., Ltd. DC/DC converter and program
US20060077604A1 (en) * 2004-09-07 2006-04-13 Arian Jansen Master-slave critical conduction mode power converter

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4384321A (en) * 1980-04-29 1983-05-17 California Institute Of Technology Unity power factor switching regulator
US5278489A (en) * 1992-05-29 1994-01-11 Scitex Digital Printing, Inc. Multi-phase switching power supply
EP1356576B1 (en) * 2001-01-30 2004-10-06 True Solar Autonomy Holding B.V. Voltage converting circuit
EP1562278A2 (en) * 2004-02-06 2005-08-10 HONDA MOTOR CO., Ltd. DC/DC converter and program
US20060077604A1 (en) * 2004-09-07 2006-04-13 Arian Jansen Master-slave critical conduction mode power converter

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Effective date: 20160801