Method and means to implement a current follower operation of a buck mode, switching power supply

The present invention relates generally to power supplies, and more specifically, to implementing a current follower operation into a buck mode switching power supply.

Switched mode, pulse width modulated, fast transient power supplies are a common form of voltage regulator useful in a wide variety of applications, including radar systems. These supplies are structured to generate the pulse power required by a radar transmitter subsection of an antenna array. Because these power levels are large compared to the average power of the load, implementation as a single power converter becomes problematic. Multiple paralleled converters are therefore required. This mandates current sharing between the paralleled stages to prevent over stressing any one supply. However, component variation in the individual converter stages leads to current supply imbalances.

Moreover, typical averaged current feedback control mechanisms provide a less than desirable transient response. That is, due at least in part to current sharing among the multiple paralleled stages, a faster transient response is desired than is usually provided by conventional averaged current feedback controls. Traditional approaches monitor the output voltage of the converter and respond to deviations in its level. However, the control loop bandwidth is normally less than the switching frequency and lags behind the pulse current level. Further, current sharing between multiple supplies utilize master/slave implementation of an averaged current reference level and contain a separate control loop to trim the output voltage reference of each shared supply with a goal of balancing the output currents. The averaging slows response time and the control loop adds complexity to the design.

Accordingly, a method and system for balancing the output of the paralleled converter stages while providing for fast transient response is desired.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a switched mode power supply is provided. The supply comprises at least two converter stages arranged in parallel. A pulse width modulator is provided which monitors the load current. The load current is used as a scaled reference for comparison with a monitored output inductor current from each stage. A correction signal for each converter stage is generated as a result of this comparison. These correction signals are compared to an ideal reference signal generated by the system clock. The result of this comparison is combined with the threshold reference level used in the pulse width modulator to control the pulse width of the output current until the load current and average output inductor current are equal.

FIG. 1 is a simplified circuit diagram of a buck mode power supply utilizing the current follower arrangement of the present invention.

FIGS. 2 a - f are plots illustrating the operation of the current follower arrangement of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a simulator having two buck converter stages with the current follower arrangement of the present invention disconnected.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are plots of the load and output inductor currents of the two buck converter stages of the simulator shown in FIG. 3 . These are shown operated with the same PWM source and have their inductor values set to opposite component tolerance levels.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a simulator having two buck converter stages with the current follower arrangement of the present invention connected.

FIGS. 6 a - c are detailed views of portions of the circuit shown in FIG. 6 .

FIGS. 7 and 8 are plots of the load and output inductor currents of the two buck converter stages of the simulator shown in FIG. 6 utilizing the control strategy of the present invention.

Reference will now be made in detail to the present exemplary embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring generally to FIGS. 1 and 2 a - f , the basic operation of a single stage buck mode converter with the current follower arrangement of the present invention is described. FIG. 1 shows a buck mode supply 10 including transistors M 1 and M 2 operatively connected to a pulse width modulator (PWM) 11 configured to selectively couple an inductor L 1 to an input voltage source V. The PWM 11 may be configured to provide, for example, average current control over the output of the supply 10 . The PWM 11 monitors the inductor output current at a node 15 . The resulting inductor output current from this type of average current control takes the form a saw-tooth waveform alternating between a minimum and maximum level set by a predetermined threshold voltage as shown in FIG. 2 a . By definition, the average output current 21 lies between these maximum and minimum values.

PWMs traditionally monitor the inductor current 20 as well as the output voltage V out of the capacitor C 1 in their feedback loops. However, one aspect of the present invention is to shift the control methodology to monitor the load current level directly and correct the threshold voltage level of the PWM 11 . In this way, faster transient responses can be achieved, as well as the ability to balance the output current of parallel converter stages.

In addition to monitoring the inductor output current 20 , the PWM 11 monitors the current drawn by the load 22 ( FIG. 2 b ) at node 16 . Both the inductor output current 20 and the load current 22 are applied to a comparator ( FIG. 2 c ) for generating a first correction signal 23 ( FIG. 2 d ).

During ideal converter stage operation, the average output current 21 of the inductor will be equal to the pulsed load current 22 . A comparator presented with these two ideal signals, 20 22 , will produce a square wave at the switching cycle frequency. The inductor output current 20 will spend half of the cycle time above the average output 22 and the other half of the cycle time below the average output ( FIGS. 2 c and 2 e ).

In order to correct the average inductor output current 21 to match the pulsed load current, the PWM 11 further comprises a function generator, preferably tied to a system clock 19 ( FIG. 1 ), for producing a square wave signal 24 having a frequency equal to the switching frequency of the inductor output current 20 . By differential integration of the correction signal 23 and the ideal square wave signal 24 , a second correction signal 25 is generated. This second correction signal 25 is combined with the PWM 11 threshold reference voltage level to dither the control pulses provided to transistors M 1 and M 2 ( FIG. 1 ), thus altering the pulse width of the inductor output current 20 until its average current 21 matches that of the load current 22 . In this way, the resulting correction signal 25 should stabilize or flatten as the average inductor current 21 approaches the value of the load current 22 .

While the above describes the principles behind the operation of the current follower arrangement of an embodiment of the present invention, its implementation into a power supply having multiple converters will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of a simulated buck mode power supply 200 with the current follower arrangement of the present invention disconnected therefrom for purposes of demonstrating its operational benefits. The power converter section 201 comprises two buck converting stages 202 , 203 arranged in parallel. For purposes of this simulation, the inductors L 1 ,L 2 of the first and second buck converter stages 202 , 203 are set to 20% over and 20% under nominal, respectively, representative of typical component variations between multistage power supplies. The PWM portion 211 of the supply 200 comprises a signal generator 212 used to generate the saw-tooth wave provided to the input terminals of first and second comparators 214 , 215 . A threshold reference voltage source 213 is provided to the input terminals of the comparators 214 , 215 , and provides the threshold voltage level for the average current control. The outputs of comparators 214 , 215 are fed into the first and second buck converter stages 202 , 203 respectively, and control the charging of the inductors L 1 ,L 2 , and thus the pulse width of the inductor output current 20 ( FIG. 2 a ).

As discussed above, the variations in the components making up the first and second buck converter stages result in output current variations between stages, as well as with the load current. Referring generally to FIGS. 4 and 5 , there are shown curves depicting the load and output currents of the two buck converter stages of the simulator depicted in FIG. 3 . The output voltage 55 under open loop control is centered around 4V. Trace 50 is the load current reference which is stepped from 2 A to 4 A to demonstrate current follower response. Trace 51 is the inductor output current from the first buck converter stage 202 . In the first buck converter stage 202 , the inductor is set to 80% of nominal, resulting in an average output current 51 approximately 15% higher than the load current 50 . Similarly, trace 52 is the inductor output current from the second buck converter stage 203 , set at 120% of nominal, with a resulting average output current 52 of approximately 15% less than the load current 50 . As shown, the output currents of the first and second buck converters are imbalanced.

FIG. 6 shows a simulated buck mode power supply 100 implementing the current follower arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention. The power converter section 101 comprises two buck converter stages 102 , 103 arranged in parallel (see also FIG. 6 a ). As with the simulation described above with respect to FIG. 3 , the inductors L 1 ,L 2 of the first and second buck converter stages 102 , 103 are set to 20% over and 20% under nominal respectively.

The PWM 111 of the supply 100 comprises a signal generator 112 for providing a saw-tooth pattern to the input terminals of the comparators 114 , 115 (see also FIG. 6 b ). A threshold reference voltage source 113 is provided to the remaining input terminals of the comparators 114 , 115 , and is used set the threshold voltage level for the average current control. The output of the comparators 114 , 115 is supplied to the first and second buck converter stages 102 , 103 respectively, to control the on/off charging of the inductors L 1 ,L 2 and thus the pulse width of the inductor output currents.

Still referring to FIGS. 6 and 6 a , resistors R 1 and R 9 monitor both the DC and AC from the inductors L 1 ,L 2 respectively, while resistor R 5 monitors the load current ( FIG. 2 b , 22 ) and provides a scaled reference to the comparators 104 , 105 . The inductor output currents ( FIG. 2 a , 20 ) measured at the inductors L 1 ,L 2 of each buck converter stage 102 , 103 are input into respective comparators 104 , 105 . The comparators 104 , 105 generate a resultant first correction signal ( FIG. 2 d , 23 ) which is provided to a differential integrator circuit 121 . The differential integrator circuit 121 comprises a pulse generator 122 , preferable tied to the system clock and configured to output a square wave ( FIG. 2 c , 24 ) at the switching frequency of the inductor output current (see also FIG. 6 c ). As described in detail above with respect to FIG. 2 e , this square wave represents the ideal result of the comparison between the inductor output current 20 and the load current 22 .

The circuit 121 comprises capacitors C 5 ,C 6 fed by bipolar current sources 130 , 131 configured to perform the differential integration of the first correction signal 23 and the ideal square wave 24 . While the implementation shown in FIGS. 6 and 6 c comprises transconductance amplifiers for providing current to the capacitors C 5 ,C 6 , the arrangement could be implemented in any suitable manner, including the use of gated transistor current sources.

Amplifiers 132 , 133 may be utilized as impedance buffers for the outgoing dithered correction signal ( FIG. 2 f , 25 ). The signal 25 is added to the threshold reference voltage supply 113 , thus altering the previously fixed reference voltage supplied to the input of the comparators 114 , 115 . These dither signals may be interfaced with the comparators 114 , 115 by resistor summers. For example, resistors R 23 and R 22 merge the dithered correction signal with the reference level supplied by the reference voltage source 113 , the result of which is supplied to the input of comparator 114 . Likewise, resistors R 33 and R 25 merge the correction signal provided by the second channel of the integrator circuit 121 with the reference voltage source 113 which is subsequently supplied to the input of comparator 115 . By altering the reference voltage to the comparators 114 , 115 , the drive pulse supplied back to each buck converter 102 , 103 is dithered, and the resulting inductor outputs corrected to each produce an average current equal to that of the load current.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the output of the simulation run in the circuit of FIG. 6 , with the current follower arrangement of the present invention tied to the PWM 111 . The output voltage 65 under open loop control is centered around 4V. First and second traces 60 , 61 represent the corrective voltages combined with the fixed threshold reference voltage 113 before being applied to the comparators 114 , 115 respectively. As described above with respect to FIG. 2 , as the average inductor output currents 21 approach the load current 22 , these voltages move toward zero, as the comparison between the inductor output voltage waveform 20 and the load current 22 results in the ideal square wave reference. Accordingly, inductor output currents 62 , 63 of the first and second buck converter stages respectively track one another, as well as the load current 64 , despite the inductors L 1 ,L 2 of the first and second buck mode supplies 102 , 103 set at 20% over and 20% under nominal respectively. Of note, the inductor output current traces 62 , 63 are overlapping and distributed generally equally over the load current 64 , as distinct from the offsets shown in the simulation results of FIGS. 4 and 5 . Thus, the current follower arrangement of the present invention acts to balance the output of each of the parallel buck converter stages 102 , 103 with respect to the load current.

While the above-described embodiments relate to a switching power supply having two converter stages, it is envisioned that the control method described therein may be utilized in power supplies having any number or stages without departing from the scope of the present invention.

While the above-described embodiments and accompanying diagrams describe particular circuit devices, such as comparators, inductors, and integrating circuits, it is envisioned that these devices may be replaced with alternatives suitable to achieve the described desired function without departing from the scope of the present invention.

While the foregoing describes exemplary embodiments and implementations, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.