I12

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. E NO. 2. # p m 1993

Small-Signal Modeling of Average Current-Mode Control

Wei Tang, Student Member, IEEE, Fred C. Lee, Fellow, IEEE and Raymond B. Ridley, Member, IEEE
Abstract-A recently proposed average current-mode control is analyzed. A complete small-signal model for the control scheme is developed. The model is accurate up to half the switching frequency. This control scheme is suitable for applications where the average inductor current needs to be controlled, as in power factor correction circuits and battery charger/dischargers. The subharmonic oscillation, commonly found in peak current-mode control, also exists in this control. This subharmonic oscillation can be eliminated by choosing a proper gain of the compensation network in the current loop. Model predictions are confirmed experimentally.

I. INTRODUCTION HE advantages of average current-mode control, such as the ability to control the average inductor current and the improvement of noise immunity, have been presented [I]. The control scheme is illustrated in Fig. 1. The inductor current is sensed and fed into a compensation network to obtain its dc information. The output of the compensator is compared with a sawtooth ramp to generate PWM control. Since the average current is used as a controlled quantity, average current-mode control is particularly suitable for power-factor correction circuits and for applications where a constant current source is needed, such as a battery charger circuit. The main difference between average current-mode control and peak current-mode control is that in the former, the inductor current is averaged and compensated by a compensation network. In peak current-mode control, however, only the switch current is sensed, and no compensation exists in current loop. The PWM conductance control proposed in [2] senses the inductor current and compares it with a triangular ramp to generate PWM control. Also, the switching frequency of PWM conductance control is fixed; both turn-on time and tum-off time vary according to the control. Adding an integrallead network to the current loop [3] makes PWM conductatxe control similar to average current-mode control. The lowfrequency small-signal analysis of PWM conductance control was presented in [3]. Small-signal analysis, especially a continuous-time smallsignal model, is very useful in the control loop design of power supplies. As mentioned in [4], [ 5 ] ,current-mode control exhibits certain properties of a sampling system. One problem
Manuscript received November 6, 1991; revised September 25, 1992. This work was supported in part by Lambda Electronics, Inc. The authors are with the Virginia Power Electronics Center, Department of Electrical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061. IEEE Log Number 9206671.

Fig. 1. Average current-mode control scheme.

of concern is the subharmonic oscillation at half the switching frequency. In this paper, a complete small-signal model is developed for average current-mode control. It generates all the transfer functions needed for design purposes. The sampling nature of current-mode control is considered in the development of the model, so that the subharmonic oscillation can be predicted. Based on the small-signal model, design guidelines are established, and the model is experimentally verified. 11. SMALL-SIGNAL MODELING One major difference between peak current-mode control and average current-mode control is that the inductor current of the latter is averaged by a current compensator. Due to the similarity of the two control methods, the modeling technique similar to that of peak current-mode control [ 5 ] can be applied to the modeling of average current-mode control. The existence of the current compensator makes the modeling of average current-mode control more complicated. A . Modulator Gain Because of the presence of the current compensator in average current-mode control, as shown in Fig. 2 , the current loop transfer characteristics are quite different from those of peak current-mode control. In peak current-mode control, the inductor current is summed with an external ramp and directly compared with the control voltage. The modulator gain of peak current-mode control is [ 5 ]

where S, is the slope of the external ramp, S, is the inductor current on-time slope, and T, is the switching cycle.

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TIW6:ol ai.: SMALL-SIGNAL MODELING OF AVERAGE CURRENT-MODE CONTROL

113

1T , Fig. 2. Current compensator and modulator.

From Fig. 2, it can be seen that the inductor current waveform has been changed by the compensator, and the equivalent turn-on (t = DT,) slope of the modified waveform Sk can be calculated as

r -AF
SMALL SIGNAL

Ws)

" cG P H

Fig. 3. Small-signal model of average current-mode control.

where

The modulator gain of average current-mode control is determined by the sum of the external ramp slope and the turn-on time slope of the modified current waveform:

B. Sampling Gain
In the small-signal sense, the current loop behaves as a sampling system [5].According to sampling theory [6], the phase shift of the system transfer function is always real at half the sampling frequency (the sampling frequency of a currentmode control system is equal to the switching frequency). When modeling peak current-mode control, the sampling effect is approximated by the sampling gain [3] H e ( s ) , a double RHP zero at half the switching frequency:

loop gain always exhibits a 180" phase shift at half the switching frequency no matter where the second pole is placed. If the second pole is placed after half of the switching frequency, it does not significantly affect the current loop gain. Since the purpose of the second pole is to eliminate highfrequency noise, it should be placed after half of the switching frequency. If the second pole of the current compensator is placed after half of the switching frequency, the sampling gain used in peak current-mode control can be used in average current-mode control. At high frequency, the characteristics of the current loop of average current-mode control are almost the same as those of peak current-mode control. Due to the existence of the low-pass filter in the converter power stage, the voltage loop does not behave as a sampling system, and the compensator pole exists in the voltage loop.

C. Feedback and Feedfonvard Gain

The small-signal model of average current-mode control is shown in Fig. 3, where
Wi

(I

+9

w, = -

'IT

T s.

(9)

In average current-mode control, an integrator and a lead-lag network are employed in the current loop. The zero is usually placed before the power stage filter frequency to ensure the stability of the current loop, so the phase shift of the integrator is canceled by the zero at half the switching frequency. The effect of the second pole on the current loop was studied. Due to the nature of the sampling system, the current

Although a current compensator exists in the current loop, the switching ripple at the output of the compensator is still comparable to the external ramp size, as shown in Fig. 4. Furthermore, the compensator output is a function of the input and output voltages and the pole-zero locations of the current compensator. The duty cycle is affected by the perturbations of input and output voltages. The effect of the input and output voltage perturbations on the duty cycle can be modeled by feedback and feedforward gain terms k , and k f from input and output voltages 131.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS. VOL. E, NO. 2, APRIL 1993

TABLE I FEEDFORWARD AND FEEDBACK GAINS FOR AVERAGE CURRENT-MODE CONTROL Buck
kf k,
DD - Y E ' T- % (

Boost

BuckBoost

-EL L<-% ( LL 1L

DD'T

-E&

EL(

Fig. 4. Steady-state waveforms of average current-mode control

Referring to Fig. 2, the following relation can be obtained:

U ,

bP L
vc

= U, - G , ( s ) ( R i i ~ - w,)

(12)

where G,(s) is the current compensator transfer function

G c ( s )= G,(s)G,(s)

(13)

and om is the output of the current compensator. If the average quantity is considered, (12) becomes
=o
(wm) = 21,

- K ( & ( ~ L) U,)

(14)

Fig. 5. Simplified small-signal model for deriving feedforward gain k f .

where the quantities ( i ~ ) and ( w m ) denote the average value of z~ and w,, respectively. K is the dc gain of the current compensator; it is finite for a real op-amp. From Fig. 4, the following equation can be derived:
(om) = Seton

and

a=

+AV,.

Substituting (15) into (14),

K(RZ(2L)- U,) = U , - Set,, - .+ , J

Equation (16) gives the relationship between the average inductor current and input and output voltages. By perturbing (16) with respect to <ZL> and w,, the Gg to <;L> transfer function can be obtained. The same transfer function can also be derived from Fig. 5 , with k f as an unknown:
111. SMALL-SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS

By comparing these two transfer functions, k f is obtained. k , can be obtained through the same procedure. Table I lists k f and k , for three basic PWM converters employing average current-mode control where

By using the small-signal model derived in the previous section, all of the small-signal characteristics can be generated through simulations. Simplified analytical transfer functions are also derived to gain physical insight and to facilitate the design. A buck converter was used as an example to show the smallsignal characteristics of the average current-mode control. All of the characteristics are generated from the model shown in Fig. 3 and are compared with those of peak current-mode control. The power stage parameters of the buck converter were V , = 14 V v, = 5 v R = 1 R L = 37.5 p H C = 380 pF

TANG et al.: SMALL-SIGNAL MODELING OF AVERAGE CURRENT-MODE CONTROL

115

gain (dB)

gain (dB)
30,

u+

1435

-lo -20 I 1 m

I
5m
1 . m 2.000

. -'O mlm

L
aa
xc

,.m

zm

Lm

l0.m

m m

5.m

l0.W 2 o . m

Frequency(Hz) phase(degree)
I

Frequency (HZ) phase (degree)

l m

xa

1 . m

zm

I "

l 0 . m

am

Im

zm

rxr

l.m

zm

5.m

1o.m

a r . m

Frequency (Hz)

Frequency(Hz)

Fig. 6. Current loop gain with U ; as a running parameter.

Fig. 7. Current loop gain with wT as a running parameter.

R, = 20 m52 F, = 50 kHz.
The current loop elements value were R; = 0.152 Ri = 2.2 kR R f = 30.5 k52 C j , = 5.8 nF Cf, = 220 pF. 1 and Cf,, different w; and w; were obtained. By varying R

B. Control-to-Output Voltage Gain

The control-to-output voltage gain is defined as the controlto-output voltage transfer function of average current-mode control with the current loop closed. Fig. 8 shows these transfer functions with w; as the running parameter. It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the control-to-output gains have a lowfrequency pole and a pair of double poles at half the switching frequency, and the damping of the double poles is affected by the integrator gain of the current compensator (it is also affected by the extemal ramp slope, which is not shown in Fig. 8). The current compensator pole wp also exists in control-tooutput gain. An approximated expression of control-to-output gain is given as follows:
- N -

A. Current Loop Gain

Current loop gain is defined as the loop gain measured at the output of the duty cycle modulator with the current loop closed. Its analytical expression is given in (21):

T ; ( s )=

FmRiV,
~

(1

+ sRC)
+aZLC]
where

6,

"

,.-

+ sRcC) Ri [1+ sR(C + Cx)]

R
(1 1 c - F,V,w;R;

[l+s(;+cRc)

It can be seen from (21) that the dc gain of the current loop is affected by both the extemal ramp (appearing in F , ) and the integrator gain U ; ; its shape is affected by the compensator zero w,. While in peak current-mode control, the shape of the current loop gain is fixed, and the gain is only affected by the slope of the extemal ramp; hence, there is more freedom in designing the current loop for average currentmode control. Fig. 6 shows a set of current loop gains with wi as a running parameter. The current loop gain with w, as a running parameter is shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen from Figs. 6 and 7 that the low-frequency portion of the current gain is much higher than that of peak current-mode control [3]. It means that there is less low-frequency error in the current loop for average current-mode control.

and

ItWnQp

t-

where

From (25), it can be seen that the damping factor of the double pole at half the switching frequency is affected by

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 8, NO. 2, APRIL 1993

gain (dB)

w b
20.

10

\
xo
m

-.-.-..=..wi

w, -3.3ZE+5

- 7.55E+'$.<:..

\ : .

,
\'

, I
a' tm ~.mam

xm

10.m

w,m

20

Frequency (Hz) phase (degree)

IM

P S

,m

an

ya

,ma

2 "

5ma

1 0 m

w m

w
'CI~

Frequency (Hz)

Frequency (Hz)
dz

Fig. 8. Control-to-output voltage transfer function with parameter.

as a running

Fig. 9. Control-to-inductor current transfer function with running parameter.

as a

both the extemal ramp slope and the integrator gain w ; of the current compensator. The approximation is very close to the simulation results shown in Fig. 8.

gain (dB)
Jo

C. Control-to-Inductor Current Gain

The control-to-inductor current transfer function with the current loop closed is shown in Fig. 9. It can be seen from Fig. 9 that the gain characteristics are almost flat, except for a small dip in the midband. An analytical approximation of the transfer function for the buck converter is given in (26):

1
,m

5m

,aa

2 m

5aa

? o m zona

m m

Frequency (Hz) phase (degree)

-=I

'

.<..
4 '

It can be seen from (26) that there is a pole-zero pair near w WR:
1

Frequency (Hz)

Fig. IO.

Control-to-inductor current transfer function of peak current-mode control.

It should be noted that there is another pole-zero pair near w = w,, in the control-to-inductor current gain, which is not given in (26). These two pole-zero pairs produce the small dip in the midband of the control-to-inductor current gain. For most operating conditions, this dip is smaller than 2 dB. By properly controlling the resonance at half the switching frequency, a wide and flat control-to-inductor current transfer function can be obtained. The control-to-inductor current gain of peak current-mode control is shown in Fig. 10, with the ratio of the external ramp to the inductor current on-time slope as a running parameter. Fig. 10 shows that it is impossible to obtain a wide and flat control-to-inductor current gain with peak current-mode

D.Audiosusceptibility
Because of the inherent negative feedforward from the input voltage, the audiosusceptibility of average current-mode control with the current loop closed is smaller than that of converter power stage. A set of audiosusceptibility of the buck converter with average current-mode control is shown in Fig. 11. An approximate expression of it is given in (28):
_

CO R ( k f F m V g D ) (1 sR,C) ..vug FmVugRiw; [l sR(C Cz)]

N

:'J

Fh(s). (28)

TANG et al.: SMALL-SIGNAL MODELING OF AVERAGE CURRENT-MODE CONTROL

117

gain (dB)
-20r

gain (dB)
i

"

-Y
-,o
tm

ExperimentPrediction

am

xo

1 . m

zm

5 m

mam

I
20.000 -20

----

Frequency(Hz)

Fig. 11. Audiosusceptibility with w, as a running parameter.

.-

Since kf has a negative value, it is possible to completely null the circuit response to the input voltage perturbation by selecting Se and w,, but kf and F, have nonlinear relations with Se and w i , and it is difficult to find the exact values to null the audiosusceptibility. While in peak current-mode control, it is easy to choose an external ramp slope which totally nulls the input perturbation.

93

45

wrimentPrediction - - - -

45

rm

a0

xo

i.m

zmo

5 . m

i0.m

zo.rm

Frequency(Hz)

IV. DESIGN GUIDELINES

After studying the small-signal characteristics of average current-mode control, certain design guidelines have been developed. The current compensator can be designed as follows. First, the second pole should be placed after half the switching frequency. The zero should be placed at lesat one decade before half the switching frequency. Second, the function of the external ramp is similar to that of the sawtooth ramp in voltage-mode control; this means that any sufficient large ramp can be used as the external ramp. Third, for a given ramp, choose the integrator gain wi which makes Q p = 1. It gives proper damping on the resonant peak at half the switching frequency. By setting Q p in (25) equal to one

Fig. 12. Measurement and prediction of the current loop gain for a buck converter.

gain (de)

w h

-20

wi Prediction - - - -

7.55E+4

Exprimenzm

im

am

PO

1 . m

5 m

1 0 . m

=.ox

The voltage loop design of average current-mode control is similar to peak current-mode control.

Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 13. Measurement and prediction of control-to-outputvoltage gain for a buck converter.

V. EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION
A buck converter was built with the same component values as those given in the previous section. To measure the current loop gain, a digital modulator [7] was used to ensure that the correct sampled-data loop gain was obtained. All other measurements were performed with conventional analog measurement schemes. The measured and predicted current loop gains are shown in Fig. 12. Both the gain and phase measurement agree very well with predictions up to half of the switching frequency.

The control-to-output voltage and control-to-inductor current gains, measured with the current loop closed, are shown in Figs. 13 and 14, respectively. The measurements again show very good correlation with the theoretical results. The peak of the gains at half the switching frequency clearly shows the existence of two complex poles. The measurement and predicted result of the audiosusceptibility of the buck converter with the current loop closed are shown in Fig. 15. Again, the measurement and prediction agree very well.

. . -

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 8, NO. 2, APRIL 1993

gain (dB)

I
im

w,

- 7.558+4\

YI)

?.m

zm

saa

ro.mo

z 0 . m

Frequency (HZ) phase (degree)

,80

ExperimentPrediction - - - w
%a

-zn lca

l.ao

zm

Iaa

10.m

w.m

Frequency (Hz) Fig. 14. Measurement and prediction of the control-to-inductor current gain for a buck converter.

The current loop gain of average current-mode control always exhibits a 180 o phase shift at half the switching frequency no matter where the second pole of the current compensator is placed. If the pole is placed after half the switching frequency, the noise picked up by the sensing network is attenuated, while the stability of the system is not affected. The control-to-output voltage gain has more phase delay than that of peak current-mode control because of the existence of the second pole of the current compensator. The resonant peak caused by the complex poles at half the switching frequency can be controlled by selecting the gain of the current compensator. In peak current-mode control, the resonant peak can only be damped by the extemal ramp. This allows more flexibility in the design of average current-mode control. Based on the small-signal analysis, a design guideline is proposed. By properly selecting the gain of the current compensator, subharmonic oscillation can be avoided. An almost flat control-to-inductor current gain can be achieved when the current compensator is properly designed. The accuracy of the model is confirmed with the measurements of a buck converter.

REFERENCES
[l] L. H. Dixon, Average current-mode control of switching power supplies, in Unitrode Power Supply Design Seminar Handbook, 1990. [2] D. OSullivan, H. Spruyt, and A. Crausaz, PWM conductance control, in IEEE Power Electron. Specialists Con5 Rec., 1988, pp. 351-359. [3] A. S. Kislovski, Small-signal low-frequency analysis of a buck type PWM conductance controller, in IEEE Power Electron. Specialists Con$ Rec., 1990, pp. 88-95. [4] A. R. Brown, Topics in the analysis, measurement, and design of highperformance switching regulator, Ph.D. dissertation, Califomia Inst. Technol., Pasadena, May 1981. [5] R. B. Ridley, A new small-signal model for current-mode control, Ph.D. dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. State Univ., Blacksburg, Nov. 1990. [6] A. V. Oppenheim and R. W. Schafer, Digital Signal Processing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975. [7] B. H. Cho and F. C. Lee, Measurement of loop gain with the digital modulator, in IEEE Power Electron. Specialists Con5 Rec., 1984, pp. 363-373.

Prediction - - Q

Im

aa

ya

lm

2 m

la0

?om

am)

Frequency (Hz) Fig. 15. Measurement and prediction of the audiosusceptibility for a buck converter.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

In peak current-mode control, the peak inductor current is sensed and compared with the control voltage derived from the voltage loop. While in average current-mode control, it is the average inductor which compares with the control voltage. Hence, average current-mode control controls the real averaged inductor current. This is particularly true when the converter is operated in the discontinuous conduction mode. When the buck converter employs average currentmode control, the output current, which equals the average inductor current, is also controlled. It means that an ideal current source is achieved. Likewise, in the case of a boost converter, the average input current is controlled, which makes it suitable for a power factor correction circuit. Because of the existence of the current compensator in the control loop, the small-signal characteristics of average current-mode control are quite different from those of the peak current-mode control. Due to the usage of an op-amp, the current loop gain of the average current-mode control possesses very high gain at low frequency. While in peak current-mode control, the low-frequency gain of the current loop is rather small.

Wei Tang (S90) received the B.S. and M.S. degrees

from Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China, in 1982 and 1985, respectively, both in electrical engineering. Since 1988 he has been working towards the Ph.D. degree at the Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. From 1985 to 1988 he worked as a Senior Engineer at the Research Center of Computer Applications, Chengdu, China. He is now a Research Assistant at the Vireinia Power Electronics Center. His research interests include modeling, analysis, and control of the switching power converter, and power factor correction. Mr. Tang is a member of Eta Kappa Nu.

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119

Fred C. Lee (S72-M74-SM87-F90) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, in 1968, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University, Durham, NC, in 1971 and 1974, respectively. From 1974 to 1977 he was employed as a member of the Technical Staff at TRW Systems, Redondo Beach, CA. He was responsible for designing power converters for spacecraft power systems. He joined Virginia Tech in 1977. He is presently the James S. Tucker Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the Virginia Power Electronics Center (VPEC). In 1987 he was appointed as the director of the Technology Development Center for Power Electronics of the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology. He is the founder of the Centers Industry Partnership Program. To date, 62 companies from all over the world have subscribed to the program. His research interests include high-frequency power conversion, distributed power systems, space power systems, device characterization, and modeling and control of converters and design optimization. During his career, he has published over 80 refereed joumal papers, and more than 150 technical papers. Dr. Lee has received nine best paper awards from various technical conferences. He has been awarded ten patents, with five additional patents pending. He has been an active consultant for over 20 companies in the power electronics industries. He is currently a member of the AdCom of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, and an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS . He was the Chairman of the 1987 IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference. Dr. Lee is a recipient of the Society of Automotive Engineering 1985 Ralph R. Teeter Educational Award, the IEEE Power Electronics Society 1989 William E. Newel1 Power Electronics Award, the 1990 PCIM Award for Leadership in Power Electronics Education, and the Virginia Tech 1990 Alumni Award for Research Excellence.

(S90-M90) received the B.S. degree from Boston University, Boston, MA, in 1981 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, in 1986 and 1990, respectively, all in electrical engineering. From 1981 to 1984 he was employed as a Senior Engineer in the Power Systems Group at Prime Computer, where he worked on the design and analysis of computer power supplies. His research specialties include power converter control and analysis, high-frequency converters, and computer-aided design for power systems. He served as the Assistant Director of Virginia Power Electronics Center from 1987 to 1991. Presently, he is a consultant in power electronics.

Raymond B. Ridley