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PowerViews
February 4, 2013
The Time for Modern Control Methods is Now
Paul Gregory
CEO, Cirasys Inc.
Power Channels: Digital Power, Packaging and Cooling, Power Components, Switch-Mode Power
Enabled by the availability of faster and more computationally capable microcontrollers, an increasing number of power systems are being implemented with digital (software) control. Yet the promise of digital control – tremendous gains in performance, flexibility, and configurability – is often only weakly delivered in applications. This is largely due to the lack of modern control methods that can take full advantage of digital architectures. The greatest success in implementing digital control has been realized with linear plants (e.g. buck) because of their design simplicity.
As with analog controls, the designer of a digital nonlinear converter (e.g. boost or buck-boost) today still uses averaged models and linearizes around a specific operating point, carrying with the design all of the limitations and compromises of small signal control methods: complex, iterative design cycles, low bandwidth, narrow operating ranges, limited stability, and slow transient response to name a few. Like the old adage regarding bringing a knife to a gunfight, the designer is fighting a nonlinear battle with linear methods. As a result, boost and buck-boost converters are often bypassed by engineers in favor of simpler bucks, even if the application would be better served with these nonlinear topologies.
Other industries have faced similar challenges in migrating to digital control. As high-performance military aircraft evolved, implementations of “fly-by-wire” computer-controlled flight were only marginally successful until nonlinear control methods such as Feedback Linearization were developed. These methods were designed specifically to solve the nonlinearities of flight control and were the key element that moved fly-by-wire into the mainstream, enabling outstanding stability, safety, and jaw-dropping maneuverability. Today, fly–by-wire implementations are an essential part of military and commercial aircraft.
Modern, nonlinear control methods can have a similar, dramatic impact on both the design cycle and performance of boost and buck-boost converters. These methods deal with the actual nonlinear system without having to do small signal linearization or requiring a new control design at each operating point. Computationally intensive, these methods have only become practical for broader application with the rise in microcontroller performance.
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