Field-programmable gate array-based linear-non-linear control with high-resolution digital pulse width modulator and high-speed embedded analogue-to-digital converter for multi-phase voltage regulator modules Articles uri icon

publication date

  • August 2014

start page

  • 2001

end page

  • 2012

issue

  • 8

volume

  • 7

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1755-4535

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1755-4543

abstract

  • Power converters for applications with high switching frequency and tight output voltage regulation such as voltage regulator modules (VRM) for microprocessors power supplies require fast dynamic response to meet the specifications. An existing control technique known as linear-non-linear (LnL) control strategy allows improving the transient converter response by means of an easy rule for the saturation of the duty cycle. The use of a digital implementation can optimise the transient response of the multi-phase VRM with LnL. However, digital control leads to other problems derived from time discretisation and finite word length effects. The limited resolution and the sampling delay are critical issues for digital control implementation of multi-phase VRM with LnL control. As a result, a high-resolution digital pulse width modulator (DPWM) and high-speed analogue-to-digital (A/D) converter are required to obtain proper performance of the converter. This study is focused on the digital implementation of the well-known LnL control in a multi-phase VRM taking advantage of low-cost field-programmable gate array resources. A detailed description of the digital implementation of the main converter control blocks, which are the A/D converter, the compensator and the DPWM, is provided in the paper.

subjects

  • Electronics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Telecommunications

keywords

  • voltage regulators; power convertors; power supply circuits; field programmable gate arrays; nonlinear control systems; analogue-digital conversion; voltage control; digital control; transient response; field programmable gate array; linear-nonlinear control; high-resolution digital pulse width modulator; high-speed embedded analogue-to-digital converter; multiphase voltage regulator modules; vrm; power converters; voltage regulation; microprocessors power supplies; transient response; digital control; sampling delay