DC-DC Switching Boost Converter

by

Anita Soni

ECE 345
Senior Design Final Report
TA: Inseop Lee
May 4, 1999
Project Number: 63

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ABSTRACT
The switching power supply market is flourishing quickly in todays high-tech world. Design
engineers arent always supplied with the desired amount of voltage they need in order to
make their design work. Adding an additional voltage supply to a design is not always cost
efficient. This report is intended to provide the designer with a method of boosting DC
voltage from 5 Volts to 12 Volts, by using a DC-DC switching boost converter designed
specifically for this task. All goals, design procedures, tests, data, conclusions, and costs have
been documented within this report. Results of experiments show that the switching
converter will boost voltage from 5 volts to 12 volts with power conversion efficiency of 73
percent.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Introduction 1
1.1

Purpose of the Project.1

1.2

Block Diagram1

1.3

Specifications..1

Design Procedures ....2

2.1

General Boost Converter Configuration.2

2.2

Component Functions.3

Design Details3
3.1

Detailed Circuit Description and Function..3

3.2

Component Calculations.4

3.3

Simulation Procedure..6

Design Verification6
4.1

Test Setup ...6

4.2

Design Modifications..7

4.3

Test Results.7

Costs.11
5.1

Parts Cost Estimate11

5.2

Labor Cost Estimate..11

6.

Conclusions..11

7.

Appendix 1: Data Sheet for MC3306312

8.

Appendix 2: Simulation results...16

9.

Appendix 3: Complete schematic....18

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10.

Appendix 4: References...19

1.

Introduction
1.1

Purpose of the Project

Efficiency, size, and cost are the primary advantages of switching power converters
when compared to linear converters. Switching power converter efficiencies can run
between 70-80%, whereas linear converters are usually 30% efficient. The DC-DC
Switching Boost Converter is designed to provide an efficient method of taking a
given DC voltage supply and boosting it to a desired value.

1.2

Block Diagram
The basic building blocks of a boost converter circuit are shown in Fig. 1.
Magnetic
Field Storage
Element

Voltage
Source

Switch
Control

Switching
Element

Output
Rectifier and
Filter

Fig. 1 Block diagram

The voltage source provides the input DC voltage to the switch control, and to the
magnetic field storage element. The switch control directs the action of the
switching element, while the output rectifier and filter deliver an acceptable DC
voltage to the output.
1.3

Specifications
Design engineers working in todays high tech environment have to deal with a
rapidly changing market of electronic products and components. As new technology
develops, integrated circuits function faster and are smaller in size. However, many

integrated circuits still require a voltage of 12 volts in order to function. The DC-DC
Switching Boost Converter will take a 5 Volt DC voltage supply with 10 %
tolerance and deliver 12 Volts across the load. The maximum output ripple will be
2% of the output voltage, while the maximum current delivered to the load will be
100 mA. The circuit will operate with a minimum efficiency of 70%.
2.

Design Procedures
2.1

General Boost Converter Configuration

Several different boost converter designs have been developed in the past. In order
to achieve the results specified for this project, the output voltage of the converter
needs to be higher than the input voltage. This type of converter operates in the
flyback-mode. The flyback-mode boost converter is shown below, in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Flyback-mode boost converter

When the transistor is conducting, current is being drawn through the inductor. At
this time energy is being stored in the inductor. When the transistor stops conducting
the inductor voltage flies back or reverses because the current through the inductor
cannot change instantaneously. The voltage across the inductor increases to a value
that is higher than the combined voltage across the diode and the output capacitor.

As soon as this value is reached, the diode starts conducting and the voltage that
appears across the output capacitor, is higher than the input voltage.
2.2

Component Functions
The inductor shown in Fig. 2 acts as the magnetic field storage element shown in
Fig. 1. It stores energy in its core material. The ideal PWM functions as the switch
control and the transistor acts as the switch element. A diode and an output capacitor
are used to perform the function of the output rectifier and filter block.

3.

Design Details
3.1

Detailed Circuit Description and Function

The MC33063 control chip manufactured by Motorola was used for the switch
control. Appendix 1 shows the data sheet for this control chip. This particular chip
was chosen because of the minimum number of external components required to
implement the design. The transistor shown in Fig. 2 is internal to the control chip.
Therefore, an external switch will not be required. This device also consists of a
1.25 V reference regulator, a comparator, and a controlled duty cycle oscillator. The
oscillator charges and discharges an external timing capacitor. The upper threshold
of the timing capacitor is equal to the reference regulator voltage of 1.25 V.
The value of the timing capacitor sets the frequency of the entire circuit and controls
the rate of operation of the oscillator. When the capacitor is charging the voltage at
the lower input of the AND gate is high. The comparator inverting input is
connected to two external resistors, which control the duty cycle of the circuit. When
the output voltage of the converter falls below the required value, the inverted input
of the comparator will fall below 1.25 V. Then the comparator will output a Logic

1 and the SR latch will set, enabling the transistor to conduct until 1.25 V is again
present at both inputs of the comparator. The timing capacitor will then discharge. A
Logic 0 will be present at the lower input of the AND gate and the transistor will
stop conducting.
3.2

Component Calculations
In order for the circuit to function properly, the external components need to be
calculated carefully. When the switch is on, the voltage across the inductor is
di
ILPK
L
dt
ton

(1)

Vin Vsat
ton
L

(2)

VL L
and the current is given by
ILon

When the switch is off, the voltage across the inductor is given by
di
IL min ILPK
L

dt
toff

and the current is given by

VL L

(3)

Vout VF Vin
toff
(4)
L

VF is the forward voltage drop of the output rectifier and Vsat is the saturation voltage
ILoff ILpk

of the output switch. Since ILon= ILoff, Eqs.(2) and (4) can be set equal to each other.
This operation gives a ratio for the on time over the off time. This ratio is given by
ton Vout VF Vin (min)

toff
Vin (min) Vsat

(5)

The values of Vin(miu), VF, Vout, and Vsat are 4.5 V, 0.8 V, 12V, and 0.3 V respectively.

The inverse of the frequency of operation yields the on time plus the off time.
The frequency of operation for this boost converter was chosen to be 62.5 kHz.
Therefore,
ton toff

1
16 s
f

(6)

Equations (5) and (6) yield an on time of 9.834s and an off time of 6.166s. The
duty cycle is given by
D

ton
ton toff

(7)

The calculated duty cycle of this circuit is 61.5%. The value of the external timing
capacitor is calculated using
CT [4.0 * 10^ (5)] * ton

(8)

The value of the timing capacitor is 390 pF. The peak current through the switch is
given by

ton
1
toff

Ipkswitch 2 * Iout

(9)

and the minimum required inductance is given by

Vin (min) Vsat
Ipkswitch

L min

(10)

The calculated value of the minimum inductance is 80 H. The resistance required

for the current sense resister is given by
0.3
Rsc
Ipkswitch

(11)

The calculated value for the current sense resistor is 0.5 . The value of the output
capacitor is given by
Cout

Iout
ton
Vripple

(12)

Using a 0.6 V for Vripple, Cout is equal to 1.68 F. The values of the resistors used to

R2

Vout 1.25 1
R1

(13)

control the duty cycle are given by

R1 and R2 were chosen to be 2.4 k and 20.64 k, respectively.

3.3

Simulation Procedure
Figure 4 shows the exact circuit that was used in the PSPICE simulation.
Fig. 4 PSPICE simulation

A pulse was used to mimic the operation of the control chip. An on time of 9.83us
and an off time of 6.16us were entered into the attributes of the pulse. The circuit
was simulated with a 120 resister connected across the output capacitor. The
results of the simulation have been included in Appendix 2. Figure A2.1 shows the
waveform of the voltage at the switching node of the converter. Figure A2.2 shows
the waveform of the output voltage. The output voltage levels are at 12 V.
4.

Design Verification

4.1

Test Setup
The boost converter was built on a standard breadboard. The 5 VDC input voltage
was supplied by a Hewlett Packard power supply. All DC measurements were taken
using Fluke multimeters, and all waveforms were obtained via an oscilloscope.

4.2

Design Modifications
To obtain the necessary boosting action, the 80uH inductor was increased to a 120uH
inductor with a thicker gauge wire, manufactured by Coil Craft.

In order to

eliminate noise at the output, all wire lengths were shortened. To eliminate noise
from the ground plane, 0.1 uF capacitors were added to the input and the output of
the circuit.

The 1.68uF capacitor was increased to 56 uF, in order to decrease the

output ripple. The resulting circuit schematic has been inserted into Appendix 3.
4.3

Test Results
The first waveform shown in Fig. 5 is a picture of the voltage at the switching node.

Fig. 5 Voltage across the switching node and timing capacitor

The frequency of operation is 61.33kHz. The circuit is operating with a 63.2% duty
Cycle. The second waveform shows the voltage across the timing capacitor. The
upper threshold of the timing capacitor can be seen to be 1.25V.
As shown in Fig. 6, the output ripple is 190mV, or 1.6%, when a 120 resistor is
used as the load.

Fig. 6 Output Ripple with a 120 load resistor.

Figure 7 shows the output ripple with no load connected across the output. Under
this condition, the output ripple is 0.04% of the output voltage.

Fig. 7 Output ripple with no load

The output ripple waveform shown in Figure 8, was taken with a 145
load resistor. In this case, the output ripple is also 1.6%.

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Fig. 8 Output ripple with 145 ohm load resistor

Table 1 shows the input and output voltages, input and output currents, ripple
percentage, and power efficiencies with three different load conditions.
TABLE 1. TEST RESULTS

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Input Voltage

120 Ohms
4.993 V

No Load
4.993 V

145 Ohms
4.993 V

Input Current

0.318 A

0.0045 A

0.277 A

Output Voltage

12.110 V

12.047 V

12.012 V

Output Current

0.0954 A

0A

0.0802 A

Output Ripple

1.6 %

0.04 %

1.6 %

Efficiency

73%

Not Applicable

71%

The circuit was also tested to make sure it would function properly with a 5VDC
supply that had 10% tolerance. An input voltage was 4.5 V corresponded to an
output voltage of 12.1. An input voltage of 5.5 V, gave 12.1V at the output.
5.

Costs
5.1 Parts Cost Estimate
The part numbers and values of all components have been listed in Table 2.
Part Designation
MC33063A
PCH45124
1N5819
--------------------

CT
-------------------Rsc
Rcurrent Limit
R1
R2
RL
---------------------------------------

Table 2 COMPONENT COSTS

Description
Converter Control
120uH Inductor
Schottky Diode
Subtotal
0.1uF Capacitor
100 uF Electrolytic Capacitor
50 uF Electrolytic Capacitor
390 pF Capacitor
Estimated Capacitor Total
1 Watt Resistor
33 Watt Resistor
2.4 k Watt Resistor
20.6 k Watt Resistor
50 10W Power Resistor
Estimated Resistor Total
Component Total Cost

Quantity
1
1
1
----------2
1
1
1
-----------2
1
1
1
4
------------

Price
$1.22
$1.37
$0.81
$3.40
$0.10
$0.19
$0.15
$0.07
$0.51
$0.10
$0.05
$0.05
$0.05
$2.08
$2.33
$5.43

5.2 Labor Cost Estimate

The labor cost was calculated using an hourly wage of $25.00. The average number

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of hours spent on this project were 8 hours per week, for 12 weeks.

6.

Total Labor Cost =8*12*2.5*25=$4500

(14)

Grand Total = $5.43 +$6000=$6005.43

(15)

Conclusions
All of the specifications stated previously have been met by this boost converter design.
The output voltage across the output capacitor is 12V with a maximum output ripple of
1.6%. The power efficiency of the circuit exceeds 70 % for the load range of 120-145.
However an additional constraint needs to be put on the load. The load must not exceed 150
. This will cause the efficiency to fall below the specified value of 70%.

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APPENDIX 4. REFERENCES
Marty Brown, Practical Switching Power Supply Design, New York: Academic Press, Inc.,
1990, pp. 5-26.
Irving M. Gottlieb, Power Supplies, Switching Regulators, Inverters, & Converters, New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1993, pp. 132-141.
D. M. Mitchell, DC-DC Switching Regulator Analysis, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988,
pp. 153-159.
G. Seguier, Power Electronic Converters: DC-DC Conversion, New York, Springer-Verlag,
Inc., 1993, pp. 201-217.