Advanced Industrial Electronics

Resonant Power Converters

References
[1] Kazimierczuk M., Czarkowski D., Resonant power converters, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1995
[2] Kazimierczuk M., Czarkowski D., Solutions manual for - Resonant power converters, John
Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1995
[3] Brown M., Power supply cookbook, Newnes, 2001
[4] Luo F. L., Ye H. Synchronous and resonant DC/DC conversion technology, energy factor, and
mathematical modeling, Taylor and Francis Group, 2006
[5] Hagerman J., Calculating optimum snubbers, Hagerman Technology, 1995
[6] International Rectifier, AN-978 HV floating MOS-Gate driver ICs, International Rectifier
Application Note, (www.irf.com)
[7] Hang-Seok Choi, AN-4151 Half bridge LLC resonant converter design using FSFR-series
Fairchild Power Switch, Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation Application Note, 2007
[8] STMicroelectronics, AN2450 LLC resonant halfbridge converter design
guidline,STMicroelectronics Application Note, 2007, (www.st.com)

References
[9] Bosso C., AND8311/D Understanding the LLC structure in resonant applications, ON
Semiconductor, 2008, (www.onsemi.com)
[10] Cree Inc., C2D05120-Silicon Carbide Schottky Diode, Cree Data Sheet, 2006,
(www.cree.com)
[11] IXYS Corporation, IXDN430 30 amp low-side ultrafast MOSFET/IGBT driver, IXYS
Corporation Data Sheet, 2004, (www.ixys.com)
[12] IXYS Corporation, EVDD 430S/ EVDD 430CY 30A Ultra Fast MOSFET/IGBT driver
evaluation board, IXYS Corporation, 2003, (www.ixys.com)
[13] IXYS Corporation, IXFL32N120P Polar Power MOSFET HiperFET, IXYS Corporation Data
Sheet, 2008, (www.ixys.com)
[14] IXYS Corporation, IXFN60N80P PolarHV Power HiperFET MOSFET, IXYS Corporation Data
Sheet, 2006, (www.ixyys.com)
[15] STMicroelectronics, L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet,
2006, (www.st.com)
[16] Infineon Technologies AG, SKW25N120 fast IGBT in NPT technology, Infineon Data Sheet,
2006

1
 Introduction

PWM and resonant power converting ideas

Introduction
DC-DC converter
MAINS AC DC
230V/400V Low frequency 320V/560V DC
50 Hz Vin AC High frequency Vout
rectifier, filter PWM/Resonant
with PFC inverter
rectifier Load
and filter
correction

PFC Converter
Controller Controller

Block diagram of a typical PWM/resonant switching power supply

Introduction
The function of DC-DC converter are as follows:
- to convert a DC input voltage (Vin) into a DC output voltage (Vout)
- to control the DC output voltage (Vout) against load and mains
variations
- to reduce the AC ripple on the DC output voltage (Vout) below the
required level
- to provide isolation between the input source and the load
- to protect the supplied system from electromagnetic interference
(EMI)
- to satisfy various international and national safety standards

2
 Introduction

Voltage-switching half-bridge inverters with various resonant circuits

Introduction
Main features of the resonant circuits:
- circuits a), f) and g) supply a sinusoidal output current and
are compatible with current-driven high frequency rectifiers
- inverters (b)-(e) produce a sinusoidal output voltage and
are compatible with voltage-driven rectifier
- for the circuits (b)-(g) resonant frequency depends on the
load

LLC inverter basics

3
 LLC inverter basics
L1
- the ratio of the inductance: A=
L2

 1
- the equivalent inductance: L = L1 + L2 = L2 ( A + 1) = L2 1 + 
 A
1 1
- the undamped natural frequency: ω0 = =
LC (L1 + L2 )C

- the characteristic impedance: Z 0 = ω0 L = 1 = L

ω 0C C

LLC inverter basics

RL RL
- the loaded quality factor at f0: QL = ω0CRL = =
ω0 L Z0
- the equivalent inductance of the damped circuits:
L2
Leq = L1 + Ls where Ls =
ω 2 L22
1+
RL2
1 1
- the resonant frequency: ωr = =
LeqC (L1 + Ls )C
- the quality factor at the resonant frequency:
1 ω (L + Ls ) where R = RL
1 + RL2 / (ωr2 L22 )
Qr = = r 1 s
ωr CRs Rs

LLC inverter basics

Gain
capacitive region inductive region
ZCS ZVS
peak gain
Mmax

f
f0

4
 LLC inverter basics
Capacitive region – current leads the voltage, bridge
MOSFETs operate in zero current switching (ZCS). It means
that power MOSFETs are turned-off (Vds decreases from Vin
to 0) at zero current. Switching-off losses can be neglected.

Inductive region – current lags the voltage. Power switches are

turned-on (Is is increasing from 0 to Ismax) at zero volts (ZVS).
Switching-on losses can be neglected.

For frequency fsw = f0 the MOSFETs turn on and turn off at

zero currents, resulting in zero switching losses and high
efficiency.

LLC inverter basics

*Taken from „Resonant power

converters”,
KazimierczukM.,Czarkowski D.[1]

LLC inverter basics

Operating below resonant frequency (ZCS):
a) conductive sequence is Q1, D1, Q2, D2
b) there are a few detrimental effects of switching-on MOSFET:
- reverse recovery of the antiparallel diode of the opposite switch
- second breakdown of the MOSFET parasitic bipolar transistor
- discharging of transistor output capacitance (additional losses)
- Miller’s effect

5
 LLC inverter basics
Operating below resonant frequency:
d) IGBT transistors or thyristors with antiparallel diode should be used instead of
MOSFETs

*Taken from „ SKW25N120 fast

IGBT in NPT technology, Infineon
Data Sheet, 2006 [16]

LLC inverter basics

Operating at frequency fsw=f0:
- transistors turn on and turn off at zero currents
- efficiency is high because of lack the conducting losses
- antiparallel diodes never conduct
- output power or output voltage of the converters can not be
controlled

LLC inverter basics

Operating at frequency fsw > f0:
- the conduction sequence of the semiconductor devices is
D1-Q1-D2-Q2
Vgs1
Td
- MOSFETs Vgs2

operates at ZVS
Vds2

i Vin
ZVS t

6
 LLC inverter basics

The LLC resonant converter with a transformer center-tapped rectifier

LLC inverter basics

S2 in ON, D4 is conducting

LLC inverter basics

S2 is ON, D1 – D4 are blocked

7
 LLC inverter basics

S1, S2 are OFF, Coss1 id discharging, Coss2 is charging

LLC inverter basics

VCoss2=Vin+Vf, D1 conducts; S1, S2 are OFF; D3, D4 are blocked

LLC inverter basics

S1 is ON, D3 is conducting

8
 LLC inverter basics

S1 is ON; D3, D4 are blocked

LLC inverter basics

S1, S2 are OFF, Coss1 is charging, Coss2 id discharging

LLC inverter basics

S1, S2 are OFF, VCoss2 = -Uf, D2 is conducting

9
 LLC inverter basics

*Taken from „AND8311/D

Understanding the LLC
structure in resonant
applications”, Bosso C.
ON Semiconductor, 2008
[9]

LLC full-bridge converter

High frequency rectifiers

10
 High frequency rectifiers
The features of current driven diode rectifiers:
- have to be driven by current source
- the DC output current is directly proportional to the
amplitude of the input current
- the diode threshold voltage Uf, the diode forward
resistance Rf and filter capacitor ESR reduce efficiency of
the rectifiers
- the center-tapped rectifier has the highest efficiency, while
the half-wave has the lowest

High frequency rectifiers

The features of current driven diode rectifiers:
- half-wave and bridge rectifier are suitable high voltage
applications because the diode peak reverse voltage is Vdm
= -V0
- for the half-wave rectifier both the source and the load
can be connected to the same ground
- the RMS current of capacitor is very high and therefore
the capacitor must be rated accordingly
- the ESL of the filter capacitor may destroy the filtering
effect at very high frequency

High frequency rectifiers

Features of the rectifier:
- it has the highest
efficiency
- its efficiency is low at
light loads
- its not suitable for high
frequency because of
increasing the gate-
driver power

11
 High frequency rectifiers

High frequency rectifiers

The features of voltage driven diode rectifiers:
- have to be driven by voltage source
- have a second-order LC output filter
- the DC output voltage is directly proportional to the
amplitude of the input voltage
- the peak-to-peak and RMS through the filter capacitor is
relatively low
- the conduction loss in the ESR of the filter capacitor is low

High frequency integrated

transformer

12
 High frequency integrated
transformer
N1
The transformer turn ratio: nt =
N2

L primary
The real transformer turn ratio: n=k
Lsec ondary
‘k’ is the transformer coupling ratio.

LL1 Lm + Lr
LL 2 = 2 nt = n = n 1+ λ
nt Lm

Equivalent load resistance

Transformation the load
resistance to the primary
side of transformer
2
N 
Rac = RL n 2 = RL  p 
 Ns 

Equivalent load resistance

The half-wave rectifier:
2n 2 RL
Rac =
π2
The center-tapped
transformer and the
bridge rectifier:
8n 2 RL
Rac =
π2

13
 LLC design procedure
The design procedure of LLC converter was taken from STMicroelectronics,
„AN2450 - LLC resonant half-bridge converter design
guideline”,STMicroelectronics Application Note, 2007 [8].

Design specification:
– Input voltage range: Vdc.min - Vdc.max
– Nominal input voltage: Vdc.nom
– Regulated output voltage: Vout
– Maximum output power: Pout
– Resonant frequency: fr
– Maximum operating frequency: fmax

LLC design procedure

Additional info:
– Parasitic capacitance of the MOSFETs half-bridge: Czvs
– Dead time of driving circuit: TD

General criteria for the design:

– The converter will be designed to work at resonance at nominal input voltage.
– The converter must be able to regulate down to zero load at maximum input
voltage.
– The converter will always work in ZVS in the whole operating range.

LLC design procedure

The converter circuit

14
 LLC design procedure
Step 1 - to fulfil the first criterion, impose that the required gain at nominal input
voltage equals unity and calculate the transformer turn ratio:
Vout 1 VDC , nom
M nom = 2n =1⇒ n =
VDC ,nom 2 Vout

Step 2 - calculate the max. and min. required gain at the extreme
values of the input voltage range:

Vout Vout
M max = 2n M min = 2n
VDC ,min VDC , max

LLC design procedure

*Taken from „AN2450 - LLC
resonant halfbridge converter
design
guidline”,STMicroelectronics
Application Note, 2007 [8].

LLC design procedure

Step 3 - calculate the maximum normalized operating frequency
(according to the definition):
f max
f n ,max =
fr
Step 4 - calculate the effective load resistance reflected at transformer primary
side: 2
8 8 Vout
Rac = n 2 RL = n2
π2 π2 Pout
Step 5 - impose that the converter operates at maximum frequency at zero
load and maximum input voltage, calculating the inductance ratio
1 − M min f n, max
2
λ=
M min f n ,max 2 −1

15
 LLC design procedure
Step 6 - calculate the max Q value to work in the ZVS operating region at
minimum input voltage and full load condition

λ 1 M max
2
QZVS 1 = 95% ⋅ Qmax = 0.95 +
M max λ M max − 1
2

Step 7 - calculate the max Q value to work in the ZVS operating region at
no-load condition and maximum input voltage
2 λf n, max TD
QZVS 2 = C ZVS = 2COSS + C stray
π (λ + 1) f n ,max 2 − λ Rac CZVS
Step 8 - choose the max quality factor for ZVS in the whole operating range,
such that:
QZVS ≤ min{QZVS 1 , QZVS 2 }

LLC design procedure

Step 9 - calculate the minimum operating frequency at full load and minimum
input voltage, according to the following approximate formula:

1
f min = f r
 
1  1 
1 + 1 − 
λ
4
Q 
1+  ZVS  
 M max  Qmax  
Step 10 - calculate the characteristic impedance of the resonant tank and all
component values

Z 0 = QZVS Rac Cr = 1 Z0 Lr
Lr = Lm =
2πf r Z 0 2πf r λ

LLC design procedure

Step 11 - calculate the transformer parameters

L p (SO ) = Lr + Lm primary inductance (with secondary windings open)

L p (SS ) = Lr primary inductance (with secondary windings shorted)

nt = n 1 + λ transformer turn ratio

L p ( SO ) Np
Next, choose a core with an appropriate AL value. Np = Ns =
AL nt
Find experimentally the core gap (with secondary winding shorted) to satisfy
appropriate Lr value.

16
 MOSFETs protection
RC Snubbers

MOSFETs protection

MOSFETs protection
RC snubber designing
Step 1 – you have to know parasitic L or parasitic C of the
MOSFET half bridge. Calculate characteristic impedance of
resonant circuits:

If we know L Z = 2πfL
f is the ringing frequency
1
If we know C Z=
2πfC
We assume that the initial value of the snubber resistor R = Z.

17
 MOSFETs protection
Then we can calculate value of the snubber capacitor C:
1
C=
πfR

Power dissipation of the resistor is given by expression:

P = CV 2 f sw

Where V is the voltage across MOSFET when it is OFF, fsw

is the converter switching frequency.

MOSFET drivers
The MOSFET drivers have following features:
- driving high capacitive load
- supply MOSFET gate with high current
- low propagation delay
- low rise and fall times
- low output impedance

MOSFET drivers

*Taken from „AN-978 HV floating MOS-Gate driver Ics”, International Rectifier Application Note, [6].

18
 MOSFET drivers
Supplying the high-side driver by bootstrap capacitor.

Resonant converters controllers

The resonant converter controllers features:
- variable frequency control of resonant half or full-
bridge
- high accuracy oscillator
- converter protection functions: frequency shift and
latched shutdown
- Interface with PFC controller
- Latched disable input
- Burst-mode operation at light load
- Non-linear soft-start for monotonic output voltage rise

Resonant converters controllers

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

19
 Resonant converters controllers

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

Resonant converters controllers

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

Resonant converters controllers

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

20
 Resonant converters controllers
Burst mode

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

Resonant converters controllers

Soft start

*Taken from „L6599 High-Voltage resonant controller,STMicroelectronics Data Sheet, 2006, [15].

High Power MOSFETs

*Taken from „ IXFN60N80P
PolarHV Power HiperFET
MOSFET, IXYS Corporation Data
Sheet, 2006, [14].

21
High Power, Fast Switching
Schottky Diodes
*Taken from „C2D05120-Silicon
Carbide Schottky Diode, Cree
Data Sheet, 2006, [10].

Summary

22