PCIM Europe 2019, 7 – 9 May 2019, Nuremberg, Germany

Control Hardware and Suitable Current Sensors for Fast Switching

SiC DC-DC Converters
Alexander Sewergin1 , Arne Hendrik Wienhausen1 , Sebastian Blasius1 , Rik W. De Doncker1
1
Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Corresponding author: Alexander Sewergin, post@isea.rwth-aachen.de

Abstract
This paper introduces a control hardware platform and suitable current sensors for fast switching silicon
carbide (SiC) dc-dc converters. An overview and detailed analysis of high-bandwidth current sensors
is given, which make it possible to further increase the power density of converters by the reduction of
passive component size through higher switching frequencies and fast control.

1 Introduction each phase n has to be measured and controlled

Due to the increasing electrification of the auto-
motive sector, the demand for highly compact dc-
dc converters is rising [1]. High converter power-
densities are particularly required for mobile appli-
cations where small volume and weight are of great
importance. An electrically non-isolated topology
that is capable of achieving high power densities [2]
is shown in Fig. 1.
n phases
with high accuracy and bandwidth. Otherwise, the
inductors can be subjected to asymmetrical current-
sharing and go into saturation, which could lead to a
failure of the dc-dc converter. In the following the fo-
cus will be laied upon latest commercially available
current sensors and control hardware that meet
the high requirements of wide-bandgap semicon-
ductors. The current sensor and control hardware
developed in this paper can be used universally
and is not limited to bidirectional interleaved boost
converters.

2 Current Sensor Prototypes

iL,n
Ldc,n
Cin
Vin 1 2
Fig. 1: Bidirectional interleaved boost converter with
n phases (possible current sensor positions
marked with numbers Œ and )
Fields of application for the bidirectional boost con-
verter are the connection of different battery packs
to a common dc link [3] or the connection of an
800 V traction battery to a 400 V dc fast charging
station. To prevent electrical over-sizing of the in-
ductors Ldc,n shown in Fig. 1, the current iL,n in
For the integration of the current sensor into a dc-dc
Cout converter mainly two positions for the sensor place-
Vout ment exist. Position  is advantageous, as the sen-
sor can be implemented directly in a semiconductor
module/package. However, the current sensor is
exposed at the switching node to a steep voltage
slope, which, especially when using wide-bandgap
semiconductors, can lead to a malfunction of the
current sensor due to insufficient common-mode
transient immunity.
Position Πtherefore represents the regular applica-
tion for the use of current sensors in dc-dc convert-
ers, because the sensor is not exposed to a jumping
voltage potential at this position (≈ 0 dV /dt). In the
following, galvanically isolated and non-isolated cur-
rent sensor types, suitable for the measurement of
fast switched dc-dc converters with fsw > 300 kHz

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 PCIM Europe 2019, 7 – 9 May 2019, Nuremberg, Germany

and high-frequency currents > 300 kHz, are investi-
gated.
2.1 Shunt based current sensors
A common method for measuring currents is the
usage of shunt resistors. Shunt based current sen-
sors have the disadvantage that they can generate
a distorted output signal when high frequency cur-
rents are applied due to parasitic stray inductance
Lshunt,stray as shown in equation (1).
Vshunt = Rshunt · i + Lshunt,stray · di/dt
0 cm 1
Fig. 2: Evaluated shunt-based current sensors
has less stray inductance (0.35 nH) than the sensor
Ž due to its flat design. Shunt Ž has a higher stray
inductance (1.03 nH) due to the U-shaped design.
All three current shunt sensors are subjected to a
defined current slope (105 A/μs) generated with a
current pulse generator [4] and the resulting volt-
age is measured as depicted in Figure 3. A current
clamp (N2783B, 100 MHz bandwidth) is used for
reference current measurement (dark blue graph).
Both SMD shunts (red and light blue graphs) ex-
hibit a deviation of the output voltage with respect
(1) to the reference value when subjected to a current
change. The coaxial shunt (black graph) shows the
best results and is therefor applicable as a current
1 2 3
sensor for dc-dc converters, but this sensor type is
not suitable for in series produced converters due
to its price. Accordingly, inexpensive magnetic field
based current sensors are analyzed in detail in the
following subchapter.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2.2 Magnetic field based current sensors

Three commercially available measurement shunts

are compared and evaluated for their usability in
a dc-dc converter. Figure 2 shows the 3 current
sensors from the manufacturers ”T&M Research”
(SDN-414-05) Œ, ”Vishay” (WSL36371L000DEA) 
and ”Bourns” (CSS4J - 4026R - 1L00F) Ž. The first (a) Sensitec CMS3050 (b) Crocus CT219
sensor Πis a coaxial shunt, which has a high band- Bandwidth Bandwidth
width and no measurable stray inductance, and f−3db = 2 MHz f−3db = 1 MHz
is therefore positioned in a higher price segment.
The  and Ž sensor are low-cost 4-terminal SMD
shunts with a kelvin connection, whereby shunt 

180 180
Current probe (N2783B) in A
160 Bourns shunt 1 mΩ analog out put in mV 160
Analog current sensor out put in mV
Current sensor excit at ion in A

140 Vishay shunt 1 mΩ analog out put in mV 140

Coaxial shunt 5 mΩ analog out put in mV ( ÷ 5)
120 120
100 100 (c) Zetex ZMY20MV1 (d) Allegro ACS730 -
80 80 Bandwidth 50
f−3db = 1 MHz
60 60
Bandwidth
40 40
20 di
= 105
A 20 f−3db = 1 MHz
dt µs
0 0
Fig. 4: Overview of all developed testboards for the gal-
-20 -20
-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 vanically isolated current sensors
Time in µs

Fig. 3: Voltage response of different shunt based current High bandwidth current sensors are essential for
sensors to a 105 A/μs current slope steepness a fast closed-loop current-control. A synchronized
current control with the previously mentioned switch-

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 PCIM Europe 2019, 7 – 9 May 2019, Nuremberg, Germany

ing frequency of > 300 kHz requires current sen- 6

Current probe (N2783B) in A 0.2
sors with a bandwidth ideally a decade above the

Analog current sensor out put in V

4 ACS730 analog out put in V
0.15
CMS3050 analog out put in V
switching frequency. The low-cost magnetic field

Induct or current i L in A
0.1
2
based current sensors presently available on the 0.05
market have a maximum bandwidth of 2 MHz in- 0 0
stead of the required 3 MHz. This leads to a phase di
= 6.3
A -0.05
-2 dt µs
shift of the sensor output signal, which must be -0.1

taken into account if the control is synchronized -4 -0.15

to the switching frequency and therefore the trig- -0.2

-6
ger signal of the current sensor AD-conversion has -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Time in µs
to be delayed accordingly. The developed test-
boards for the galvanically isolated current sen- Fig. 6: Current measurement with both Sensitec current
sors are shown in Figures 4a to 4d, consisting of a sensors attached to the switching node
”Sensitec” CMS3050, a ”Crocus” CR219, a ”Zetex”
ZMY20MV1 and an ”Allegro” ACS730-50 current
sensor respectively. A current pulse generator [4] the delay time of the Sensitec sensor is slightly
is used to apply a defined current slope (105 A/μs) to shorter. Since the CMS3050 sensor requires a bipo-
the different current sensors. The voltage response lar power supply and occupies more volume than
of all four current sensors is shown in Figure 5. A the ACS730-50, which only requires an unipolar
supply voltage of 5 V and is housed in a SO-8 pack-
2.5
50 age, the ACS730-50 sensor is used for all further
experimental measurements.
Analog current sensor out put in V
Current sensor excit at ion in A

2
40

30 di A
1.5 2.3 Analog-to-Digital Conversion Unit
= 105
dt µs
1
20

Current probe (N2783B) in A

10 0.5
Allegro ACS730 analog out put in V
Sensit ec CMS3050 analog out put in V
Crocus CT 219 analog out put in V
0 0
Zet ex ZMY20MV1 analog out put in V

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6

Time in µs

Fig. 5: Voltage response of different magnetic field

based current sensors to a 105 A/μs current slope
steepness

Fig. 7: Universal analog-to-digital conversion unit

N2783B current probe with a bandwidth of 100 MHz
is used as a reference. The best performance is
achieved by CMS3050 (yellow graph), followed by The universal ADC measurement unit shown in Fig-
ACS730-50 (deep blue graph). The CT219 (green ure 7 provides the possibility to select between the
graph) and ZMY20MV1 (purple graph) performed measurement of resistive shunts or the galvanically
worst. In order to test the common-mode transient isolated magnetic field based current sensors by
immunity of the previously well-performing current means of configurable solder-bridges. The board
sensors CMS3050 and ACS730-50, both sensors has a differential operational amplifier(ADA4932-
are connected to the switching node of a dc-dc con- 1) with adjustable gain, a differential AD converter
verter [3] as shown in Figure 6. The dc-dc converter (AD7625) and a digital galvanically isolated LVDS
is operated at an input voltage of Vin = 400 V and transmitter (ISO7821LL). The sensors shown in Fig-
an output voltage of Vout = 800 V with fsw = 333 kHz ures 4a to 4d can be connected differentially via
switching frequency. Due to the larger bandwidth shielded coaxial cables to the SMB sockets. Dif-
of 2 MHz instead of 1 MHz of the Allegro sensor, ferential measurement of the analog current sen-

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 PCIM Europe 2019, 7 – 9 May 2019, Nuremberg, Germany

sor output voltage is particularly important in EMI- munication on two CAN-buses and the human inter-
disturbed applications in order to minimize the in- face. Communication between microcontroller and
jection of errors. FPGA is achieved via an external memory interface
(EBI).
3 Control Hardware
4 Experimental Results
Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA Atmel SAME7
2x galvanically Figure 10 depicts the measured current control re-
isolated CAN-bus sponse for a given reference current jump. The
USB
inductor current iL (blue graph) is measured with
an external current probe (N2783B, 100 MHz band-
width).
UART
3
2x RS-485-SPI for
2.5
voltage measurement
3x LVDS-SPI for 2

Induct or current i L in A
Gate signals current measurement
1.5
Fig. 8: Control hardware for a 3-phase interleaved boost
converter with fsw = 333 kHz 1

0.5

The key element of a fast-switching converter is 0

the control hardware including the associated high- -0.5 Current P robe (N2783B)
bandwidth current sensors. Figure 8 shows the P rocessed ADC-value by FP GA
newly developed control hardware for a 3-phase -1
-10 0 10 20 30 40
interleaved boost converter with a switching fre- Time in µs
quency fsw = 333 kHz. The pulse-width modulation,
Fig. 10: Current control response for a given reference
the processing of the current and voltage signals as current jump with fsw = 333 kHz using the
well as the current control of each individual phase ACS730-50 current sensor.
are performed on the FPGA (Spartan 6). As shown
in block diagram in Figure 9, the current sensors
data is transmitted via a fast LVDS channel.
The corresponding current values of the ACS730-
Notation 3x half-bridges 50, which are already processed by the FPGA, are
Coaxial cables
Galvanic Driver IC
PC shown in red. The measurement points correspond
isolation Control hardware USB UART
to the inductor current average value. After a de-
3x current measurement
Memory
interface
lay time tdelay = 740 ns, the current value extracted
FPGA µC
LVDS from the AD converter is available in digital form in
Current sensor OP AMP ADC
the FPGA. The delay time tdelay consists of the ana-
RS-485 Display/
iL,n
2x voltage measurement interface UI CAN
bus
log delay of the current sensor, the AD-conversion
Vin /Vout ADC
RS-485 delay, the time to transmit over the LVDS channel
interface
RS-485
Vehicle as well as the time to convert the binary bitstream
into a corresponding current value used for cur-
Fig. 9: Block diagram of the control hardware
rent control on the FPGA. The measurement was
performed using the dc-dc converter presented in
[3]. Due to the outdated current sensors (Sensitec
For the voltage measurement, which is relatively CDS4050) with a relatively low bandwidth of typ-
time-uncritical, the RS-485 bus is used. The micro- ically f−1db = 400 kHz, this dc-dc converter had
controller (Atmel SAM E7) is responsible for com- been previously limited to a switching frequency of

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 PCIM Europe 2019, 7 – 9 May 2019, Nuremberg, Germany
150 kHz. With the new control hardware and elabo-
rated current sensor (ACS730-50), the switching fre-
quency fsw of the converter has been increased to
333 kHz, enabling the reduction of passive compo-
nent size and weight. With the relative small delay
time tdelay of the current sensor and the fast current
control on the FPGA, an increase in the switching
frequency up to 500 kHz is achievable, during which
the converter is controlled synchronously with the
switching frequency. Because of the linear increase
of the switching losses with increased switching
frequency, the applicable switching frequency for
the given dc-dc converter [3] has been limited to
333 kHz due to thermal cooling limitations of the
utilized SiC module.
5 Conclusions
A new control hardware for an existing 3-phase inter-
leaved boost converter [3] with a switching and con-
trol frequency of fsw = 333 kHz was shown and dif-
ferent galvanically isolated and non-isolated current
sensors, which are commercially available, have
been evaluated with regard to their compatibility
to steep current slopes, which are achievable with
wide-bandgap semiconductors. It has been demon-
strated that with the current sensors presently avail-
able, which are subject to a typical bandwidth limi-
tation of 1 - 2 MHz, a current control bandwidth of
up to 500 kHz can be realized.
Acknowledgment
The research was supported by the German Fed-
eral Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as
part of the project SiCool (16EMO0266).
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2016 © VDE VERLAG GMBH · Berlin · Offenbach