Optimal Design of Resonant Gate Driver for Buck Converter Based on a New Analytical Loss Model

In this paper, the advantages of a new resonant driver are verified thoroughly by the analytical analysis, simulation and experimental results. A new accurate analytical loss model of the power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor driven by a current-source resonant gate driver is developed. Closed-formed analytical equations are derived to investigate the switching characteristics due to the parasitic inductance. The modeling and simulation results prove that compared to a voltage driver, a current-source resonant driver significantly reduces the propagation impact of the common source inductance during the switching transition at high (>1 MHz) switching frequency, which leads to a significant reduction of the switching transition time and the switching loss. Based on the proposed loss model, a general method to optimize the new resonant driver is proposed and employed in the development of a 12 V synchronous buck voltage regulator (VR) prototype at 1 MHz switching frequency. The level-shift circuit and digital implementation of complex programmable logic device (CPLD) are also presented. The analytical modeling matches the simulation results and experimental results well. Through the optimal design, a significant efficiency improvement is achieved. At 1.5 V output, the resonant driver improves the VR efficiency from 82.7% using a conventional driver to 86.6% at 20 A, and from 76.9% using a conventional driver to 83.6% at 30 A. More importantly, compared with other state of the art VR approaches, the new resonant driver is promising from the standpoints of both performance and cost-effectiveness.

[1]  D.J. Perreault,et al.  Resistance Compression Networks for Radio-Frequency Power Conversion , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[2]  D. Maksimović,et al.  Switched-capacitor DC/DC converter with resonant gate drive , 1996, PESC Record. 27th Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[3]  F.C. Lee,et al.  A family of high power density unregulated bus converters , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[4]  H. Wiegman.  A resonant pulse gate drive for high frequency applications , 1992, [Proceedings] APEC '92 Seventh Annual Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition.

[5]  I. D. de Vries,et al.  A resonant power MOSFET/IGBT gate driver , 2002, APEC 2002.

[6]  Yanfei Liu,et al.  A new resonant gate drive circuit for synchronous buck converter , 2006, Twenty-First Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2006. APEC '06..

[7]  J.D. van Wyk,et al.  A comparison of fundamental gate-driver topologies for high frequency applications , 2004, Nineteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2004. APEC '04..

[8]  D.J. Perreault,et al.  New architectures for radio-frequency DC/DC power conversion , 2004, 2004 IEEE 35th Annual Power Electronics Specialists Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37551).

[9]  H. Shah,et al.  Analytical modeling and experimental evaluation of interconnect parasitic inductance on MOSFET switching characteristics , 2004, Nineteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2004. APEC '04..

[10]  F.C. Lee,et al.  Analysis of the power delivery path from the 12 V VR to the microprocessor , 2004, Nineteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2004. APEC '04..

[11]  F.C. Lee,et al.  Two novel soft-switched, high frequency, high-efficiency, non-isolated Voltage Regulators-the phase-shift buck converter and the matrix-transformer phase-buck converter , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[12]  F. C. Lee,et al.  A novel resonant gate driver for high frequency synchronous buck converters , 2002 .

[13]  F.C. Lee,et al.  A resonant MOSFET gate driver with efficient energy recovery , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[14]  Milan M. Jovanovic,et al.  Design considerations for 12-V/1.5-V, 50-A voltage regulator modules , 2000, APEC 2000. Fifteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (Cat. No.00CH37058).

[15]  J. Diaz,et al.  A new lossless power MOSFET driver based on simple DC/DC converters , 1995, Proceedings of PESC '95 - Power Electronics Specialist Conference.

[16]  F.C. Lee,et al.  Analytical loss model of power MOSFET , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[17]  T. Lopez,et al.  A detailed analysis of a resonant gate driver for PWM applications , 2003, Eighteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2003. APEC '03..

[18]  Sheng Ye,et al.  A New Dual-Channel Resonant Gate Drive Circuit for Low Gate Drive Loss and Low Switching Loss , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[19]  M.M. Jovanovic,et al.  1.8-MHz, 48-V Resonant VRM: Analysis, Design, and Performance Evaluation , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[20]  M.G. Egan,et al.  An assessment of resonant gate drive techniques for use in modern low power dc-dc converters , 2005, Twentieth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2005. APEC 2005..

[21]  A.M. Khambadkone,et al.  A 1-MHz Zero-Voltage-Switching Asymmetrical Half-Bridge DC/DC Converter: Analysis and Design , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[22]  F.C. Lee,et al.  Two-stage approach for 12-V VR , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[23]  W. Eberle,et al.  A novel high performance resonant gate drive circuit with low circulating current , 2006, Twenty-First Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2006. APEC '06..

[24]  D.J. Perreault,et al.  New Architectures for Radio-Frequency DC – DC Power Conversion , 2006 .

[25]  Dragan Maksimovic,et al.  A MOS gate drive with resonant transitions , 1991, PESC '91 Record 22nd Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[26]  Shintaro Ono,et al.  Design for Efficiency Improvement and Future prediction in Multi Chip Module for DC-DC Converter , 2006 .

[27]  S. Weinberg,et al.  A novel lossless resonant MOSFET driver , 1992, PESC '92 Record. 23rd Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[28]  F.C. Lee,et al.  A family of high power density bus converters , 2004, 2004 IEEE 35th Annual Power Electronics Specialists Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37551).

[29]  F.C. Lee,et al.  1-MHz self-driven ZVS full-bridge converter for 48-V power pod and DC/DC brick , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[30]  Sheng Ye,et al.  A new dual channel resonant gate drive circuit for synchronous rectifiers , 2006, Twenty-First Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2006. APEC '06..

[31]  Quan Li,et al.  The Power Loss Optimization of a Current Fed ZVS Two-Inductor Boost Converter With a Resonant Transition Gate Drive , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[32]  F.C. Lee,et al.  A self-driven soft-switching voltage regulator for future microprocessors , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[33]  Kaiwei Yao,et al.  Tapped-inductor buck converter for high-step-down DC-DC conversion , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[34]  F.C. Lee,et al.  12V VR Efficiency Improvement based on Two-stage Approach and a Novel Gate Driver , 2005, 2005 IEEE 36th Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[35]  T.P. Chow,et al.  Integrated flip-chip flex-circuit packaging for power electronics applications , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.