Bifurcation boundary conditions for current programmed PWM DC–DC converters at light loading

Abstract

Three types of bifurcations (instabilities) in the PWM DC–DC converter at light loading under current mode control in continuous-conduction mode (CCM) or discontinuous-conduction mode (DCM) are analysed: saddle-node bifurcation (SNB) in CCM or DCM, border-collision bifurcation during the CCM–DCM transition, and period-doubling bifurcation in CCM. Different bifurcations occur in some particular loading ranges. Bifurcation boundary conditions separating stable regions from unstable regions in the parametric space are derived. A new methodology to analyse the SNB in the buck converter based on the peak inductor current is proposed. The same methodology is applied to analyse the other types of bifurcations and converters. In the buck converter, multiple stable/unstable CCM/DCM steady-state solutions may coexist. Possibility of multiple solutions deserves careful study, because an ignored solution may merge with a desired stable solution and make both disappear. Understanding of SNB can explain some sudden disappearances or jumps of steady-state solutions observed in switching converters.