State-plane-average modelling and control in power electronics: improving large-transient dynamics without breaking the bank

Switch-mode power converters are ubiquitous in renewable energy applications, electric vehicles, and battery chargers. Closed-loop controllers are essential to guarantee the consistent behaviour of power converters under all operating conditions, and they become a decisive component when defining the converters’ dynamic performance.

Digital controllers based on linearized small-signal models are the preferred choice by the power electronics industry as their low implementation requirements make them suitable for implementation in low-cost microcontrollers. However, given the small-signal nature of the controller design, large transients usually represent an interesting challenge.

This webinar describes an alternative large-signal modelling and control framework for power electronics, based on state-space average analysis. Large-signal average models will be derived for fundamental topologies, and then extended to more complex power converters and applications. Various ways to leverage these state-plane-average models will be discussed, including controllers that can significantly improve the converter’s large-transient dynamic performance while maintaining simple implementation requirements.