UPS Battery Charger

Options

ypically, the UPS contains the battery charger, battery and inverter
inside of an enclosure. The battery
life is shortened at increased temperature,
so its important to keep the temperature
inside the enclosure as low as practically
possible. Also the charging voltage has to
be adjusted as a function of the battery
temperature. Finally, the battery charger
has to function under a wide range of input voltages and protect itself during overvoltage or voltage-surge conditions. The
battery charger keeps the UPS battery
fully charged during normal input-voltage
range. When the alternate current (ac)

power line voltage goes out of normal

range (geographical area defined), the
power turns off and the battery supplies
the power to the load. When the line voltage returns within the normal range, the
battery is recharged.

Linear Power Supply

The linear power supply (continuous energy flow) is most commonly used due to
low cost, but is has low efficiency, is
bulky and is limited to single-voltage input. It uses a line-powered 50Hz/60Hz,
iron-core, step-down transformer that is
energized and dissipates heat all the time.

Figure 1. IC (U1 in Figure 3) functional block diagram.

This, added to the low efficiency of
the linear regulator, translates into a
higher temperature inside the enclosure
(shared with the battery). The immediate
lower cost benefit of this solution hides
the higher long-term cost, due to a shorter
battery lifetime and an increased maintenance time. The weight and volume make
the mechanical design of the UPS more
difficult.

Switch-Mode Power Supply

Discrete Ringing Choke Circuit

These benefits derive from the higher

efficiency of the SMPS (cooler operation).
The SMPS is also powered from the line,
but it stores energy in an input capacitor
and transfers it to the load as needed, in
high-frequency increments, by switching
on and off. A solid-state switch, controlled by a pulse-width modulation
(PWM) controller, accomplishes the
switching.

The ringing choke circuit is another continuous energy flow power supply, limited
like the linear to single-voltage input, but
using higher frequency to pass the energy
to the load, reducing the transformer size.
The efficiency is also improved, but the
circuit is highly dependent on the components tolerance and it is difficult to design and manufacture.

The switch-mode power supply (SMPS)

transfers the energy to the load discontinuously. The SMPS offers a lower cost
of ownership solution because it:
extends the battery life by maintaining a lower battery temperature, and
reduces the maintenance due to better
reliability.

CY1
R1
1M 1/4W

3.15A/250V

85-265 VAC

J2-1

10

C8

C 1 33uF/450V
+

D2

C 4 + 560uF/35V
R2
910k 1/4W

10mH/0.3A
L1

CX1
0.1uF/X2

N J1-2
D3

D4 1N4007

D5
UF1005

R3
6.8, 1/8W

T1
EF-20
917uH

J2-2

J2-3

RTN

0.1uF/50V
R10

R8
4.7 1/8W

+
TP2

T H E R M I S T O R ( N TC )

U1
T O P 2 3 3 Y D6 BAV20

C2
47uF/10V
U2 4
PC817A

11.5K 1%

C7
0.1uF/50V

R7
470, 1/8W

R11
47.5K 1%

4.7uF/35V
3

C6

Q1
1

U3

2N3904
R6
47, 1/8W

TL431CLP

R9
11.5K 1%

R4 1 1/2W
R5 1 1/2W

Figure 2. SMPS schematic.

The transformer has a ferrite core that
is a much smaller and lighter than the linears iron-core counterpart, making the
UPS design easier. Also, a SMPS can be
used worldwide because it accepts universal input voltages.

The power supply schematic is shown

in Figure 2, and the power supplys infrared and visible pictures are shown in Figure 3. This solution brings the following
benefits, when compared with the discrete
SMPS:

SMPS with Integrated

Switcher/Controller IC
The integrated switcher/controller IC
functional block diagram is shown in
Figure 1.

Output Shunt
Resistors, 64C.

TOP233Y , 60C.

Figure 3. SMPS infrared and visible pictures.

BT1

RT1

TP1

C3
4

0.1uF/50V

220uF/35V

C5 +

+14VDC

R12
6.8k

LED1

CONTROL

* OPTIONAL

L2
3.3uH, 2.65A

D 7 UF5402

F1

L J1-1

D1

2.2nF

VR1
P6KE150

Benefits

Features

Lower Total Solution Cost Fewer components, improved tolerances, built-in features:
Under-voltage/over-voltage (UV/OV) thresholds and
maximum duty cycle (DCmax) reduction, overtemperature shutdown, fully integrated soft-start, cycle
skipping, remote ON/OFF synchronization, increased
maximum duty cycle and PWM gain, 132kHz switching
frequency, and frequency jitter.
Reference design, easier agencies approvals (EMI and
Shorter Design Cycle
safety: creepage, isolation), and software tools.
Simplified Design

Fewer components, smaller PCB area, simpler thermal

design, auto-restart, and built-in protection.

Higher Reliability

Fewer components, wide creepage, built-in protection:

UV/OV, current limit, over-temperature shutdown, and
fully integrated soft-start.

Energy-Saving

High efficiency and cycle skipping (stand-by mode).

Reduced Radiated EMI

Frequency jitter and smaller PCB area.

Programmable under-voltage/over-voltage, output-current

Versatility
limit, output-voltage, and output-voltage temperature
compensation.

Lower total solution cost is the result of

fewer components, tighter IC tolerances,
and built-in features that eliminate or reduce the cost of external components.
Tighter temperature and absolute IC
tolerances afford a more accurate design.
The added tolerances of the numerous
parts in a discrete design lead to oversizing the SMPS to meet the power
requirements.
Built-in features save the cost of
components necessary to implement the
various
functions.
The
undervoltage/over-voltage
thresholds
and
maximum duty cycle reduction are implemented with one resistor. The overtemperature shutdown simplifies the
thermal protection. The fully integrated
soft-start (10ms) saves the cost of components needed for the soft-start and allows

use of cheaper RCD clamps and more efficient Schottky output diodes. Cycle
skipping at low/no load eliminates the
dummy load resistor. The remote
ON/OFF synchronization reduces the system interfaces implementation cost. The
increased maximum duty cycle (78 percent) allows a smaller/cheaper input capacitor and a more efficient Schottky output rectifier to be used. The increased
PWM gain (-22 percent/mA) reduces line
frequency output ripple. The nominal
switching frequency of 132kHz reduces
transformer size with no EMI penalty. The
frequency jitter allows a smaller/cheaper
EMI filter to be used.
Shorter design cycle is facilitated by
readily available reference designs; by
faster agencies approvals, as the SMPS is

designed to meet EMI and safety standards; and by readily available power
supply design tools.
Simplified design refers to both SMPS
(fewer components, simpler system interface, simpler thermal design, and built-in
protection) and the UPS (smaller SMPS
and reduced heat generation).
Higher reliability results from fewer
components, wide creepage distance between D and S pins, and the IC built-in
protection features.
Fewer components is achieved by
integrating the MOSFET switch, the controller and the ancillary circuitry into one
monolithic (one die) IC. Figure 1 shows
the functional block diagram of the IC
(U1 in Figure 2).
The IC operates in PWM with a current limit mode, thus controlling the output short-circuit current, and has overtemperature shutdown, protecting the supply in case of excessive ambient temperature. A wide creepage distance between
the D and S pins gives the IC a higher
immunity to arcing and eliminates the requirement to short adjacent pins during

safety-agency approval testing. Built-in

protection features contribute to the higher
reliability of the integrated SMPS.
Line under-voltage detection prevents
turn-off glitches and line over-voltage
shutdown extends the line-surge limit (the
DC rail is allowed to rise up to 700Vdc
without device damage). The power supply passed the surge test defined by
IEC/UL 1000-4-5 Class 3 and was designed to meet the safety requirements of
IEC950/UL1950.
The hysteretic thermal shutdown allows automatic recovery when the ambient temperature returns within the operating range. Large thermal hysteresis prevents PC board overheating. The soft-start
reduces component stress and outputvoltage overshoot.
Energy saving takes place at full load due
to high efficiency (>75 percent), and at
light or no-load due to cycle skipping.
Reduced Radiated EMI. The power supply passed the conducted EMI test
(CISPR22B) using a low-cost filter (made
possible by the 4kHz frequency jitter) and
a PCB with small area and proper layout.

16
14
12
Vout(Vdc)

85V ac , 60H z

265Vac, 60Hz

10
8
6
4
2
0
0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

I o u t(A )

Figure 4. SMPS Vout vs Iout.

2.00

2.50

1 4 .7
1 4 .6
1 4 .5
1 4 .4
1 4 .3

High limit

1 4 .2

Vout(Vdc)

1 4 .1

Measured value

1 4 .0
1 3 .9

Calculated value

1 3 .8
1 3 .7

Low limit

1 3 .6
1 3 .5
1 3 .4
1 3 .3
1 3 .2
1 3 .1
1 3 .0
-1 0

-5

1 0

1 5

2 0

2 5

3 0

3 5

4 0

4 5

5 0

5 5

T e m p (C )

Figure 5. SMPS battery-charging voltage temperature compensation.

Versatility refers to the application of the

circuit for different input-voltage ranges
with different under-voltage/over-voltage
thresholds and various output-current/
voltage requirements (Figure 4). It also
refers to the output-voltage compensation
based on battery temperature (Figure 5).

operation, and the transfer switch connects the filtered ac power line as the primary power source. In case of power failure (voltage out of range), the transfer
switch switches over to the backup power
source (battery and inverter). The inverter
only starts when the power fails, hence the
name "standby".

Low-Power UPS Topologies

The external UPS (outside the PC) is the
dominant solution for PC backup power.
The built-in UPS is restricted to an insignificant volume of applications and will
not be discussed. Of the external UPSs,
the Passive for the low-end and the
Active Standby for mid-range technology are the most frequently used with a
power level of <2kVA and a transfer time
of about 4msec.

The Passive-Standby UPS

This is the most common UPS type used
for protecting PCs in environments with
infrequent power failures. There is no
power conversion and no monitoring of
the ac power line (passive) during normal

The Active-Standby UPS

This is the most common UPS used for
small business, Internet and departmental
servers. In this design, the ac line is continuously monitored (active). The inverter
also provides regulation, operating to correct brownout conditions, which would
otherwise force the UPS to switch to battery operation. This allows the UPS to operate at sites with very poor power. The
transfer switch disconnects the primary
power and connects the backup power
(battery and inverter) only when the
power line fails.

Surge
Protection

Filter

LINE

Transfer
Switch
Battery
Charger

DC to AC
Convert.

~ =

= ~

LOAD

BATTERY

Passive standby UPS operating diagram.

Surge
Protection

DC to AC
Convert.

Filter
Transfer
Switch

LINE

Battery
Charger

~
=

LOAD

~ =
BATTERY

Active standby UPS operating diagram.

Conclusion
Higher levels of IC integration lead to
lower system cost and lower cost of ownership. The ease of designing and qualifying a power supply using these ICs dramatically reduces the time to market. The
value of the presented solution, in both
lower cost and shorter time to market,
should be compelling benefits to consider
it for existing or new designs. DG
DG

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