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Home >>> Design Center Library >>> Current Limiting and DCM Flyback Design
DESIGN CENTER
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Choosing a Controller
Now lets suppose you want to choose an integrated converter controller for this application. ST Microelectronics [1] provides
a popular series of parts with their VIper chips.
Possible choices from ST Microelectronics are:
VIper 22
This chip has a current limit of 0.7 A, and has a recommended power of 12 W for wide range input. However, this current limit
has a tolerance of +/-20%, so the converter cannot work with this. It also has an on-resistance of 31 ohms at high
temperature, which is too high for low-line operation.
The VIper 32
has a current limit of 1.45 A, again with a 20% tolerance. This seems to be the most logical choice with an on-resistance of
11 ohms at high temperature. For the operating conditions of figure 2, this causes a conduction loss of 0.62 W.
The VIper 53 is
designed for considerably higher power with a current limit of 2 A.
Overload Testing
There are many conditions which must be tested on your power supply design. High-line, low-line, light load and full load are
just the beginning. Another test which is recommended is short-circuit testing, as described in [2].
The short circuit test is severe, and thoroughly tests the capability of the controller to shut down quickly without the current
running out of control.
Another test that must be done is overload testing. The load on each output of the power supply should be increased
gradually until the converter starts entering current limit. With the DCM flyback converter, overload testing can produce some
surprises.
For the converter described so far, the normal peak current is set at 0.61 A. The DCM flyback operates by sending pulses of
energy from the primary to the secondary and the resulting total energy transfer is given by LIp2f.
For the control chip chosen, the worst-case peak current is 1.8 A. This is three times the normal peak current, which leads to
nine times the power capab ility for the converter if it stays in DCM all the time!
Figure 3: Power switch drain current with seven times the rated load at nominal operating frequency.
Figure 3 shows the overload current in the power switch with 7 times the rated load. A power supply which was designed for
10 W operation must now be able to operate around 100 W (taking into account variations in frequency and inductor
tolerance) without any safety issues. Clearly, this presents a significant challenge to the designer in making a safe converter.
Magnetics must be grossly over-designed for safe thermal parameters and non-saturation of the transformer.
Notice that the waveform of Figure 3 shows that converter is now in continuous conduction mode, shown by the initial step in
the current when the switch turns on. This causes current limit to activate at just 7 times rated current instead of 9 times. In
general, operating in CCM reduces sensitivity to inaccurate current limiting. However, it does result in a different transformer
design.
The large overhead in current limiting also produces considerable stress on the converter during start up and other transient
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Summary
As power levels rise above 2-3 W, the choice of the DCM flyback converter for the power topology must be given careful
thought. If it is to be used with integrated controllers, the most difficult aspect of the design procedure is incorporating proper
current limiting. If you are running into problems with high power testing, design options include:
Select a topology that can run in CCM and DCM
Use a controller properly matched with the right current limit for your design
Change to a discrete controller and FET for higher power applications so you can set precise current limits by choosing your
own current sense resistor.
Do not overlook the fact that you should be doing overcurrent testing, in addition to short-circuit testing. Short-circuit testing is
actually quite benign in terms of thermal stress placed upon your design.
Power supply designers that work in the kW power range often add the additional expense of very precise current limiting,
within 1 or 2 percent of the rated load. Lessons should be taken from the high power designs and applied to the low power
field.
Additional Reading
[1] ST Microelectronics website, www.stmicro.com
[2] Power Supply Stress Testing
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