1.

INTRODUCTION

The majority of power converters are unidirectional with
the power being supplied from the source to the load. But a number of
applications like motor drives, uninterruptible power supplies,
alternate energy systems battery charger-dischargers,
telecommunication and space systems, require the additional
exchange of energy from the load to source. Applications that require
exchange of power from the source to load and vice versa have
conventionally been implemented with two uni-directional converters,
each processing power in one direction. With growing emphasis on
compact, smaller and efficient power systems, there is increasing
interest in the possibility of using bidirectional converters, especially
in DC power based applications like space, telecommunications and
computer systems.
Many bidirectional dcdc converters have been
researched. The bidirectional dcdc flyback converters have simple
structure and easy control. However, these converters suffer from
high voltage stresses on the power devices due to the leakage inductor
energy of the transformer. The multilevel type is a magneticless
converter, but 12 switches are used in this converter. If higher step-up
and step-down voltage gains are required, more switches are needed.
Since the sepic/zeta type bidirectional converter is combined of two
power stages, the conversion efficiency will be decreased. The
switched capacitor and coupled inductor types can provide high step-
up and stepdown voltage gains. However, their circuit configurations
are complicated.

This paper presents a novel bidirectional dcdc converter.
The proposed converter employs a coupled inductor with same
winding turns in the primary and secondary sides. Comparing to the
proposed converter and the conventional bidirectional boost/buck
converter, the proposed converter has the following advantages:

1) Higher step-up and step-down voltage gains

2) Lower average value of the switch current under same electric
specifications



2. OPERATING PRINCIPLE

In order to analyze the steady-state characteristics of the
proposed converter, some conditions are assumed: The ON-state
resistance R
DS(ON)
of the switches and the equivalent series resistances
of the coupled inductor and capacitors are ignored; the capacitor is
sufficiently large and the voltages across the capacitor can be treated
as constant.

Figure 1. Proposed bidirectional dcdc converter

In the figure, L
1
and L
2
form the primary and secondary
windings respectively. The primary and secondary winding turns of
the coupled inductor are the same.





2.1. STEP-UP MODE

The proposed converter in step-up mode is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Proposed converter in step-up mode

The pulsewidth modulation (PWM) technique is used to
control the switches S1 and S2 simultaneously. The switch S3 is the
synchronous rectifier.
Since the primary and secondary winding turns of the coupled
inductor is same, the inductance of the coupled inductor in the
primary and secondary sides are expressed as:



L

L .(1)


Thus, the mutual inductance M of the coupled inductor is
given by:

kL

kL (2)

where k is the coupling coefficient of the coupled inductor. The
voltages across the primary and secondary windings of the coupled
inductor are as follows:

v

kL

...(3)

v

kL

...(4)

The converter can operate in continuous conduction mode (CCM) or
discontinuous conduction mode (DCM).


2.1.1. CCM OPERATION

1) Mode 1:

During this time interval [t
0
, t
1
], S1 and S2 are turned on
and S3 is turned off. The current flow path is shown in figure 3. The
energy of the low-voltage side V
L
is transferred to the coupled
inductor. Meanwhile, the primary and secondary windings of the
coupled inductor are in parallel. The energy stored in the capacitor C
H

is discharged to the load. Thus, the voltages across L
1
and L
2
are
obtained as

v

..(5)

Substituting (3) and (4) into (5), yielding

, t
0
t t
1
......................................(6)

2) Mode 2:

During this time interval [t
1
, t
2
], S
1
and S
2
are turned off
and S
3
is turned on. The current flow path is shown in figure 4. The
low-voltage side V
L
and the coupled inductor are in series to transfer
their energies to the capacitor C
H
and the load. Meanwhile, the
primary and secondary windings of the coupled inductor are in series.
Thus, the following equations are found to be

i

...(7)

v

.....(8)

Substituting (3), (4), and (7) into (8), yielding

, t
1
t t
2
.(9)

By using the state-space averaging method, the following equation
is derived from (6) and (9):

..(10)



Simplifying (10), the voltage gain is given as

G
CCM(step-up)
=

..(11)





Figure 3. Current flow path of the proposed converter in step-
up mode (mode 1)





Figure 4. Current flow path of the proposed converter in
step-up mode (mode 2)


There is no mode 3 operation in case of continuous
mode of operation since the current is continuous. Hence the current
through the coupled inductor or the line current does not become zero.
But in discontinuous mode of operation there is a mode 3 operation
since the current becomes zero.





Figure 5. waveforms of the proposed converter in step-up
mode (CCM operation)




2.1.2 . DCM OPERATION

1)Mode 1:

During this time interval [t
0
, t
1
], S
1
and S
2
are turned on
and S
3
is turned off. The current flow path is shown in figure 3. The
operating principle is same as that for the mode 1 of CCM operation.
From (6), the two peak currents through the primary and secondary
windings of the coupled inductor are given by :

.(12)

2) Mode 2:

During this time interval [t
1
, t
2
], S
1
and S
2
are turned off
and S3 is turned on. The current flow path is shown in Fig. 4. The
low-voltage side V
L
and the coupled inductor are in series to transfer
their energies to the capacitor C
H
and the load. Meanwhile, the
primary and secondary windings of the coupled inductor are in series.
The currents i
L1
and i
L2
through the primary and secondary windings
of the coupled inductor are decreased to zero at t = t
2
. From (9),
another expression of
I
L1p
and I
L2p
is given by

.(13)



3) Mode 3:

During this time interval [t
2
, t
3
], S
1
and S
2
are still turned
off and S
3
is still turned on. The current flow path is shown in figure
6. The energy stored in the coupled inductor is zero. Thus, i
L1
and i
L2

are equal to zero. The energy stored in the capacitor C
H
is discharged
to the load.
From (12) and (13), D
2
is derived as follows:

(14)

From Fig. 4(b), the average value of the output capacitor current
during each switching period is given by

.(15)

Substituting (12) and (14) into (15), I
cH
is derived as

(16)

Since I
cH
is equal to zero under steady state, (16) can be rewritten as
follows:

..(17)

Then, the normalized inductor time constant is defined as

..(18)



where f
s
is the switching frequency.
Substituting (18) into (17), the voltage gain is given by

G
DCM(stepup)
=

..(19)

The current flow path for discontinuous operation in mode 1
and mode 2 are the same as the continuous operation. For mode 3 the
current flow path is as shown below :



Figure 6. Current flow path of the proposed converter in
step-up mode (mode 3)





Figure 7. waveforms of the proposed converter in step-up
mode (DCM operation)







2.1.3 . BOUNDARY OPERATING CONDITION OF
CCM AND DCM

When the proposed converter in step-up mode is
operated in boundary conduction mode (BCM), the voltage gain of
CCM operation is equal to the voltage gain of DCM operation. From
(11) and (19), the boundary normalized inductor time constant
LH,B
can be derived as follows:

(20)

The curve of
LH,B
is plotted in figure 8. If
LH
is larger than
LH,B
the
proposed converter in step-up mode is operated in CCM.



Figure 8. Boundary condition of the proposed converter in
step up mode (assuming k = 1)




2.2. STEP-DOWN MODE

The proposed converter in step-down mode is shown in figure 9.



Figure 9. Proposed converter in step-down mode


The PWM technique is used to control the switch S
3
. The
switches S
1
and S
2
are the synchronous rectifiers. The operating
principle and steady-state analysis of CCM and DCM are described as
follows.








2.2.1. CCM OPERATION

1) Mode 1:

During this time interval [t
0
, t
1
], S
3
is turned on and S
1
/S
2

are turned off. The current flow path is shown in figure 10. The
energy of the high-voltage side V
H
is transferred to the coupled
inductor, the capacitor C
L
, and the load. Meanwhile, the primary and
secondary windings of the coupled inductor are in series. Thus, the
following equations are given as:

i

(21)

v

...(22)

Substituting (3), (4), and (21) into (22), yielding

, t
0
t t
1
(23)

2) Mode 2:
During this time interval [t
1
, t
2
], S
3
is turned off and S
1
/S
2

are turned on. The current flow path is shown in figure 11. The energy
stored in the coupled inductor is released to the capacitor C
L
and the
load. Meanwhile, the primary and secondary windings of the coupled
inductor are in parallel.

Thus, the voltages across L
1
and L
2
are derived as

v

..(24)

, t
1
t t
2
..(25)

By using the state space averaging method, the following equation is
obtained from (23) and (25):

.....(26)

Simplifying (26), the voltage gain is found to be

G
CCM(step-down)
=

..(27)



Figure 10. Current flow path of the proposed converter in step
down mode (mode 1)




Figure 11. Current flow path of the proposed converter in step
down mode (mode 2)


There is no mode 3 operation in case of continuous
mode of operation since the current is continuous. Hence the current
through the coupled inductor or the line current does not become zero.
But in discontinuous mode of operation there is a mode 3 operation
since the current becomes zero.







Figure 12. waveforms of the proposed converter in step-down
mode (CCM operation)







2.2.2. DCM OPERATION

The operating modes can be divided into three modes,
defined as modes 1, 2, and 3.
1) Mode 1:

During this time interval [t
0
, t
1
], S
3
is turned on and S
1
/S
2
are
turned off. The current flow path is shown in figure 10. The operating
principle is same as that for the mode 1 of CCM operation. From (23),
the two peak currents through the primary and secondary windings of
the coupled inductor are given by

(28)

2) Mode 2:

During this time interval [t
1
, t
2
], S
3
is turned off and S
1
/S
2

are
turned on. The current flow path is shown in figure 11. The energy
stored in the coupled inductor is released to the capacitor C
L
and the
load. Meanwhile, the primary and secondary windings of the coupled
inductor are in parallel. The currents i
L1
and i
L2
through the primary
and secondary windings of the coupled inductor are decreased to zero
at t = t
2
. From (25), another expression of I
L1p
and I
L2p
is given as

...(29)




3) Mode 3:

During this time interval [t
2
, t
3
], S
3
is still turned off and
S
1
/S
2
are still turned on. The current flow path is shown in figure 13.
The energy stored in the coupled inductor is zero. Thus, i
L1
and i
L2
are
equal to zero. The energy stored in the capacitor C
L
is discharged to
the load. From (28) and (29), D
2
is derived as follows:

.(30)

From figure 12, the average value of the output capacitor current
during each switching period is given by

.(31)

Substituting (28) and (30) into (31), I
cL
is derived as

.(32)

Since I
cL
is equal to zero under steady state, (32) can be rewritten as
follows:

...(33)



Then, the normalized inductor time constant is defined as

(34)

Substituting (34) into (33), the voltage gain of DCM operation is
given by

G
DCM(stepdown)
=

.(35)

The current flow path for discontinuous operation in mode 1 and
mode 2 are the same as the continuous operation. For mode 3 the
current flow path is as shown below :


Figure 13. Current flow path of the proposed converter in step
down mode (mode 3)





Figure 14. waveforms of the proposed converter in step-down
mode (DCM operation)







2.2.3. BOUNDARY OPERATING CONDITION OF
CCM AND DCM

When the proposed converter in step-down mode is
operated in BCM, the voltage gain of CCM operation is equal to the
voltage gain of DCM operation. From (27) and (35), the boundary
normalized inductor time constant
LLB
can be derived as
follows:

.(36)

The curve of
LLB
is plotted in Fig. 10. If
LL
is larger than
LLB
, the
proposed converter in the step-down mode is operated in CCM.


Figure 15. Boundary condition of the proposed converter in step-
down mode (assuming k = 1)


3. COMPARISON OF THE PROPOSED
CONVERTER AND CONVENTIONAL
BIDIRECTIONAL BOOST/BUCK CONVERTER


Comparison of the proposed converter with the
conventional bidirectional converter is made in terms of their :
1) voltage gains
2) voltage stress on the switches
3) average value of the switch current
4) efficiency.

3.1. VOLTAGE GAIN

The curves of the voltage gain of the proposed converter and
conventional bidirectional boost/buck converter in CCM operation are
plotted in figure 16 and 17. It is seen that the step-up and step-down
voltage gains of the proposed converter are higher than the
conventional bidirectional boost/buck converter. Also the equation of
voltage gain for the conventional converter is :

which is less than the voltage gain of proposed converter in step up
mode. Same is the case in step down mode too when we compare the
equations.

Figure 16. Voltage gain in CCM operation ( step-up mode)



Figure 17. Voltage gain in CCM operation ( step-down mode)






3.2. VOLTAGE STRESS ON THE SWITCHES

From figures 5 and 12, the voltage stresses on S
1
, S
2
,
and S
3
in the proposed converter are derived as

v

(37)

As to the voltage stresses on S1 and S2 in the conventional
bidirectional boost/buck converter are given as

v

...(38)

Therefore, if the proposed converter is used for high step-up/ down
voltage-gain application, the rated voltage of S
1
and S
2
in the
proposed converter can be selected to be lower than the conventional
converter. Also, the rated voltage of S
3
in the proposed converter can
be selected as same as the conventional converter.


3.3. AVERAGE VALUE OF THE SWITCH-
CURRENT

When the proposed converter in step-up mode is operated
in CCM, the average value of the input current i
L
is found from :

(39)

where I
L1
is the average value of i
L1
. When the conventional
bidirectional boost/buck converter in step-up mode is also operated in
CCM, the average value of the input current i
L
is given by

(40)

Under same electric specifications for the proposed converter and
conventional bidirectional boost/buck converter, the input power can
be expressed as

P

.(41)

Substituting (39) and (40) into (41), yielding

(42)
When the proposed converter in step-down mode is operated in CCM,
the average value of the current i
LL
is found from figure 12

..(43)



Under same electric specifications for the proposed
converter and conventional bidirectional boost/buck converter, the
output power can be obtained as

P

...(44)

From (43) and (44), the following equation is derived as:

.(45)

From (42) and (45), one can know that the average value of the switch
current in the proposed converter is less than the conventional
bidirectional boost/buck converter.


3.4. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS

For the proposed converter, the equivalent circuits in step-
up mode are shown in figures 18 and 19. r
L1
and r
L2
represent the
equivalent series resistor (ESR) of the primary and secondary
windings of the coupled inductor. r
S1
, r
S2
, and r
S3
denote the ON-state
resistance of S
1
, S
2
, and S
3
, respectively. When S
1
/S
2
are turned on
and S
3
is turned off, the equivalent circuit is shown in figure 18. The
average values of i
cH
and v
L1
are obtained as

..(46)

v

.(47)


Figure 18. Equivalent circuit of the proposed converter in step-
up mode, S
1
/S
2
ON and S
3
OFF




Figure 19. Equivalent circuit of the proposed converter in step-
up mode, S
1
/S
2
OFF and S
3
ON




When S
1
/S
2
are turned off and S
3
is turned on, the equivalent circuit is
shown in figure 19, the average values of i
cH
and v
L1
are derived as

...(48)

v

...(49)

By using the ampere-second balance principle on C
H
, the following
equations are obtained as:

ut

ut .....(50)

Substituting (46) and (48) into (50), I
L1
is given by

....(51)

Using the volt-second balance principle on L
1
yields

v

ut

ut ...(52)

Substituting (47) and (49) into (52), the actual voltage gain is derived
as

(53)



The input power and output power are obtained as

P

..(54)

P

..(55)

From (53)(55), the efficiency is found to be

(56)

For the proposed converter, the equivalent circuits in
step-down mode are shown in figures 20 and 21. When S
3
is turned
on and S
1
/S
2
are turned off, the equivalent circuit is shown in figure
20. The average values of i
cL
and v
L1
are obtained as

..(57)

v

..(58)

When S3 is turned off and S
1
/S
2
are turned on, the equivalent circuit is
shown in figure 21, the average values of i
cL
and v
L1
are derived as

(59)
v

(60)

Figure 20. Equivalent circuit of the proposed converter in
step-down mode, S
1
/S
2
OFF and S
3
ON.



Figure 21. Equivalent circuit of the proposed converter in
step-down mode. S
1
/S
2
ON and S
3
OFF.





By using the ampere-second balance principle on C
L
, the following
equations are obtained as:

ut

ut (61)

Substituting (57) and (59) into (61), I
L1
is obtained as

..(62)

Using the volt-second balance principle on L
1
yields

v

ut

ut ...(63)

Substituting (58) and (60) into (63), the actual voltage gain is derived
as

.(64)

The input power and output power are obtained as

P

..(65)

P

.(66)

From (64)(66), the efficiency is found to be

(67)

The conventional bidirectional dc-dc converter is shown in
the diagram below. It has two switches S
1
and S
2
.


Figure 22. Conventional bidirectional dcdc boost/buck
converter

For the conventional converter, the equivalent circuits in step-up
mode are shown in figures 23 and 24.

Figure 23. Equivalent circuit of the conventional converter in
step-up mode, S
1
ON and S
2
OFF.

Figure 24. Equivalent circuit of the conventional converter in
step-up mode, S
1
OFF and S
2
ON.

r
L1
represents the ESR of the inductor. r
S1
and r
S2
denote ON-state
resistance of S
1
and S
2
. According to the foregoing method, the
efficiency is derived as follows:

(68)

For the conventional converter, the equivalent circuits in step-down
mode are shown in figures 25 and 26.


Figure 25. Equivalent circuit of the conventional converter in
step-down mode, S
2
ON and S
1
OFF


Figure 26. Equivalent circuit of the conventional converter
in step-down mode, S
2
OFF and S
1
ON

According to the foregoing method, the efficiency is derived as
follows:

(69)


In order to compare the calculated efficiency for the proposed
converter and the conventional converter, some parameters of three
cases are assumed as follows:

1) Case 1: r
L1
= r
L2
= 11 m, r
S1
= r
S2
= r
S3
= 23 m,
V
H
= 42 V, and V
L
= 21 V.

2) Case 2: r
L1
= r
L2
= 11 m, r
S1
= r
S2
= r
S3
= 23 m,
V
H
= 42 V, and V
L
= 14 V.

3) Case 3: r
L1
= r
L2
= 11 m, r
S1
= r
S2
= r
S3
= 23 m,
V
H
= 42 V, and V
L
= 10.5 V.


Substituting these parameters into (56) and (67)(69),
the calculated efficiencies of the proposed and conventional
converters in step-up and step-down modes are shown in figures 27
and 28.



Figure 27. Calculated efficiency of the proposed and
conventional converters in step-up mode
(a) Case 1
(b) Case 2
(c) Case 3


Figure 28. Calculated efficiency of the proposed and
conventional converters in step-up mode
(a) Case 1
(b) Case 2
(c) Case 3

4. CONCLUSION

This paper researches a novel bidirectional dc
dc converter. The circuit configuration of the proposed converter is
very simple. The proposed converter has higher step-up and step-
down voltage gains and lower average value of the switch current
than the conventional bidirectional boost/buck converter. Also as seen
from the figures 27 and 28 in which the efficiency was calculated
using the mathematical equations, we see that the efficiency of the
proposed converter is higher than the conventional bidirectional
converter in both step-up and step-down modes.