ON THE USE OF AVERAGING FOR THE ANALYSIS OF POWER ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

P.T. Krein, J. Bentaman., R.M.Bass, B.C. Lesieutre Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering *Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801

Abstract - Averaging theory offers constructive tools for analysis of oscillatory ordinary differential equations with time-discontinuous right-hand sides, if requirements of aolution differentiability are relared. This theory forms a rigorous frcrmework for evaluating, refining, and ertending heuristic averaged models now used in power electronics, and provides direct techniques for recovering oscillatory effects such as ripple from the averaged model. An overview of thia theory is presented, and dc-dc convertera are analyzed as ezamples.

I. INTRODUCTION
Analysis of power electronic systems is complicated by their discontinuous switching behavior. One well-known a p proach to the modeling of such systems is to approximate their operation by averaging techniques. For example, the which averages the popular state-space averaging method [l], several possible circuit configurations, has become a useful tool for small-signal modeling of switching converters. These methods, however, are heuristic in nature, and the relationships between the averaged models and the original system are unclear [2,3]. Depending on the assumptions involved, any approximation process, including averaging, might lead to different results.. This is particularly evident in power electronics, where numerous small-signal models have been proposed [4-91. Averaging and linearization are typically distinguished as two separate approximation steps in the various methods. For nonlinear modeling only the averaging step is required, and approximate large-signalmodels have also been proposed [10,11]. The popularity of the state-space averaging approach is due largely to its clear and rational derivation, simple methodology, and demonstrated practical utility. However there still remain some fundamental issues (31. Does averaging of the right-hand side (RHS)of a differential equation necessarily result in the trajectories of the averaged equation being the moving averages along the trajectories of the original equation? Are the stability properties preserved in the approximation? Does there exist a measure of the error incurred in the approximation? Is it possible to recover This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ECS 88-09285.

the exact solution directly from the averaged equation? Is the approximation valid for large signals? Can the open-loop approximate model be used for closed-loop design? An alternative form of averaging has long been used for analyzing differential equations with oscillatory RHS [12]. This technique has been examined extensively in the mathematical literature, and a substantial body of theory has been developed concerning the relationships between the original and the averaged equations. This approach has also been extended to equations with time discontinuities in the RHS (13,141. This theory offers a framework for addressing the questions raised above. The available results provide tools for the development and refinement of methods for design and control of power electronic systems. Below we present some appropriate averaging techniques, and examine some consequences of their application to power electronics.

11. OVERVIEW OF AVERAGING The process of averaging applies to time-varying equations which admit an introduction of a small parameter c. Originally, averaging was rigorously justified for the equations in the so-called standard form [15]

x = EF(t,I),

cQ

1,

I(t0)

= IO,
I. The

(1) time

with F ( t , z ) continuous as a function of t and average of the RHS of (1) ia defined as,
G ( . ) = lim T-ca

a 1

F(s,.)ds.

The averaged RHS of ( l ) , C(.), gives rise to a new system of equations,

which can be referred to as the time-invariant averaged system. The objective in computing the averaged equation is to obtain a simpler model which retains the important properties of the original system. Specifically, it is desired that a solution r ( t ) of (1) be close to the corresponding solution g ( t ) of (3), given the same initial conditione. Bogoliubov

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(151 showed that given a desired closeness between y(t) and z ( t ) and some time n, there exists eo > 0 such that when 0 < e 5 eo, solutions of ( 3 ) are indeed as close to those of ( 1 ) as desired, at least on an interval Bogoliubov also formulated a theorem [15] which relates the stability properties of the averaged and original systems provided 0 < e 5 e o .

change of variables

4.

which transforms ( 1 ) into the time-invariant system

The smaller the value of e, the closer the agreement with the solutions of the averaged system. The existence of the upper bound 0 demonstrates that averaging can be applied to stability analysis and system design under some conditions on e. The known analytical estimates of CO [16] lead to very conservative results, therefore the practical value of CO for a given system is best determined via numerical simulations.

d, = ~ G I ( Y ) e2Gz(y) e3G3(y) e4G4(y)

+ .. ..

(6)

A . Karatheodoru Eztension and Theorems

Before applying averaging theory to power electronic systems, in which switching generates time discontinuity of F ( t , z ) , it is necessary to extend the earlier results to discontinuous systems. To consider application of averaging to systems with time-discontinuous right-hand sides, the notion of the solution of ( 1 ) should be extended to allow discontinuous first derivatives This can be accomplished via the Karatheodory extension of the concept of a differential equation (171. The essence of this extension is that instead of equation ( l ) ,we consider the integral form

Equations (l), ( 5 ) and ( 6 ) can be used to obtain an expression in the new variable y. The algorithmic part of the KBM method [18] involves equating identical powers of e to arrive at a system of equations for sequential solution of S;(t,y) and G;(y). In particular, solving for GI gives the same G obtained in (2). In this context, system ( 3 ) can be viewed a s a first-order approximation of ( I ) , and the KBM algorithm can be used to obtain more refined approximations.

111. APPLICATION EXAMPLES FOR POWER

ELECTRONICS As examples of application of averaging to power electronics, three converter topologies will be investigated: the open-loop PWM boost and buck converters and the feedback PWM buck converter. A detailed presentation of the application of the KBM algorithm is given in the boost converter example. Averaged models derived in all three cases are in fact the state-space average models. The contributions of this approach are in clarifying the relationships between the original and the large-signal averaged models, and in providing higher order approximations for ripple estimation.

v.
+

z t ) = zo (

Lot

F( , z s ) ) d s . 5 (

(4)

When F ( t , z ) is continuous, so that z ( t ) is continuously differentiable, ( 4 ) obviously is equivalent to (1). When z ( t ) is only continuous, which is the case when F ( t , z ) is piecewise continuous in t , the integral in (4) is still well-defined, even though ( 1 ) is ambiguous. Karatheodorys extension and related existence and uniqueness theorems [17] provide a theoretically meaningful framework for the analysis o systems f with F ( t , z)discontinuous in time. The f i s t averaging theorem on the closeness of solutions of ( 1 ) and (3) for time-discontinuous F ( t , z ) was presented in [13]. This theorem applies only for a finite time interval inversely proportional to . While to the best of our knowledge, there is no similar theorem for an infinite time interval explicitly formulated for time-discontinuous F ( t , z),the conditions stated by Meerkov for Theorem 1 . 3 and Corollary 1.2 of (141 are general enough to include such systems. Thus averaging as in [15] can be applied to time-discontinuous power electronic systems, and the theorems of averaging can be used to relate properties of the averaged system to those of the original one. When the process represented by (1)-(3) is applied to power electronic systems, the result is indeed the state-space average model discussed by Middlebrook [l]. However, the process need not be limited to small signals or even linear systems. Averaging can also allow recovery of detailed information about solutions of ( l ) ,as will be illustrated below. B . K B M Method of Generalized Averaging A generalimation of averaging (1)-(3), known as the

A . Open-Loop P W M Boost Converter

Consider the simple dc-dc boost converter of Figure 1.

DRIVE

Figure 1. Open Loop PWM Boost Converter

In the case of continuous diode current operation, there are two circuit configurations, and the two state variables can be defined as the inductor current a and the capacitor voltage U. The differential equations can be written in state space form as

KBM (Krylov-Bogoliubov-Miltropolsky) method, considers a

464

where

Rewritten in the original time scale, the averaged model is

h ( t , T )= u[D - t r i ( t , T ) ] .
The function

(8)

z ~ ( = ) + DAz] y ( t ) + b. d t [AI
t r i ( t , T )= t m o d T
(9)

(18)

uses the modulo operation to represent one form of P W M carrier waveform with period T. The function U(.) is simply the Heaviside step function, and is zero when x < 0 and is one when o 2 0. The step function corresponds to the combination of comparator and gate drive. The duty ratio parameter D has a given value between 0 and 1. For compactness, the following matrix notation will be used throughout:

(10-b)

(10-c)

(10-d) Equation ( 7) can then be written as

Note that this is exactly the state-space average model which is lineari~ed some nominal duty ratio to remove the for constant offset f and obtain a small-signal model [l]. Provided 0 < c 0, Theorem 1.3 of [6] states that the trajectories of the time-invariant system obtained through the averaging of the RHS of the original system are, in fact, approximate moving averages along the trajectories of the original system. By Corollary 1.2 of Theorem 1.3, asymptotic stability of the averaged model ( 18) implies asymptotic stability of the original system ( 7). Observe that for any fixed duty ratio, the averaged model is a linear time-invariant system. However, if we use this model for feedback design by substituting linear combinations of the states for the duty ratio, the system is nonlinear. The validity of using the open-loop approximation for closed-loop design is questionable. As has been pointed out [3],in some cases a good open-loop approximation can provide a very poor approximation of closed-loop properties. This issue will be addressed when the P W M feedback case is considered, below. If ripple estimates for a given duty ratio are desired, an algorithm based on the K B M method can be used. Equations (5), ( 6 ) and ( 15) are used to obtain the expression

<

must be introduced. To do this, we should examine the product of the largest coefficient
e,
+e2

To apply averaging, a small parameter,

[ % + as1 -(cl
ay
ay

(cc1

+ c Z G z + + . ..) + c z c z + . . .)
2G3

[ % + -(GI as2

+ 2CZ + . .. . . . ,

)I

(19)

in which terms with identical powers of c can be equated, and the switching period,

T. The parameter c is chosen as

c

= UT

(13)

and time is scaled as

t

= TT.

(14)

Thus, according to the discussion in Section I1 there is an 0 averaging is upper bound CO on UT such that for UT applicable. Applying the scaling of ( 14), ( 7)-( 8 ) can be rewritten in standard form as

<

Equation ( 2 0 ) can be solved for C1 by taking the average over one period with respect to T . As expected this gives the C found in ( 17) Applying the averaging operator (2) to the RHS of ( 15), we immediately obtain Next, use ( 23) to substitute for GI in ( 20). Then solve for

465

the T-periodic 91,choosing the constant of integration for the zero-average solution

ripple. C . Feedback P W M Buck Converter In the previous two examples the tools provided by averaging were used solely for analysis. The practical utility of averaging, however, .is in providing approximate models which can be used for control design. Consider the buck converter under PWM feedback in the continuous conduction mode. Such a system is shown in Figure 2.

4- [1 - h ( T ) ] D 4- -(D2 D ) } . 2

(24)

The 9 order

function allows the following ripple approximation to

c2

+[1
w(t)

h ( t ) ]D

+ -1( D 2 - D ) } 2

(25-8)

zz

yz(t)

- z y i ( t ) { [ h ( t )- D ] t r i ( t , T )
(25-b)

+ [1 - h ( t ) ] D + !2( D 2 - D ) }

Proceeding in a similar manner, this algorithm can be used to obtain additional G; and Q;, providing a means for recovering an approximation of the solution to any desired degree of accuracy.

voltage signal

Figure 2. Feedback PWM Buck Converter The system equations are

E . Open-Loop P W M Buck Converter

Taking the same approach for the open-loop P W M ideal buck converter in the continuous conduction mode, the original equation is

d dt

-z(t) = A i x ( t ) + h(t,T,r)b,

(30)

h ( t , T , z )= ir[d(t)- trr(t,T)],

(31)

h ( t , T )= u [ D- t r i ( t , T ) ] ,

(27) where ir is the Heaviside unit step function, modified to include a commutation model. Some of the possible commutation models are shown in Figure 3 .

and the averaged equation is

Following the KBM algorithm, \Ir; functions are obtained which are functions of time only. In particular,
1

Q ~ ( T )=

-b{[h(T) - D]tri(t,l)
a

[f

- ~ ( T ) ] D (D2 ;

+1

x=o
-

x=o ( b ) Exponential

D)}.

(29)

(a) Ltnear

Except for t = 1 , all G ; = 0. While these results can be obtained by averaging, it can be shown by directly solving the equations that in this case there is no restriction on c. Because the original ( 26)-( 27) and the averaged ( 2 8 ) linear systems have identical eigenvalues and the input t o ( 2 8 ) is always bounded, the stability properties of ( 26) and ( 2 8 ) are the same for any switching frequency (provided the system remains in the continuous conduction mode). In addition, it can be shown that the trajectories of ( 26) are exactly equd to the trajectories of ( 28) plus some zero-mean T-periodic

Figure 3. Commutation Models Applying the averaging operator ( Z ) , the averaged model obtained is

where 0 is approximately the PWM saturation function shown in Figure 4 .

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REFERENCES

[ 1 ] R. D. Middlebrook and S. Cuk, A general unified approach to modeling switching-converter power stages, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rcc., 1976, pp. 18-34. B. Y. Lau and R. D. Middlebrook, Small-signal frequency response .theory for piecewise-constant twoswitched-network dc-to-dc converter systems, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rec., 1986, pp. 186-200. G. Verghese and U. Mukherji, Extended averaging and control procedures, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rec., 1981, pp. 329-336. R. D. Middlebrook, Small-signal modeling of pulsewidth modulated switched-mode power converters, Proc. IEEE, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 343-354, Apr. 1988. R. Tymerski, V. Vorperian, F. C. Lee and W. Baymann, Nonlinear modeling of the PWM switch, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rec., 1988, pp. 968-976. M. Clique and A. J. Fossard, A general model for switching converters, IEEE Trans. Aerospace Electron. Syst., vol. AES-13,no. 3, pp. 397-400, July 1977. A. Capel, J. G. Ferrante and R. Prajoux, State variable stability analysis of multi-loop PWM controlled DC/DC regulators in light and heavy mode, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rec., 1975, pp. 91-103. M. Grotzbach, Analysis of periodically switch controlled lowpass systems by continuous approximation models, Automatica, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 321-334, 1981.

[2]

[3]
Figure 4. Ideal PWM Saturation k c t i o n

[4]
The exact form of 0 depends on the choice of commutation model G. In any case, 0 differs from the ideal saturation function only when the duty ratio d(t) is near 0 or 1. If PWM saturation is avoided, the averaged equation ( 33) is the basis for the small-signal approximation of state-space averaging. The significance here is that ( 33) is a large-signal model which can be used for feedback control design. Although linear state feedback ( 32) was used in this example, a nonlinear control law would give a similar form. Again by Corollary 1.2 of [6], the asymptotic stability of ( 33) guarantees the asymptotic stability of ( 30)-( 32) provided 0 < c 5 CO.

[ 51

[ 61

[7]

[8]
IV. CONCLUSION

[ 9 ] D. J. Shortt and F. C. Lee, Extensions of the discreteThe use of averaging theory provides a framework for developing models of power electronic systems. While models of power electronic converters based on rigorous averaging theory are, in general, the same as those obtained by heuristic state-space sveraging, the theory allows some key inferences: When a sufficiently small parameter can be identified, asymptotic stability of the averaged system model implies asymptotic stability of the actual system. Ripple correction functions can be found so that behavior of a given converter can be estimated to any desired degreeof accuracy from the behavior of the averaged model. Averaging theory can be applied in the case of large signals or nonlinear systems. The averaged models derived here as examples are large signal models, and could, for instance, be extended conveniently to inverters (191. The specific examples presented here produced a largesignal linear averaged model for the dc-dc buck converter operating with linear feedback. The averaged boost converter model is nonlinear in the closed loop case, and thus requires more complicated feedback design [ll].In most current practice, boost converters are designed through the use of smallsignal linearized models. Fbture work will include evaluations of the value of the upper bound eo for a variety of systems. The larger 0 can be, the lower the switching frequency for which averaging theory can be applied. Other work is continuing concerning the evaluation of control strategies for various converter types. average models for converter power stages, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rcc., 1983, pp. 2337. 10 ] R. W. Brockett and J. R. Wood, Electrical networks containing controlled switches, in Applications of Lie group theory and nonlinear network problems, supplement to IEEE Int. Symp. on Circuit Theory, 1974, pp. 1-11. 11 ] R. W. Erickson, S. Cuk and R. D. Middlebrook, Largesignal modelling and analysis of switching regulators, in IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. Rcc., 1982, pp. 240-250. [ 121 J. A. Sanders and F. Verhulst, Aoemging Methods in Nonlinear Dynamical Systems. New York: SpringerVerlag, 1985. [ 13 ] M. M. Khapaev, On the method of averaging and on certain problems connected with averaging, Diflenntial Equations, 1966, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 310-314. [ 14 ] S. M. Meerkov, Averaging of trajectories of slow dynamic systems, Diflennlial Equations, 1973, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 1239-1245.

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Methods in the Theory of Non-linear Oscillations. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1961. [ 16 J R. Bellman, J. Bentsman and S. M. Meerkov, Stability of fast periodic systems, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control, vol. AC-30, pp.289-291, March 1985.

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