1

ENEL371S2
Power Electronics 1
Lecture 2 PWM
Pulse Width Modulation
Department of ECE
University of Canterbury
2012
Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) for DC-DC
Conversion
- How to switch to convert DC power
from one level to another level
Read Chapter 7.1-7.2, Mohan etc.
Switch-Mode Converter
t
kT
T
Switch
ON
Switch
OFF
k is duty cycle/ratio,
0<=k<=1; f
s
is switching
frequency
T =1/f
s
Switch ON/OFF
to chop power
supply voltage v
d
Chopped
output
voltage v
oi
+
_
DC chopper
The output voltage V
o
can be regulated by tuning the duty
cycle k of the switching waveform : V
o
=kv
d
Freewheeling
Diode
Switch-Mode Synthesis
Average value of v
oi
- DC Component:
Chopped voltage voi
( )
0 0
1 1
T kT
oi oi d d
av
v v dt v dt kv
T T
= = =
} }
Single Pole Double Throw Switch
Switch-Mode Synthesis
( )
oi d
av
v kv =
DC Component:
( )
oi oi ripple
av
d ripple
v v v
kv v
= +
= +
That is, DC component
(v
oi
)
av
+ high frequency
harmonics v
ripple
at nf
s
We can define voi:
T =1/f
s
Converter Output
o d
v kv ~
low-pass filter
With the low pass filter, the converter outputs dc voltage
Obviously, the higher the switching frequency is, the
smaller the size and weight of low pass filter LC can be.
1. Constant switching
frequency
2. Duty ratio controls the
average
3. L-C filters the ripple
Switching Method - PWM
Switching Strategies
T
T
T 4T
on
off
on
off
on
off
on
off
t
How to generate duty-ratio-controllable
rectangular pulse train to switch ON/OFF?
1. Constant switching frequency with variable ON
time and OFF time (i.e. variable duty ratio)
:
:
on off
on on
on off
switching period T t t
t t
duty ratio k
t t T


= +
= =
+
This is called pulse-
width-modulation
(PWM)
Switching Strategies
2. Non-constant switching frequency, but
either ON time or OFF time is held constant
Constant ON time
Constant OFF time
Switching frequency varies with the duty ratio
Why PWM is Popular ?
Read Spectral_analysis.pdf
Fourier analysis shows that the
frequency spectrum of any PWM signal
for DC-DC conversion contains DC
component (average value)+ switching
frequency harmonics (nf
s
). A low pass
filter can easily remove harmonics. The
output voltage can be conveniently
regulated by tuning duty ratio k.
If switching frequency varies with duty
ratio, it is hard to design filter to
remove harmonics (ripples), and is
difficult to choose power switch too.
How to Get PWM Switching ?
Double-edge Modulation:
Both edges of PWM
signal move
Generating PWM Signal
11
( )
1 1
:
: , 0 1
s
on of
control
carrier peak
f
on
switching frequency f
T t t
t
duty ra
V
V
tio k k
T


= =
+
= = s s
One-edge Modulation:
One edge of PWM
signal move
PWM Signal:
Generating PWM Signal
Why carrier signal usually chose triangle
signal or sawtooth signal, because
DC component (average value) of PWM is
proportional to the of control signal Vcontrol, i.e.
output can be regulated linearly.
Switching frequency fs of DC-DC converters is
usually choose to be 10~100kHz.
High switching frequency means less filtering is
needed.
Signal Analysis
0
1/ 2
2
0
2 2
0 0
/ :
/ :
:
1
1
1 1
T
avg
T
rms
T T
rms
Average voltage current
RMS voltage current
Output average powe
e edt
T
e e dt
T
v v
P vidt dt
T T R R
r



=
(
=
(

= = =
}
}
} }
Signal Analysis
A PWM voltage vo with duty ratio k and
amplitude Vs output to a resistor load R:
0
1/ 2
2
0
2 2
1
1
kT
avg s s
kT
rms s s
rms s
v V dt kV
T
v V dt kV
T
v V
P k
R R
= =
(
= =
(

= =
}
}
t
kT
T
k
s
o
Lecture 2 - Summary
PWM Variable Duty-Ratio
Fixed Frequency Switching
Strategy for DC-DC conversion
PWM actually can be extended
for DC-AC conversion, which will
be referred as Sinusoidal PWM
(SPWM) in the late Lectures.
Homework #2
Download homework #2 questions for
Lecture 2 from
Learn/ENEL371/Term3/Lecture2
Calculate voltage/current RMS value
Find additional readings for Lecture 2
from Learn/ENEL371/Term3/Lecture2
17
Contact Information:
Dr. Keliang Zhou
Office: Electrical A512
Email: keliang.zhou@canterbury.ac.nz
Phone: 3642240 Ext.6240