WO2016164086A1

WO2016164086A1 - Auxiliary winding ground fault detection for isolated dc/dc converter

Info

Publication number: WO2016164086A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/067166
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pengju Kong; Duc Doan; Fuqiang Shi
Original assignee: Dialog Semiconductor Inc
Current assignee: Renesas Design North America Inc
Priority date: 2015-04-10
Filing date: 2015-12-21
Publication date: 2016-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 2017-10-10
Also published as: US10917018B2; US20170317600A1; WO2016164086A9; CN108093668A; US20180269792A1; CN108093668B; US9979305B2

Abstract

A flyback converter (100) is provided with a controller (Ul) that is configured to analyze the reflected feedback voltage waveforms (V FB) to determine the presence of a ground connection fault (125) for the auxiliary winding.

Description

AUXILIARY WINDING GROUND FAULT DETECTION FOR ISOLATED

DC/DC CONVERTER

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent

Application No. 62/146,174, filed April 10, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This application relates to switching power converters, and more particularly to the regulation of the power supply voltage for a switching power supply controller.

BACKGROUND

[0003] The explosive growth in mobile electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets creates an increasing need in the art for compact and efficient switching power converters so that users may recharge these devices. A flyback switching power converter is typically provided with a mobile device as its transformer provides safe isolation from AC household current. This isolation introduces a problem in that the power switching occurs at the primary side of the transformer but the load is on the secondary side. The power switching modulation for a flyback converter requires knowledge of the output voltage on the secondary side of the transformer. Such feedback can be obtained through opto-isolators bridging from the secondary side to the primary side but this adds to cost and control complexity. Thus, primary-only feedback techniques have been developed that use the reflected voltage on the primary side of the transformer in each switching cycle. [0004] In a switching cycle for a flyback converter, the secondary current (the current in the secondary winding of the transformer) pulses high after the primary-side power switch is cycled off. The secondary current then ramps down to zero as power is delivered to the load. The delay between the power switch off time and the secondary current ramping to zero is denoted as the transformer reset time (Trst). The reflected voltage on the primary winding at the transformer reset time is proportional to the output voltage because there is no diode drop voltage on the secondary side as the secondary current has ceased flowing. The reflected voltage at the transformer reset time is thus directly proportional to the output voltage based upon the turn ratio in the transformer and other factors. Primary-only feedback techniques sample this reflected voltage through an auxiliary winding to efficiently modulate the power switching and thus modulate the output voltage.

[0005] Although primary-only feedback techniques reduce complexity and cost, the associated transformer is relatively heavy compared to other board-mounted components such as integrated circuits. In particular, the transformer is commonly interconnected to its circuit board through the use of solder. Modern recycling standards typically require the use of lead-free solder, which is relatively brittle and thus prone to cracking. The resulting failure of the solder interconnect may occur with regard to the coupling to either the primary or second windings. Such failures will render the resulting flyback unusable but the output voltage will never be driven too high as a result. In contrast, if the auxiliary winding's interconnects fail, a reflected voltage will still appear across the auxiliary winding due to trace inductive, resistive, and capacitive (LRC) effects despite the open circuit fault. The power controller will thus react to this reflected voltage and continue to cycle the primary winding's power switch. As a result, the output voltage may be driven to dangerously-high levels due to the interconnect fault for the auxiliary winding, which results in damage to the associated load. But conventional power controllers have no way of determining that the auxiliary winding interconnects have failed.

[0006] Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved fault detection for primary-only-feedback-regulated flyback converters.

SUMMARY

[0007] A flyback converter is provided with a controller that is configured to analyze the reflected feedback voltage waveforms to determine the presence of a ground connection fault for the auxiliary winding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 A illustrates a flyback converter including a controller configured to analyze the reflected voltage waveform to detect a fault condition with regard to the auxiliary winding interconnects in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0009] Figure IB illustrates the flyback converter of Figure 1 after occurrence of a ground disconnect for the auxiliary winding.

[0010] Figure 2A illustrates two switch cycles for the flyback converter of Figure IB.

[001 1] Figure 2B illustrates the resulting secondary current waveforms in response to the switch cycles of Figure 2A.

[0012] Figure 2C illustrates the resulting reflected feedback waveforms in response to the switch cycles of Figure IB for both the presence and absence of an auxiliary winding ground disconnect. [0013] Figure 3 illustrates an example controller in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014] Figure 4A illustrates the voltage thresholds as compared to the reflected feedback voltage waveform for the controller of Figure 3.

[0015] Figure 4B illustrates the comparator output signals for a normal reflected feedback voltage waveform.

[0016] Figure 4C illustrates the comparator output signals for a faulty reflected feedback voltage waveform due to the presence of an auxiliary winding ground disconnect.

[0017] Figure 5 A illustrates a voltage threshold as compared to the reflected feedback voltage waveform for a single-comparator controller embodiment.

[0018] Figure 5B illustrates the comparator output signal for a normal reflected feedback voltage waveform in a single-comparator controller embodiment.

[0019] Figure 5B illustrates the comparator output signal for a faulty reflected feedback voltage waveform in a single-comparator controller embodiment.

[0020] Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] To address the need in the art for improved fault detection, a flyback converter controller is provided that is configured to analyze the reflected voltage waveform to detect an interconnect failure for the auxiliary winding. Should the controller detect a failure, it may then reset the switching power converter into an idle mode so that the output voltage is not driven out of regulation. In addition, a signal may be generated to alert the user of the fault condition. These advantageous features may be better appreciated with regard to the following example embodiments.

[0022] Turning now to the drawings, Figure 1A illustrates an example flyback converter 100 including a controller Ul configured to practice the default detection method disclosed herein. A rectified input voltage (V_IN) drives a primary winding Tl of a transformer 105 when controller Ul switches on a power switch. In converter 100, the power switch is a MOSFET S I power switch but it will be appreciated that bipolar junction transistor (BJT) switches may be used in alternative embodiments. To cycle the power switch on, controller Ul charges a gate of power switch transistor SI to switch it fully on. Based upon the input voltage V_IN and a magnetizing inductance for the transformer, a primary winding current in primary winding Tl then ramps up from zero to a peak current value, whereupon controller Ul switches off power switch transistor S I to complete a switching cycle.

[0023] Controller Ul controls the peak primary current responsive to a feedback (VJFB) voltage derived from a reflected voltage on an auxiliary winding (T1_AUX). When controller Ul switches off power switch transistor SI, a rectifying diode Dl coupled to a second winding SI of transformer 105 becomes forward biased such that the stored magnetic energy in transformer 105 is delivered as an output voltage (V_OUT) across a load 110 as filtered by a load capacitor CI . It will be appreciated that rectifying diode Dl may be replaced by a synchronous rectification (SR) switch in alternative embodiments. This delivery of energy to load 1 10 produces a reflected voltage on the auxiliary winding that is a function of the voltage drop across the diode Dl and the output voltage V_OUT. As this energy delivery is depleted, a secondary current in the secondary winding SI will drop to zero such that there is no voltage drop across diode Dl , whereupon the reflected voltage across the auxiliary winding is directly proportional to the output voltage V_OUT. This time is denoted as the transformer reset time (Trst) and represents the ideal time to sample the reflected voltage V_FB to obtain an accurate estimate of the output voltage V_OUT.

[0024] The feedback voltage V_FB is just one parameter that may be used in the primary-only feedback implemented by controller Ul . For example, the primary winding current may be sampled through a sense resistor (not illustrated) to produce an Isense voltage that represents the primary winding current amplitude. Controller Ul may use the rate of change of the primary winding current as determined through the l_sense voltage to indirectly measure the input voltage V_IN. This is quite advantageous as controller 105 may then determine the input voltage V_IN without requiring an additional input pin. In this fashion, controller 105 may process V_FB and I_sense from a previous pulse to determine the desired peak primary winding current in the subsequent pulse on a pulse-by-pulse basis.

[0025] Such primary-only feedback control of the output voltage V_OUT by controller Ul is conventional. However, this conventional primary-only feedback control becomes problematic should the auxiliary winding no longer couple to ground as shown in Figure IB for flyback converter 100. in particular, an interconnect 120 coupling the auxiliary winding T1_AUX to ground has failed such as through a crack or other defect. Despite this failure, the auxiliary winding may still couple to ground through stray inductive, resistive, and capacitive elements as represented by capacitor 125. The switch state for MOSFET SI, the waveform for the secondary winding current, and the auxiliary voltage waveform are shown in Figure 2A, Figure 2B, and Figure 2C, respectively. As shown in Figure 2A, the power switch such as MOSFET SI is pulsed on to drive current through the primary winding. When SI is turned off, the secondary current (I_SECONDARY) is pulsed high to then linearly ramp down to zero as shown in Figure 2B. During a normal mode of operation (no interconnect failures), the resulting reflected voltage V_FB is as shown by dotted line 200. There are two cycles of MOSFET SI and thus two corresponding cycles for reflected voltage 200 (as used herein, the term "cycle" is used to refer to the voltage waveform that is produced responsive to one switching cycle for the power switch transistor).

[0026] Should the auxiliary winding become disconnected due to interconnect fault 120, faulty reflected voltage cycles 205 are produced. Each pulsing of switch S I produces a corresponding cycle of the faulty reflected voltage 205. To obtain an estimate of the output voltage in a primary-only feedback architecture, a conventional controller would sample faulty reflected voltage cycles 205 such as at times Tl and T2. Due to the auxiliary winding fault, the sampled feedback voltage (V_FB) for faulty cycles 205 will be considerably lower than the sampled values for normal cycles 200. The difference between the sampled voltage and a threshold voltage is used by primary- only-feedback controllers to calculate the desired peak primary current for the subsequent switching cycle (or cycles). Faulty cycles 205 result in the controller driving excessive peak primary currents due to the abnormally-low values for the samples of the reflected feedback voltage (V_FB). A conventional controller is thus "fooled" by aberrant reflected voltage cycles 205 so as to drive the output voltage out of regulation higher than the desired level. The resulting increased output voltage may damage sensitive load circuits that cannot accommodate such relatively-high voltage levels.

[0027] To prevent the output voltage from being driven out of regulation due to a ground disconnection of the auxiliary winding, controller Ul is configured to detect abnormally-slow declines in the reflected voltage waveforms following the switch off time. For example, controller Ul may include a pair of comparators 300 and 305 as shown in Figure 3. Comparator 300 compares the feedback voltage to a relatively high threshold voltage (REF_A). In contrast comparator 305 compares the feedback voltage to a lower threshold voltage (REF B). Both the threshold voltages are chosen such that they are lower than the expected feedback voltage at the transformer reset time as shown in Figure 4A. Normal reflected feedback voltage cycle 200 will thus only fall below the threshold voltage after the transformer reset time (Trst). In normal reflected voltage cycle 200, the voltage decrease is very rapid after the transformer reset time. In contrast although fault}' reflected feedback voltage cycle 205 begins to decline much earlier, it declines at a slower rate as shown in Figure 4A. Comparators 300 and 305 are configured to assert their output signals when the feedback voltage is greater than their respective thresholds but it will be appreciated that a complementary configuration in which comparators 300 and 305 assert their output signals only when the feedback voltage is lower than their threshold voltages may be used in alternative embodiments,

[0028] The resulting comparator output signals are shown in Figure 4B for normal reflected feedback voltage cycle 200. Due to the rapid decline in the feedback voltage subsequent to the transformer reset time, the difference between the time when comparator 300 pulls its output signal low as compared to when comparator 305 pulls its output signal low is relatively small - e.g., 100 nanoseconds. In contrast, the comparator output signals for faulty reflected feedback voltage cycle 205 are shown in Figure 4C. Due to the relatively slow decline in the feedback voltage when the auxiliary winding is disconnected from ground, the difference in time between the falling edges for the comparator output signals is relatively large - e.g., a microsecond or more. Controller Ul may thus include a timing analysis circuit 310 as shown in Figure 3 that compares the period between the falling edges for the comparator output signals from comparators 300 and 305 to a threshold level (e.g., 500 nanoseconds). Should the period between the falling edges be less than the threshold value, controller Ul continues in a normal mode of operation. Conversely, should the period exceed the threshold value, controller Ul may trigger a reset to prevent the load from being driven out of regulation. In addition, controller Ul may alert the user regarding the fault condition being detected.

[0029] An alternative embodiment, controller Ul may determine a fault using just one comparator such as comparator 300. Its reference voltage (REF_A) would be adjusted as shown in Figure 5A such that it will be crossed by the ringing of the feedback voltage 200 that occurs after the steep decline following the transformer reset time. The ringing is fairly regular or sinusoidal such that the rising edges in the comparator output signal will have a fairly-constant separation as shown in Figure 5B following normal cycle 10-0. The falling edges also have this regular separation. But faulty reflected feedback cycle 205 will first have an abnormally-long delay between the initial falling edge in the comparator output signal as compared to the subsequent falling edges. Timing analysis circuit 310 in a one-comparator-embodiment may thus be configured to compare the initial blanking time for the comparator output signal to a threshold value. Should this threshold value be exceed, controller Ul asserts the reset signal and/or signals the user that a fault condition exists. This is quite advantageous as the resulting modification to controller Ul is quite compact as it involves just one or two comparators and some associated timing logic yet the dangers of too-high output voltage due to auxiliary winding disconnects are eliminated.

[0030] As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and depending on the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutions and variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus, configurations and methods of use of the devices of the present disclosure without departing from the scope thereof. For example, alternative detectors as compared to the use of a comparator may be used with regard to determining if the power switch should be cycled to bolster the controller power supply voltage. In light of this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to that of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, as they are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should be fully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and their functional equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS We claim:

1. A switching power converter, comprising:

a transformer including a primary winding, a secondary winding, and an auxiliary winding;

a power switch coupled to the primary winding; and

a controller configured to cycle the power switch on and off to produce an output voltage at a load coupled to the secondary winding; wherein the controller is configured to compare a rate of decline for a reflected feedback voltage on the auxiliary winding following an off time for the power switch in each cycle of the power switch to a threshold value, and wherein the controller is further configured to cease cycling the power switch responsive to the rate of decline exceeding the threshold value.

2. The switching power converter of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to compare the rate of decline using at least one comparator.

3. The switching power converter of claim 2, wherein the at least one comparator comprises two compactors.

4. The switching power converter of claim 3, wherein a first one of the comparators is configured to compare the reflected feedback voltage to a first threshold voltage, and wherein a second one of the comparators is configured to compare the reflected feedback voltage to a second threshold that is less than the first threshold.

5. The switching power converter of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to compare the rate of decline for the reflected feedback voltage by comparing a first time when the first comparator indicates that the first voltage threshold has been crossed to a second time when the second comparator indicates that the second voltage threshold has been crossed.

6. The switching power converter of claim 2, wherein at least one comparator comprises a single comparator.

7. The switching power converter of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to determine times between threshold crossings for the single comparator to determine whether the times are spaced apart by a constant separation or by a changing separation.

8. The switching power converter of claim 7, wherein the controller includes a timing analysis circuit to determine the times between threshold crossings.

9. The switching power converter of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to detect the rate of decline exceeding the threshold value in response to detecting that the times are spaced apart by a changing separation.

10. A method, comprising;

cycling a power switch coupled to a primary winding to generate an output voltage at a load coupled to a second winding and to generate a reflected feedback voltage on a primary winding; after an off time for the switch in each cycle of the power switch, comparing a rate of decline for the reflected feedback voltage to a threshold value; and ' ceasing the cycling of the power switch responsive to the comparison indicating that the rate of decline exceeded the threshold value.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: using at least one comparator to compare the rate of decline for the reflected feedback voltage to the threshold value.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein comparing the rate of decline for the reflected threshold voltage comprises:

detecting a first time when the reflected feedback voltage declines below a first threshold value; and

detecting a second time when the reflected feedback voltage declines below a second threshold value that is lower than the first threshold value.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining that the rate of decline for the reflected feedback voltage has exceeded the threshold value by determining that the first time and the second time are separated too widely.

14. A method, comprising:

cycling a power switch coupled to a primary winding to generate an output voltage at a load coupled to a second winding and to generate a reflected feedback voltage on a primary winding; after each an off time of the power switch in each cycle of the power switch, comparing the reflected feedback voltage to a threshold value; and

ceasing the cycling of the power switch responsive to the comparison indicating a ringing of the reflected feedback voltage was not periodic.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising continuing the cycling of the power switch responsive to the comparison indicating that the ringing of the reflected feedback voltage was periodic.