Matching Items (9)
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- All Subjects: Integrated circuits
- All Subjects: Electric current converters
- Creators: Kiaei, Sayfe
- Creators: Chakraborty, Bijeta
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
Description
Efficiency of components is an ever increasing area of importance to portable applications, where a finite battery means finite operating time. Higher efficiency devices need to be designed that don't compromise on the performance that the consumer has come to expect. Class D amplifiers deliver on the goal of increased efficiency, but at the cost of distortion. Class AB amplifiers have low efficiency, but high linearity. By modulating the supply voltage of a Class AB amplifier to make a Class H amplifier, the efficiency can increase while still maintaining the Class AB level of linearity. A 92dB Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR) Class AB amplifier and a Class H amplifier were designed in a 0.24um process for portable audio applications. Using a multiphase buck converter increased the efficiency of the Class H amplifier while still maintaining a fast response time to respond to audio frequencies. The Class H amplifier had an efficiency above the Class AB amplifier by 5-7% from 5-30mW of output power without affecting the total harmonic distortion (THD) at the design specifications. The Class H amplifier design met all design specifications and showed performance comparable to the designed Class AB amplifier across 1kHz-20kHz and 0.01mW-30mW. The Class H design was able to output 30mW into 16Ohms without any increase in THD. This design shows that Class H amplifiers merit more research into their potential for increasing efficiency of audio amplifiers and that even simple designs can give significant increases in efficiency without compromising linearity.
ContributorsPeterson, Cory (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Barnaby, Hugh (Committee member) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Isolated DC/DC converters are used to provide electrical isolation between two supply domain systems. A fully integrated isolated DC/DC converter having no board-level components and fabricated using standard integrated circuits (IC) process is highly desirable in order to increase the system reliability and reduce costs. The isolation between the low-voltage side and high-voltage side of the converter is realized by a transformer that transfers energy while blocking the DC loop. The resonant mode power oscillator is used to enable high efficiency power transfer. The on-chip transformer is expected to have high coil inductance, high quality factors and high coupling coefficient to reduce the loss in the oscillation. The performance of a transformer is highly dependent on the vertical structure, horizontal geometry and other indispensable structures that make it compatible with the IC process such as metal fills and patterned ground shield (PGS). With the help of three-dimensional (3-D) electro-magnetic (EM) simulation software, the 3-D transformer model is simulated and the simulation result is got with high accuracy.
In this thesis an on-chip transformer for a fully integrated DC/DC converter using standard IC process is developed. Different types of transformers are modeled and simulated in HFSS. The performances are compared to select the optimum design. The effects of the additional structures including PGS and metal fills are also simulated. The transformer is tested with a network analyzer and the testing results show a good consistency with the simulation results when taking the chip traces, printed circuit board (PCB) traces, bond wires and SMA connectors into account.
In this thesis an on-chip transformer for a fully integrated DC/DC converter using standard IC process is developed. Different types of transformers are modeled and simulated in HFSS. The performances are compared to select the optimum design. The effects of the additional structures including PGS and metal fills are also simulated. The transformer is tested with a network analyzer and the testing results show a good consistency with the simulation results when taking the chip traces, printed circuit board (PCB) traces, bond wires and SMA connectors into account.
ContributorsZhao, Yao (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Class D Amplifiers are widely used in portable systems such as mobile phones to achieve high efficiency. The demands of portable electronics for low power consumption to extend battery life and reduce heat dissipation mandate efficient, high-performance audio amplifiers. The high efficiency of Class D amplifiers (CDAs) makes them particularly attractive for portable applications. The Digital class D amplifier is an interesting solution to increase the efficiency of embedded systems. However, this solution is not good enough in terms of PWM stage linearity and power supply rejection. An efficient control is needed to correct the error sources in order to get a high fidelity sound quality in the whole audio range of frequencies. A fundamental analysis on various error sources due to non idealities in the power stage have been discussed here with key focus on Power supply perturbations driving the Power stage of a Class D Audio Amplifier. Two types of closed loop Digital Class D architecture for PSRR improvement have been proposed and modeled. Double sided uniform sampling modulation has been used. One of the architecture uses feedback around the power stage and the second architecture uses feedback into digital domain. Simulation & experimental results confirm that the closed loop PSRR & PS-IMD improve by around 30-40 dB and 25 dB respectively.
ContributorsChakraborty, Bijeta (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Garrity, Douglas (Committee member) / Ozev, Sule (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The modern era of consumer electronics is dominated by compact, portable, affordable smartphones and wearable computing devices. Power management integrated circuits (PMICs) play a crucial role in on-chip power management, extending battery life and efficiency of integrated analog, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal cores. Low-dropout (LDO) regulators are commonly used to provide clean supply for low voltage integrated circuits, where point-of-load regulation is important. In System-On-Chip (SoC) applications, digital circuits can change their mode of operation regularly at a very high speed, imposing various load transient conditions for the regulator. These quick changes of load create a glitch in LDO output voltage, which hamper performance of the digital circuits unfavorably. For an LDO designer, minimizing output voltage variation and speeding up voltage glitch settling is an important task.
The presented research introduces two fully integrated LDO voltage regulators for SoC applications. N-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (NMOS) power transistor based operation achieves high bandwidth owing to the source follower configuration of the regulation loop. A low input impedance and high output impedance error amplifier ensures wide regulation loop bandwidth and high gain. Current-reused dynamic biasing technique has been employed to increase slew-rate at the gate of power transistor during full-load variations, by a factor of two. Three design variations for a 1-1.8 V, 50 mA NMOS LDO voltage regulator have been implemented in a 180 nm Mixed-mode/RF process. The whole LDO core consumes 0.130 mA of nominal quiescent ground current at 50 mA load and occupies 0.21 mm x mm. LDO has a dropout voltage of 200 mV and is able to recover in 30 ns from a 65 mV of undershoot for 0-50 pF of on-chip load capacitance.
The presented research introduces two fully integrated LDO voltage regulators for SoC applications. N-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (NMOS) power transistor based operation achieves high bandwidth owing to the source follower configuration of the regulation loop. A low input impedance and high output impedance error amplifier ensures wide regulation loop bandwidth and high gain. Current-reused dynamic biasing technique has been employed to increase slew-rate at the gate of power transistor during full-load variations, by a factor of two. Three design variations for a 1-1.8 V, 50 mA NMOS LDO voltage regulator have been implemented in a 180 nm Mixed-mode/RF process. The whole LDO core consumes 0.130 mA of nominal quiescent ground current at 50 mA load and occupies 0.21 mm x mm. LDO has a dropout voltage of 200 mV and is able to recover in 30 ns from a 65 mV of undershoot for 0-50 pF of on-chip load capacitance.
ContributorsDesai, Chirag (Author) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Seo, Jae-Sun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
A single solar cell provides close to 0.5 V output at its maximum power point, which is very
low for any electronic circuit to operate. To get rid of this problem, traditionally multiple
solar cells are connected in series to get higher voltage. The disadvantage of this approach
is the efficiency loss for partial shading or mismatch. Even as low as 6-7% of shading can
result in more than 90% power loss. Therefore, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
at single solar cell level is the most efficient way to extract power from solar cell.
Power Management IC (MPIC) used to extract power from single solar cell, needs to
start at 0.3 V input. MPPT circuitry should be implemented with minimal power and area
overhead. To start the PMIC at 0.3 V, a switch capacitor charge pump is utilized as an
auxiliary start up circuit for generating a regulated 1.8 V auxiliary supply from 0.3 V input.
The auxiliary supply powers up a MPPT converter followed by a regulated converter. At
the start up both the converters operate at 100 kHz clock with 80% duty cycle and system
output voltage starts rising. When the system output crosses 2.7 V, the auxiliary start up
circuit is turned off and the supply voltage for both the converters is derived from the system
output itself. In steady-state condition the system output is regulated to 3.0 V.
A fully integrated analog MPPT technique is proposed to extract maximum power from
the solar cell. This technique does not require Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) and
Digital Signal Processor (DSP), thus reduces area and power overhead. The proposed
MPPT techniques includes a switch capacitor based power sensor which senses current of
boost converter without using any sense resistor. A complete system is designed which
starts from 0.3 V solar cell voltage and provides regulated 3.0 V system output.
low for any electronic circuit to operate. To get rid of this problem, traditionally multiple
solar cells are connected in series to get higher voltage. The disadvantage of this approach
is the efficiency loss for partial shading or mismatch. Even as low as 6-7% of shading can
result in more than 90% power loss. Therefore, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
at single solar cell level is the most efficient way to extract power from solar cell.
Power Management IC (MPIC) used to extract power from single solar cell, needs to
start at 0.3 V input. MPPT circuitry should be implemented with minimal power and area
overhead. To start the PMIC at 0.3 V, a switch capacitor charge pump is utilized as an
auxiliary start up circuit for generating a regulated 1.8 V auxiliary supply from 0.3 V input.
The auxiliary supply powers up a MPPT converter followed by a regulated converter. At
the start up both the converters operate at 100 kHz clock with 80% duty cycle and system
output voltage starts rising. When the system output crosses 2.7 V, the auxiliary start up
circuit is turned off and the supply voltage for both the converters is derived from the system
output itself. In steady-state condition the system output is regulated to 3.0 V.
A fully integrated analog MPPT technique is proposed to extract maximum power from
the solar cell. This technique does not require Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) and
Digital Signal Processor (DSP), thus reduces area and power overhead. The proposed
MPPT techniques includes a switch capacitor based power sensor which senses current of
boost converter without using any sense resistor. A complete system is designed which
starts from 0.3 V solar cell voltage and provides regulated 3.0 V system output.
ContributorsSingh, Shrikant (Author) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This thesis presents a power harvesting system combining energy from sub-cells of
multi-junction photovoltaic (MJ-PV) cells. A dual-input, inductor time-sharing boost
converter in continuous conduction mode (CCM) is proposed. A hysteresis inductor current
regulation in designed to reduce cross regulation caused by inductor-sharing in CCM. A
modified hill-climbing algorithm is implemented to achieve maximum power point
tracking (MPPT). A dual-path architecture is implemented to provide a regulated 1.8V
output. A proposed lossless current sensor monitors transient inductor current and a time-based power monitor is proposed to monitor PV power. The PV input provides power of
65mW. Measured results show that the peak efficiency achieved is around 85%. The
power switches and control circuits are implemented in standard 0.18um CMOS process.
multi-junction photovoltaic (MJ-PV) cells. A dual-input, inductor time-sharing boost
converter in continuous conduction mode (CCM) is proposed. A hysteresis inductor current
regulation in designed to reduce cross regulation caused by inductor-sharing in CCM. A
modified hill-climbing algorithm is implemented to achieve maximum power point
tracking (MPPT). A dual-path architecture is implemented to provide a regulated 1.8V
output. A proposed lossless current sensor monitors transient inductor current and a time-based power monitor is proposed to monitor PV power. The PV input provides power of
65mW. Measured results show that the peak efficiency achieved is around 85%. The
power switches and control circuits are implemented in standard 0.18um CMOS process.
ContributorsPeng, Qirong (Author) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Ogras, Umit Y. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Mobile electronic devices such as smart phones, netbooks and tablets have seen increasing demand in recent years, and so has the need for efficient, responsive and small power management solutions that are integrated into these devices. Every thing from the battery life to the screen brightness to how warm the device gets depends on the power management solution integrated within the device. Much of the future success of these mobile devices will depend on innovative, reliable and efficient power solutions. Perhaps this is one of the drivers behind the intense research activity seen in the power management field in recent years. The demand for higher accuracy regulation and fast response in switching converters has led to the exploration of digital control techniques as a way to implement more advanced control architectures. In this thesis, a novel digitally controlled step-down (buck) switching converter architecture that makes use of switched capacitors to improve the transient response is presented. Using the proposed architecture, the transient response is improved by a factor of two or more in comparison to the theoretical limits that can be achieved with a basic step down converter control architecture. The architecture presented in this thesis is not limited to digitally controlled topologies but rather can also be used in analog topologies as well. Design and simulation results of a 1.8V, 15W, 1MHz digitally controlled step down converter with a 12mV Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) resolution and a 2ns DPWM (Digital Pulse Width Modulator) resolution are presented.
ContributorsHashim, Ahmed (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Ozev, Sule (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The photovoltaic systems used to convert solar energy to electricity pose a multitude of design and implementation challenges, including energy conversion efficiency, partial shading effects, and power converter efficiency. Using power converters for Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) is a well-known architecture to significantly reduce power loss associated with mismatched panels. Sub-panel-level DMPPT is shown to have up to 14.5% more annual energy yield than panel-level DMPPT, and requires an efficient medium power converter.
This research aims at implementing a highly efficient power management system at sub-panel level with focus on system cost and form-factor. Smaller form-factor motivates increased converter switching frequencies to significantly reduce the size of converter passives and substantially improve transient performance. But, currently available power MOSFETs put a constraint on the highest possible switching frequency due to increased switching losses. The solution is Gallium Nitride based power devices, which deliver figure of merit (FOM) performance at least an order of magnitude higher than existing silicon MOSFETs. Low power loss, high power density, low cost and small die sizes are few of the qualities that make e-GaN superior to its Si counterpart. With careful design, e-GaN can enable a 20-30% improvement in power stage efficiency compared to converters using Si MOSFETs.
The main objective of this research is to develop a highly integrated, high efficiency, 20MHz, hybrid GaN-CMOS DC-DC MPPT converter for a 12V/5A sub-panel. Hard and soft switching boost converter topologies are investigated within this research, and an innovative CMOS gate drive technique for efficiently driving an e-GaN power stage is presented in this work. The converter controller also employs a fast converging analog MPPT control technique.
This research aims at implementing a highly efficient power management system at sub-panel level with focus on system cost and form-factor. Smaller form-factor motivates increased converter switching frequencies to significantly reduce the size of converter passives and substantially improve transient performance. But, currently available power MOSFETs put a constraint on the highest possible switching frequency due to increased switching losses. The solution is Gallium Nitride based power devices, which deliver figure of merit (FOM) performance at least an order of magnitude higher than existing silicon MOSFETs. Low power loss, high power density, low cost and small die sizes are few of the qualities that make e-GaN superior to its Si counterpart. With careful design, e-GaN can enable a 20-30% improvement in power stage efficiency compared to converters using Si MOSFETs.
The main objective of this research is to develop a highly integrated, high efficiency, 20MHz, hybrid GaN-CMOS DC-DC MPPT converter for a 12V/5A sub-panel. Hard and soft switching boost converter topologies are investigated within this research, and an innovative CMOS gate drive technique for efficiently driving an e-GaN power stage is presented in this work. The converter controller also employs a fast converging analog MPPT control technique.
ContributorsKrishnan Achary, Kiran Kumar (Author) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation focuses on three different efficiency enhancement methods that are applicable to handset applications. These proposed designs are based on three critical requirements for handset application: 1) Small form factor, 2) CMOS compatibility and 3) high power handling. The three presented methodologies are listed below:
1) A transformer-based power combiner architecture for out-phasing transmitters
2) A current steering DAC-based average power tracking circuit for on-chip power amplifiers (PA)
3) A CMOS-based driver stage for GaN-based switched-mode power amplifiers applicable to fully digital transmitters
This thesis highlights the trends in wireless handsets, the motivates the need for fully-integrated CMOS power amplifier solutions and presents the three novel techniques for reconfigurable and digital CMOS-based PAs. Chapter 3, presents the transformer-based power combiner for out-phasing transmitters. The simulation results reveal that this technique is able to shrink the power combiner area, which is one of the largest parts of the transmitter, by about 50% and as a result, enhances the output power density by 3dB.
The average power tracking technique (APT) integrated with an on-chip CMOS-based power amplifier is explained in Chapter 4. This system is able to achieve up to 32dBm saturated output power with a linear power gain of 20dB in a 45nm CMOS SOI process. The maximum efficiency improvement is about ∆η=15% compared to the same PA without APT. Measurement results show that the proposed method is able to amplify an enhanced-EDGE modulated input signal with a data rate of 70.83kb/sec and generate more than 27dBm of average output power with EVM<5%.
Although small form factor, high battery lifetime, and high volume integration motivate the need for fully digital CMOS transmitters, the output power generated by this type of transmitter is not high enough to satisfy the communication standards. As a result, compound materials such as GaN or GaAs are usually being used in handset applications to increase the output power. Chapter 5 focuses on the analysis and design of two CMOS based driver architectures (cascode and house of cards) for driving a GaN power amplifier. The presented results show that the drivers are able to generate ∆Vout=5V, which is required by the compound transistor, and operate up to 2GHz. Since the CMOS driver is expected to drive an off-chip capacitive load, the interface components, such as bond wires, and decoupling and pad capacitors, play a critical role in the output transient response. Therefore, extensive analysis and simulation results have been done on the interface circuits to investigate their effects on RF transmitter performance. The presented results show that the maximum operating frequency when the driver is connected to a 4pF capacitive load is about 2GHz, which is perfectly matched with the reported values in prior literature.
1) A transformer-based power combiner architecture for out-phasing transmitters
2) A current steering DAC-based average power tracking circuit for on-chip power amplifiers (PA)
3) A CMOS-based driver stage for GaN-based switched-mode power amplifiers applicable to fully digital transmitters
This thesis highlights the trends in wireless handsets, the motivates the need for fully-integrated CMOS power amplifier solutions and presents the three novel techniques for reconfigurable and digital CMOS-based PAs. Chapter 3, presents the transformer-based power combiner for out-phasing transmitters. The simulation results reveal that this technique is able to shrink the power combiner area, which is one of the largest parts of the transmitter, by about 50% and as a result, enhances the output power density by 3dB.
The average power tracking technique (APT) integrated with an on-chip CMOS-based power amplifier is explained in Chapter 4. This system is able to achieve up to 32dBm saturated output power with a linear power gain of 20dB in a 45nm CMOS SOI process. The maximum efficiency improvement is about ∆η=15% compared to the same PA without APT. Measurement results show that the proposed method is able to amplify an enhanced-EDGE modulated input signal with a data rate of 70.83kb/sec and generate more than 27dBm of average output power with EVM<5%.
Although small form factor, high battery lifetime, and high volume integration motivate the need for fully digital CMOS transmitters, the output power generated by this type of transmitter is not high enough to satisfy the communication standards. As a result, compound materials such as GaN or GaAs are usually being used in handset applications to increase the output power. Chapter 5 focuses on the analysis and design of two CMOS based driver architectures (cascode and house of cards) for driving a GaN power amplifier. The presented results show that the drivers are able to generate ∆Vout=5V, which is required by the compound transistor, and operate up to 2GHz. Since the CMOS driver is expected to drive an off-chip capacitive load, the interface components, such as bond wires, and decoupling and pad capacitors, play a critical role in the output transient response. Therefore, extensive analysis and simulation results have been done on the interface circuits to investigate their effects on RF transmitter performance. The presented results show that the maximum operating frequency when the driver is connected to a 4pF capacitive load is about 2GHz, which is perfectly matched with the reported values in prior literature.
ContributorsMoallemi, Soroush (Author) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Thornton, Trevor (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019