MS student William Vavrik with Advisor A. Stillwell

Modern processor loads place stringent power delivery demands on power density, efficiency, and dynamic performance.  In previous work, a current-sourced hybrid switched-capacitor converter design was presented so all converter magnetics are at the input.   However, to be able to regulate these loads, and respond to dynamic situations, a mathematical model of the converter needs to be developed to properly design the controller to close the loop on this design.

This work has derived the model and simulated results which have been published at an IEEE conference: Control and Modeling of Power Electronics (COMPEL) 2024 in Lahore, Pakistan in June of last year.  The closed loop dynamics of this converter are under investigation and hardware results are pending.  A PID controller with near-optimal performance has been proposed and high-speed sensing are being used to accomplish fast dynamic performance. Simulated results are shown in Figure 8 which shows quick step response performance.

This work is supported by the UIUC ECE Department and the Grainger Foundation.

Figure 7. Dynamic Control of a Novel Converter.

Figure 8. Quick step response performance.