Daniel Costinett

Low-Power Far-Field Wireless Powering for Wireless Sensors

This paper discusses far-field wireless powering for low-power wireless sensors, with applications to sensing in environments where it is difficult or impossible to change batteries and where the exact position of the sensors might not be known. With expected radio-frequency (RF) power densities in the 20-200- μW/cm2 range, and desired small sensor overall size, low-power nondirective wireless powering is appropriate for sensors that transmit data at low duty cycles. The sensor platform is powered through an antenna which receives incident electromagnetic waves in the gigahertz frequency range, couples the energy to a rectifier circuit which charges a storage device (e.g., thin-film battery) through an efficient power management circuit, and the entire platform, including sensors and a low-power wireless transmitter, and is controlled through a low-power microcontroller. For low incident power density levels, codesign of the RF powering and the power management circuits is required for optimal performance. Results for hybrid and monolithic implementations of the power management circuitry are presented with integrated antenna rectifiers operating in the 1.96-GHz cellular and in 2.4-GHz industrial-scientific-medical (ISM) bands.

GaN-FET based dual active bridge DC-DC converter

This paper describes a high step-down unregulated, fixed-ratio DC-DC converter (DCX) based on the dual active bridge (DAB) power stage operating at high switching frequency using enhancement-mode Gallium-Nitride-on-Silicon (GaN) transistors. The DAB power stage design as well as a comparison of losses using GaN and silicon MOS devices is based on a detailed state-plane analysis of resonant transitions. Experimental results are presented for a 150 W, 150-to-12 V prototype DCX operating at 1 MHz switching frequency.

Review of Commercial GaN Power Devices and GaN-Based Converter Design Challenges

Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices are an emerging technology that have only recently become available commercially. This new technology enables the design of converters at higher frequencies and efficiencies than those achievable with conventional Si devices. This paper reviews the characteristics and commercial status of both vertical and lateral GaN power devices, providing the background necessary to understand the significance of these recent developments. In addition, the challenges encountered in GaN-based converter design are considered, such as the consequences of faster switching on gate driver design and board layout. Other issues include the unique reverse conduction behavior, dynamic Rds,on, breakdown mechanisms, thermal design, device availability, and reliability qualification. This review will help prepare the reader to effectively design GaN-based converters, as these devices become increasingly available on a commercial scale.

Design and Control for High Efficiency in High Step-Down Dual Active Bridge Converters Operating at High Switching Frequency

A control scheme is developed to maximize efficiency over a wide range of loads for a dual active bridge converter. A simple control circuit using only phase-shift modulation is proposed which considers both the converter conversion ratio and switching dead times in order to maintain high efficiency in the presence of varying loads. To demonstrate feasibility of the proposed control method, experimental results are presented for a 150-to-12 V, 120-W, 1-MHz prototype converter which has 97.4% peak efficiency and maintains greater than 90% efficiency over a load range between 20 and 120 W.

Temperature-Dependent Short-Circuit Capability of Silicon Carbide Power MOSFETs

This paper presents a comprehensive short-circuit ruggedness evaluation and numerical investigation of up-to-date commercial silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. The short-circuit capability of three types of commercial 1200-V SiC MOSFETs is tested under various conditions, with case temperatures from 25 to 200 °C and dc bus voltages from 400 to 750 V. It is found that the commercial SiC MOSFETs can withstand short-circuit current for only several microseconds with a dc bus voltage of 750 V and case temperature of 200 °C. The experimental short-circuit behaviors are compared, and analyzed through numerical thermal dynamic simulation. Specifically, an electrothermal model is built to estimate the device internal temperature distribution, considering the temperature-dependent thermal properties of SiC material. Based on the temperature information, a leakage current model is derived to calculate the main leakage current components (i.e., thermal, diffusion, and avalanche generation currents). Numerical results show that the short-circuit failure mechanisms of SiC MOSFETs can be thermal generation current induced thermal runaway or high-temperature-related gate oxide damage.

Evaluation of Switching Performance of SiC Devices in PWM Inverter-Fed Induction Motor Drives

Double pulse test (DPT) is a widely accepted method to evaluate the switching characteristics of semiconductor switches, including SiC devices. However, the observed switching performance of SiC devices in a PWM inverter for induction motor drives (IMD) is almost always worse than the DPT characterization, with slower switching speed, more switching losses, and more serious parasitic ringing. This paper systematically investigates the factors that limit the SiC switching performance from both the motor side and inverter side, including the load characteristics of induction motor/power cable, two more phase-legs for the three-phase PWM inverter as compared to the DPT, and the parasitic capacitive coupling effect between power devices and heat sink. Based on the three-phase PWM inverter with 1200 V SiC MOSFETs, the test results show that the induction motor, especially with a relatively long power cable, will significantly impact the switching performance, leading to switching time increase by a factor of 2, switching loss increase up to 30%, and serious parasitic ringing with 1.5 μs duration as compared to that tested by DPT. In addition, the interactions among the three phase-legs cannot be ignored unless the decoupling capacitors are mounted close to each phase-leg to support the dc bus voltage during switching transients. Also, the coupling capacitance induced by the heat sink equivalently increases the junction capacitance of power devices. However, its influence on the switching behavior in the motor drives is small considering the relatively large capacitance of the motor load.

Active balancing system for electric vehicles with incorporated low voltage bus

Electric-drive vehicles, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles, require a high-voltage (HV) battery pack for propulsion and a low-voltage (LV) dc bus for auxiliary loads. This paper presents an architecture that uses modular dc-dc bypass converters to perform active battery cell balancing and to supply current to auxiliary loads, eliminating the need for a separate HV-to-LV high step-down dc-dc converter. The modular architecture, which achieves continuous balancing of all cells, can be used with an arbitrary number of cells in series, requires no control communication between converters, and naturally shares the auxiliary load current according to the relative state-of-charge (SOC) and capacities of the battery cells. Design and control details are provided for LV low-power dual active bridge (DAB) power converters serving as the bypass converter modules. Furthermore, current sharing is examined and worst-case SOC and current deviations are derived for mismatches in cell capacities, SOCs, and parasitic resistances. Experimental results are presented for a system consisting of 21 series 25 Ah Panasonic lithium-ion NMC battery cells and 21 DAB bypass converters, with combined outputs rated to supply a 650-W auxiliary load.

Characterization of an enhancement-mode 650-V GaN HFET

GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) in the 600-V class are relatively new in commercial power electronics. The GaN Systems GS66508 is the first commercially available 650-V enhancement-mode device. Static and dynamic testing has been performed across the full current, voltage, and temperature range to enable GaN-based converter design using this new device. A curve tracer was used to measure Rds-on across the full operating temperature range, as well as the self-commutated reverse conduction (i.e. diode-like) behavior. Other static parameters such as transconductance and gate current were also measured. A double pulse test setup was constructed and used to measure switching loss and time at the fastest achievable switching speed, and the subsequent over-voltages due to the fast switching were characterized. Based on these results and analysis, an accurate loss model has been developed for the GS66508 to allow for GaN-based converter design and comparison with other commercially available devices in the 600-V class.

A High Temperature Silicon Carbide mosfet Power Module With Integrated Silicon-On-Insulator-Based Gate Drive

This paper presents a board-level integrated silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET power module for high temperature and high power density applications. Specifically, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based gate driver capable of operating at 200°C ambient temperature is designed and fabricated. The sourcing and sinking current capability of the gate driver are tested under various ambient temperatures. Also, a 1200 V/100 A SiC MOSFET phase-leg power module is developed utilizing high temperature packaging technologies. The static characteristics, switching performance, and short-circuit behavior of the fabricated power module are fully evaluated at different temperatures. Moreover, a buck converter prototype composed of the SOI gate driver and SiC power module is built for high temperature continuous operation. The converter is operated at different switching frequencies up to 100 kHz, with its junction temperature monitored by a thermo-sensitive electrical parameter (TSEP) and compared with thermal simulation results. The experimental results from the continuous operation demonstrate the high temperature capability of the power module at a junction temperature greater than 225°C.

Circuit-Oriented Treatment of Nonlinear Capacitances in Switched-Mode Power Supplies

Nonlinear, voltage-dependent capacitances of power semiconductor devices are capable of having significant impact on the operation of switched-mode power converters. Particularly at high switching frequency, these nonlinearities play a significant role in determining switching times, losses, and converter dynamics during switching transitions. In order to accommodate the well-established design and analysis techniques commonly used for linear circuits, this paper examines the nonlinear voltage-dependence of switching device capacitances and proposes a circuit-oriented analysis technique that allows the parasitic capacitances to be replaced with linear equivalents. The multitude of developed equivalents are verified through full nonlinear simulation in both MATLAB/Simulink and SPICE, as well as through experimental results.