Power Supply Design: Advanced Digital Average Current Mode Control

This class covers using the use of Average Current Mode Control (ACMC) in switch-mode power supplies (February 2025)

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About this course

Note: This class was recorded at Microchip's MASTERs Conference in 2024.

Using the Average Current Mode Control (ACMC) in switch-mode power supplies has substantial, practical advantages over common Voltage Mode Control (VMC) or Peak Current Mode Control (PCMC) implementations in terms of robustness, reliability, and flexibility. Especially in non-static applications, such as battery chargers, bidirectional converters, multiphase converters, power factor correction stages and inverters, ACMC solves key design challenges from low-level stability issues to high-level feature integration and therefore plays a major role in enabling and evolving modern power converter applications in fields such as renewable energies, automotive electrification as well as high-performance data center and telecommunication systems. 

In this class, we will review the complex nature of conventional, loosely coupled, non-serial cascaded feedback loops, which are prone to inner oscillations and hidden instability, before introducing a new type of average current mode control based on a tightly coupled, phase-locked, sequential cascaded control scheme. This session will walk attendees through the feedback loop design process of a phase-locked, cascaded feedback loop using live bench measurements and design tools such as the MPLAB® PowerSmartDevelopment Suite, showing how to tackle design challenges, how to avoid common pitfalls and how to tailor and extend control features to meet specific application requirements.

Curriculum87 min

  • About this course 1 min
  • Class Overview
  • Syllabus
  • Introduction - Agenda 1 min
  • Switch-Mode Power Supply Control Modes
  • Voltage Mode Control 7 min
  • Peak Current Mode Control 10 min
  • Output Impedance 1 min
  • Peak Current Mode Compensation (PCMC) Details
  • Challenges with Peak Current Mode 5 min
  • Slope Compensation 2 min
  • Average Current Mode Control
  • Overview 4 min
  • Digital Control Scheme 4 min
  • Loop Response 2 min
  • Measuring Current Loop Response 6 min
  • Validation on real Hardware 11 min
  • Oversampling 1 min
  • Voltage-to-Current Loop Synchronization 5 min
  • Enforced Phase-Locking Method
  • Kuramato Oscillators 6 min
  • Inner Current Loop Tuning 11 min
  • Alternative Current Plant Measurement 1 min
  • Validation 9 min
  • Feedback
  • Please give us some feedback!

About this course

Note: This class was recorded at Microchip's MASTERs Conference in 2024.

Using the Average Current Mode Control (ACMC) in switch-mode power supplies has substantial, practical advantages over common Voltage Mode Control (VMC) or Peak Current Mode Control (PCMC) implementations in terms of robustness, reliability, and flexibility. Especially in non-static applications, such as battery chargers, bidirectional converters, multiphase converters, power factor correction stages and inverters, ACMC solves key design challenges from low-level stability issues to high-level feature integration and therefore plays a major role in enabling and evolving modern power converter applications in fields such as renewable energies, automotive electrification as well as high-performance data center and telecommunication systems. 

In this class, we will review the complex nature of conventional, loosely coupled, non-serial cascaded feedback loops, which are prone to inner oscillations and hidden instability, before introducing a new type of average current mode control based on a tightly coupled, phase-locked, sequential cascaded control scheme. This session will walk attendees through the feedback loop design process of a phase-locked, cascaded feedback loop using live bench measurements and design tools such as the MPLAB® PowerSmartDevelopment Suite, showing how to tackle design challenges, how to avoid common pitfalls and how to tailor and extend control features to meet specific application requirements.

Curriculum87 min

  • About this course 1 min
  • Class Overview
  • Syllabus
  • Introduction - Agenda 1 min
  • Switch-Mode Power Supply Control Modes
  • Voltage Mode Control 7 min
  • Peak Current Mode Control 10 min
  • Output Impedance 1 min
  • Peak Current Mode Compensation (PCMC) Details
  • Challenges with Peak Current Mode 5 min
  • Slope Compensation 2 min
  • Average Current Mode Control
  • Overview 4 min
  • Digital Control Scheme 4 min
  • Loop Response 2 min
  • Measuring Current Loop Response 6 min
  • Validation on real Hardware 11 min
  • Oversampling 1 min
  • Voltage-to-Current Loop Synchronization 5 min
  • Enforced Phase-Locking Method
  • Kuramato Oscillators 6 min
  • Inner Current Loop Tuning 11 min
  • Alternative Current Plant Measurement 1 min
  • Validation 9 min
  • Feedback
  • Please give us some feedback!