Buck Converter Stability checks

using
Richtek Fast Load Transient Tool

Richtek Field Application Engineering

December, 2016
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Converter stability check methods (I)

Frequency Domain Open Loop Gain-Phase Analysis
Perbutation signal
amplitude needs
DC/DC Buck converter careful adjustment: too
high amplitude causes
non-linear behavior.

Select for CCM

operation

+ Good overview of critical loop parameters

- Complicated measurement
- Prone to noise pick-up and non-linear effects 2
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Converter stability check methods (II)

Time Domain Fast Load Transient Analysis
Add electrolytic input capacitor Select for ~30%
to avoid input ringing dynamic load

Select for CCM

operation

+ Simple measurement
+ Can show various converter response effects
- Needs some skill to interprete the output waveform 3
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Richtek Load Transient Tool (I)

The Richtek Load Transient Tool contains a micro controller that switches a MOSFET on and off with
a certain duty-cycle. By means of jumpers, 7 different pulse load resistors can be selected. The tool
includes an adjustable 10Ω power resistor for setting the static load level. This tool can generate fast
load steps (~500nsec rise/fall times), and the pulse load duty-cycle and frequency are adjustable by
means of push buttons. The tool is battery powered, so it can easily be applied to any voltage
regulator output in your system. 4
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Richtek Load Transient Tool measurement setup

The Load transient tool is intended to be used for testing voltage regulators
(buck, boost, LDO) with output voltage between 1V and 5V and maximum 5A
current rating, but basically it can be used for testing any voltage regulator
output. Just apply the pulse load leads to the converter output, adjust the
static load resistor for CCM (continuous current mode) or ~ 30% of rated load,
select the pulse load resistor for ~ 30% of rated load, measure the pulse
current and the regulator output voltage across the output capacitors. Adjust
the pulse load duty-cycle / frequency to see the full step load response.

5
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Richtek Load Transient Tool schematic

The above schematic shows the micro controller that drives the MOSFET switch.
The MOSFET gate drive is designed to generate equal switching speeds with
~500nsec rise/fall times. Reducing or removing C2 can increase the switching
speed, but the actual load current transient speed is mostly determined by the
wiring inductance between the tool and the application. Especially when testing
low voltage supplies (< 2V), it may be necessary to use short, thick wires
Low inductance connection
between the tool and the application to minimize inductance. 6
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Richtek Load Transient Tool

What can you do with the fast load transient tool?
Quickly check
converter loop
stability

Check input
supply stability

Check layout
related problems

….and many more: Vout sag & soar, load regulation, slope compensation issues, estimate
converter bandwidth, duty-cycle limits, check LDO, Boost, Flyback ….. 7
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Current Mode Buck converter control loop formula’s

Standard design values:

1.Set FCONTROL for ~ 1/10 of FSWITCHING

2.FZ to be just below FP_LOAD

3.FP to be close to FZ_ESR

8
(in noisy application with MLCC Cout, FP can be set between 0.5 ~ 1* FSWITCHING)
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Current Mode Buck converter

Components that influence Current Mode Buck converter loop stability

Lower Cout increases

control bandwidth

Bigger RCOMP increases

control bandwidth

Higher switching frequency Too small CCOMP can result

normally requires: in lower phase margin
• Lower L1
• Higher RCOMP Too big CP can result in
Too high control bandwidth can
• Lower CCOMP lower phase margin
• Lower CP
cause too low phase margin 9
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Example of Fast Transient response vs. Phase Margin

Phase Margin
≈ 58 dgrs

Phase Margin
≈ 48 dgrs

Phase Margin
≈ 45 dgrs

Phase Margin
≈ 38 dgrs

Gain-Phase plot:
BW ≈ 55 ~ 45kHz
PM 58 ~ 37 dgrs

Fast step load 0.5A ~ 1.5A 10

slew rate 2A/usec
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What else can you learn from Fast Transient response?

tR

Response time tR is a rough indication

of the control bandwidth:
For most current mode buck converters:
Bandwidth BW ≈ 0.3 / tR

In this example:
tR = 5.3usec:  BW ≈ 0.3/5.3usec = 57kHz
Note: Load step rise time must be << than 1/FC. 11
 Choose load step rise time around 500nsec
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Actual measurement example

tR = 3.6usec: 
BW ≈ 0.3/3.6usec
= 83kHz

Single bump: 
PM ≈ 45 dgs

Actual Gain-Phase
measurement:

Measured BW = 72kHz
Measured PM = 45.8 dgs

12
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Output capacitor value is critical for loop stability!

Smaller output capacitor

increases BW! Source:
http://ds.murata.com
Be aware of MLCC capacitor DC bias and AC ripple characteristics: /software/simsurfing/en-us/

Small MLCC has

considerable
capacitance drop at Rated capacitance is
higher DC bias measured at 0.5Vac, but
can drop considerably at
lower AC voltage

(if DC bias or AC voltage effect is not specified for your capactor type, ask for it)
 Always use actual capacitance when designing the control loop! 13
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Practical example on output capacitor influence (I)

800kHz converter designed

for 2x22uF output capacitance
in 3.3V output application.

Circuit was designed for

BW = 69kHz and PM = 59dgs

Designer selects 2x 22µF / 6.3V 0805 MLCC: GRM21BR60J226ME39L

Only 11uF at 3.3Vdc

30% drop at 50mVac

Actual capacitance is 11uF * 0.7 = 8uF: total output capacitance 16uF instead of 44uF
14
Converter Bandwidth will become 44/16 = 2.75 times higher than design value.
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Practical example on output capacitor influence (II)

Step load shows

severe ringing with
ringing frequency
of 139kHz

(Ringing frequency
indicates Fc value)

Circuit simulation using online

Richtek Designer tool and
using 16uF output capacitance
confirms the step load result:

BW = 156kHz and PM = 26dgs

 You can reduce RCOMP to

reduce the BW to original
design value for better PM. 15
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ACOTTM Buck converter stability

ACOT buck converters are much less critical in stability compared to
current mode buck converters.

Normally applications with higher duty-cycle (> 20%) or large value output
capacitors need to add some CFF to increase system damping.

Higher Vout (> 2.5V)

12V input reduces system damping

Higher Cout reduces

system damping

Adding CFF will increase

16
system damping
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ACOT converter stability: How to tune Cff

The feed-forward capacitor plays a role in the
damping of the ACOT control loop, especially at
higher duty-cycle applications like 12V  5V. For
low duty-cycle applications like 12V  1V it is
normally not needed. The value of Cff for a specific
ACOT converter depends on duty-cycle, COUT value,
inductor value and R1 value.

Practical method to find Cff value:

2. Calculate Cff by the formula:

Without Cff With Cff

In this example: (R1 = 120k)

1. Apply a fast step load and if it shows After adding Cff = 27pF: well-
ringing, measure the ringing frequency damped step response 17
In this 12V  5V example: fRING=59.5kHz
Relevant Richtek application note
AN038: Fast Load Transient Testing
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Richtek Application AN038

Practical hints and tips on converter stability testing using fast load transients

Remote sense
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Richtek Designer online tool

Full simulation of application circuit