SMPS TopoMagic

-
When I started learning about and designing SMPS circuits in 2008, I read from various books and online resources – application notes, reference manuals, design notes, design tips, circuit designs and various tutorials. I understood most of the concepts. But the mathematics was complex and there were so many formulae and calculations. They were not all present in any single book or document. Making all the necessary calculations using the different formulae available in all the different documents was difficult, tiring and cumbersome.

While I was learning SMPS and started getting a hold of the basics, I was learning Visual Basic at school. During the mid-year school break, I learnt from various tutorials online and practiced during the school vacation to develop my Visual Basic skills. After I learnt most of the basics, I decided to put my skills to the test. It would be good practice and I could make a useful program in the process.

I started coding using the information present in various books and online resources to create the software “SMPS TopoMagic” to help me with the calculations necessary for SMPS circuits employing the flyback, push-pull, half-bridge and full-bridge topologies. After days of coding and debugging, “SMPS TopoMagic” was ready.

I knew that the software was far from perfect. As a student of class VIII, I did not understand many of the associated mathematics and had to occasionally resort to rough estimates and my lessons from hands-on test-and-trial. But it served my purpose.


Here's a little description about the software:



Let's use it for a push-pull design (click on image to enlarge it):


Here's the generated circuit (click on image to enlarge it):


Let's design a circuit with half-bridge converter (click on image to enlarge it):

Here's the generated circuit (click on image to enlarge it):

Let's use the software for a full-bridge design (click on image to enlarge it):

Here's the generated circuit (click on image to enlarge it):



Still I am learning SMPS, but when I gain enough expertise in SMPS, I want to incorporate that knowledge and expertise into this software so that it can be complete and perfect. Then, I hope to upload it online so that anyone can use it for his/her own SMPS circuit designs.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N-Channel MOSFET High-Side Drive: When, Why and How?

-
Image
I had previously shown how to drive N-channel MOSFETs in low-side configuration. You can find the tutorial here: http://electel.blogspot.com/2016/12/low-side-mosfet-drive-circuits-and_23.html I’ve been requested to write a tutorial/article regarding high-side MOSFET drive. So, here I’ll talk about N-channel MOSFET high-side drive. Let’s first look at the common low side configuration.  Fig. 1 - N-channel MOSFET configured as low-side switch Now let’s look at a MOSFET configured as a high-side switch. Fig. 2 - N-channel MOSFET configured as high-side switch You can quite easily see the difference between the high-side configuration and the low-side configuration. In the low-side configuration, the load is connected between the drain and +V, while the source is connected to ground. Thus, the gate drive is referenced to ground. So by applying a voltage of >7V (for Power MOSFETs) or >4V (for Logic Level MOSFETs), the MOSFET can be fully turned on. Now let’s talk about the high-si...
Read more

Using the high-low side driver IR2110 - explanation and plenty of example circuits

-
Image
In many situations, we need to use MOSFETs configured as high-side switches. Many a times we need to use MOSFETs configured as high-side and low-side switches. Such as in bridge circuits. In half-bridge circuits, we have 1 high-side MOSFET and 1 low-side MOSFET. In full-bridge circuits we have 2 high-side MOSFETs and 2 low-side MOSFETs. In such situations, there is a need to use high-side drive circuitry alongside low-side drive circuitry. The most common way of driving MOSFETs in such cases is to use high-low side MOSFET drivers. Undoubtedly, the most popular such driver chip is the IR2110. And in this article/tutorial, I will talk about the IR2110. You can download the IR2110 datasheet from the IR website. Here's the download link: www.irf.com/product-info/datasheets/data/ir2110.pdf First let’s take a look at the block diagram and the pin assignments and pin definitions (also called lead assignments and lead definitions): Fig. 1 - IR2110 block diagram (click on image to enlarge)...
Read more

Using the SG3525 PWM Controller - Explanation and Example: Circuit Diagram / Schematic of Push-Pull Converter

-
Image
PWM is used in all sorts of power control and converter circuits. Some common examples include motor control, DC-DC converters, DC-AC inverters and lamp dimmers. There are numerous PWM controllers available that make the use and application of PWM quite easy. One of the most popular of such controllers is the versatile and ubiquitous SG3525 produced by multiple manufacturers – ST Microelectronics, Fairchild Semiconductors, On Semiconductors, to name a few. SG3525 is used extensively in DC-DC converters, DC-AC inverters, home UPS systems, solar inverters, power supplies, battery chargers and numerous other applications. With proper understanding, you can soon start using SG3525 yourself in such applications or any other application really that demands PWM control. Before going on to the description and application, let’s first take a look at the block diagram and the pin layout. Pins 1 (Inverting Input) and 2 (Non Inverting Input) are the inputs to the on-board error amplifier. If you a...
Read more