A hybrid current mode controller with fast response characteristics for super capacitor applications

Abstract

A wide-bandwidth current-controller is required for the fast charging and discharging of applications containing super capacitors. To accomplish this, peak current mode is generally used due to the speed of its response characteristics. On the other hand, peak current mode control must be provided with a slope compensation function to restrain sub-harmonic oscillations. However, if the controlled output voltage is varied, the slope must be changed accordingly. Nonetheless, it is not easy to change the slope for every change in output voltage. Another solution involves the slope being set at the maximum value, which results in a slow response. Therefore, in this paper, a hybrid mode controller was proposed that uses a peak current and a newly-specified valley current. Using the proposed hybrid mode control, sub-harmonic oscillation did not occur for duty cycles larger than 0.5 and response times were fast.