Piecewise on-time modulation apparatus and method for a power factor corrector

[0001] The present invention is related generally to a power factor correction (PFC) and more particularly, to a piecewise on-time modulation apparatus and method for power factor improvement.

[0002] Power converter is almost an indispensable part for various electronic apparatus. Specifically, in an AC-to-DC converter, for electronic apparatus requesting large power, the power consumption as demanded possibly exceeds the rating, thereby having potentially interference upon other electronic apparatus. Therefore, power factor correction may be critical to electronic apparatus, since it may achieve functions of energy saving or power consumption reduction and efficiently reduce harmonic distortion occurred resulting in power contamination. The power factor reflects a relationship between an effective power and a total power consumption (i.e., apparent load power), and specifically the ratio of the effective power to the total power consumption. In essence, the greater the power factor is, the higher the power is effectively used.

[0003] In a conventional power factor corrector, boost converter and pulse width modulation (PWM) are used to obtain a larger power factor. FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a typical power factor corrector 10, in addition to a bridge rectifier 12 for converting an alternating current (AC) input voltage Vac to a line voltage Vin coupled to an inductor L₁ to generate a line current I_L to further charge a boost capacitor C_O so as to generate an output voltage V_O, which comprises a PWM switch 14 connected between the inductor L₁ and ground GND to switch the line current I_L to flow to the boost capacitor C_O or ground GND, and a control circuit 16 provides a PWM signal based on the line voltage Vin and the output voltage V_O to switch the PWM switch 14. FIG. 2 shows the schematic waveforms of the AC input voltage Vac, the line voltage Vin, the AC input current Iac, and the line current I_L obtained from the power factor corrector 10 shown in FIG. 1 using constant on-time modulation, designated with numerals 20, 22, 24 and 26, respectively. When the line voltage Vin is lower than a threshold V_t, due to the constant on-time of the PWM signal, there is not enough time period to draw sufficient energy from the input capacitor Cin. Accordingly, during the time period of from t1 to t2, the line current I_L is maintained constant, and the waveforms 22 and 26 of the line voltage Vin and the line current I_L are not identical. As a result, the total harmonic distortion of the system is serious.

[0004] Alternatively, multiplier technique is generally employed in current power factor correctors to achieve power factor correction and harmonic distortion reduction. FIG. 3 shows a conventional circuit using multiplier technique for the power factor corrector 10 of FIG. 1. A voltage V₁ is generated by dividing the line voltage Vin by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₁ and R₂ for one input of a multiplier 1604 in the control circuit 16. The output voltage V_O is also divided by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₃ and R₄ to generate a voltage V₂ for an error amplifier 1602 to compare with a reference voltage V_ref1 to thereby generate an error signal V_EA for another input of the multiplier 1604. Accordingly, the multiplier 1604 generates a reference voltage V_ref2 for a comparator 1606. During the PWM switch 14 is on, the line current I_L flows through a sense resistor R_SENSE, and a sense voltage V_S is generated accordingly. The comparator 1606 compares the sense voltage V_S with the reference voltage V_ref2 to generate an output connected to the reset input R of an RS latch 1610. As the line current I_L increases, the sense voltage V_S also increases. When the sense voltage V_S is higher than the reference voltage V_ref2 the RS latch 1610 generates an output Q to turn off the PWM switch 14 by a driver 1612. Accordingly, the line current I_L is redirected through a diode D1 to charge the boost capacitor C_O. When the line current I_L decreases to zero, a zero current detector 1608 generates a signal to the set input S of the RS latch 1610 and therefore turns on the PWM switch 14.

[0005] Although the power factor corrector 10 may achieve good power factor and output voltage regulation by use of the multiplier 1604, due to the nonlinearity of the multiplier 1604, the overall architecture of the power factor corrector 10 becomes more complicated.

[0006] Therefore, it is desired a power factor corrector and method thereof that avoid using multiplier to achieve power factor correction and output voltage regulation, and reduces harmonic distortion.

[0007] One object of the present invention is to provide a piecewise on-time modulation apparatus and method for a power factor corrector.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a power factor corrector and method thereof that avoid using multiplier to achieve power factor correction and output voltage regulation.

[0009] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a power factor corrector and method thereof that are capable of reducing the total harmonic distortion of the system.

[0010] In a power factor corrector including a PWM switch to switch a line current generated from a line voltage derived by rectifying an AC input voltage so as to charge a boost capacitor to thereby generate an output voltage, according to the present invention, a piecewise on-time modulation apparatus comprises a voltage source for generating a reference voltage dependent on the line voltage, a current source for generating a charging current dependent on the output voltage to further generate a charged voltage, a comparator for comparing the charged voltage with the reference voltage to thereby generate a comparison signal, and a PWM generator in response to the comparison signal for generating a PWM signal for the PWM switch.

[0011] In a power factor corrector including a PWM switch to switch a line current generated from a line voltage derived by rectifying an AC input voltage so as to charge a boost capacitor to thereby generate an output voltage, according to the present invention, a piecewise on-time modulation method comprises the steps of generating a reference voltage dependent on the line voltage, generating a charging current dependent on the output voltage, generating a charged voltage from the charging current, generating a comparison signal by comparing the charged voltage with the reference voltage, and generating a PWM signal in response to the comparison signal for the PWM switch.

[0012] In the circumstances that the reference voltage varies as the line voltage changes, when the line voltage is lower than a threshold, the reference voltage decreases as the line voltage increases. If the charging current is constant, i.e., the output voltage is fixed, the reference voltage increases as the line voltage decreases, and the charging time for the charged voltage to reach the reference voltage becomes longer and therefore the PWM switch has a longer on-time, such that more energy is drawn from the input capacitor. When the line voltage is equal to or higher than the threshold, the voltage source keeps the reference voltage constant, and thus the on-time of the PWM switch is also constant. Furthermore, since the charging current is generated based on the output voltage, the charging current decreases as the output voltage decreases, and accordingly, a longer charging time is required for the charged voltage to reach the reference voltage. Consequently, a longer time is induced for the line current to charge the boost capacitor, thereby achieving the output voltage regulation.

[0013] In a power factor corrector including a PWM switch to switch a line current generated from a line voltage derived by rectifying an AC input voltage so as to charge a boost capacitor to thereby generate an output voltage, according to the present invention, a piecewise on-time modulation apparatus comprises a voltage source for generating a reference voltage dependent on the output voltage, a current source for generating a charging current dependent on the line voltage to further generate a charged voltage, a comparator for comparing the charged voltage with the reference voltage to thereby generate a comparison signal, and a PWM generator in response to the comparison signal for generating a PWM signal for the PWM switch.

[0014] In a power factor corrector including a PWM switch to switch a line current generated from a line voltage derived by rectifying an AC input voltage so as to charge a boost capacitor to thereby generate an output voltage, according to the present invention, a piecewise on-time modulation method comprises the steps of generating a reference voltage dependent on the output voltage, generating a charging current dependent on the line voltage, generating a charged voltage from the charging current, generating a comparison signal by comparing the charged voltage with the reference voltage, and generating a PWM signal in response to the comparison signal for the PWM switch.

[0015] In the circumstances that the charging current varies as the line voltage changes, when the line voltage is lower than a threshold, the charging current is generated proportional to the line voltage, and accordingly, the lower the line voltage is, the lower the charging current is. If the reference voltage is constant, i.e., the output voltage is fixed, the on-time of the PWM switch becomes greater as the line voltage decreases, such that more energy is drawn from the input capacitor. When the line voltage is equal to or higher than the threshold, the charging current is kept fixed and the on-time of the PWM switch is maintained constant consequently. Furthermore, since the reference voltage is generated based on the output voltage, the reference voltage increases as the output voltage decreases, and accordingly, a longer charging time is required for the charged voltage to reach the reference voltage. Consequently, the PWM switch has a greater on-time and the line current charges the boost capacitor for a longer time period, thereby achieving the output voltage regulation.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows a power factor corrector 30 according to the present invention. A bridge rectifier 302 converts an AC input voltage Vac to a line voltage Vin coupled to an inductor L₁ to generate a line current I_L to charge a boost capacitor C_O to generate an output voltage V_O. The power factor corrector 30 comprises a transistor 304 as a PWM switch connected between the inductor L₁ and ground GND to switch the line current I_L to the boost capacitor C_O or to ground GND. In the power factor corrector 30, a voltage source 308 generates a reference voltage V_ref based on the line voltage Vin, a current source 316 generates a charging current I_C based on the output voltage V_O to charge a capacitor C_chg to thereby generate a charged voltage V_C thereon, and a comparator 310 compares the charged voltage V_C with the reference voltage V_ref to generate a comparison signal coupled to the reset input R of an RS latch 312. When the charged voltage V_C on the capacitor C_chg is equal to or higher than the reference voltage V_ref, upon the output of the comparator 310, the RS latch 312 will generate an output Q to have a driver 314 to generate a PWM signal to turn off the transistor 304. Accordingly, the line current I_L is directed through a diode D1 to charge the boost capacitor C_O. Also by the output Q of the RS latch 312, a discharge switch 318 shunt to the capacitor C_chg is turned on to discharge the capacitor C_chg. When the line current I_L decreases to zero, a zero current detector 306 generates a detection signal to the set input S of the RS latch 312, and therefore the output Q of the RS latch 312 will turn on the transistor 304 and turn off the discharge switch 318.

[0029] This embodiment is so designed with the reference voltage V_ref as a function of the line voltage Vin, i.e., it varies with the line voltage Vin. FIG. 5 shows the schematic waveforms of the line voltage Vin, the line current I_L and the PWM signal obtained from the power factor corrector 30, designated with numerals 40, 42 and 44, respectively. When the line voltage Vin (waveform 40) is lower than a threshold V_t, the reference voltage V_ref decreases as the line voltage Vin increases. Accordingly, if the charging current I_C is kept constant, i.e., the output voltage V_O is unchanged, the charging time for the capacitor C_chg to reach the reference voltage V_ref decreases as the line voltage Vin increases, and therefore, the on-time of the PWM signal (waveform 44) varies with the line voltage Vin. Namely, the lower the line voltage Vin is, the greater the on-time of the PWM signal is. In this case, the ramp-up time of the line current I_L increases, and therefore more energy is drawn from the input capacitor Cin, which will improve the total harmonic distortion of the power factor correction system. When the line voltage Vin becomes higher than the threshold V_t, the voltage source 308 keeps the reference voltage V_ref at a constant and therefore the on-time of the PWM signal is maintained constant. By doing this, the system is enabled to enter the piecewise constant on-time control mode. As shown in FIG. 5, there are two regions 442 and 444 indicated for the waveform 44 of the PWM signal. In the region 442, the line voltage Vin is lower than the threshold V_t, and the on-time of the PWM signal 44 varies with the line voltage Vin. Particularly, the lower Vin generates the longer on-time. In contrast, in the region 444, the line voltage Vin is higher than the threshold V_t, and the on-time of the PWM signal is constant. In other words, the on-time of the PWM switch 304 is piecewise varied with the line voltage Vin during the half-wave cycle of the AC input voltage Vac. Specifically, the on-time of the PWM switch 304 is constant during the line voltage Vin higher than the threshold V_t, and is increased when the line voltage Vin is lower than the threshold V_t. In addition, since the charging current I_C is determined dependent on the output voltage V_O, the charging current I_C will change when the output voltage V_O changes. For example, as the output voltage V_O decreases, the charging current I_C decreases, and therefore, the charging time for the capacitor C_chg becomes longer, and the on-time of the transistor 304 is prolonged consequently, such that the output voltage V_O increases, i.e., the output voltage V_O is thus regulated.

[0030] In the modulation operations of the power factor corrector 30, initially, the output Q of the RS latch 312 is high and the PWM switch 304 turns on, and thus the line current I_L increases in this period. Once the output Q of the RS latch 312 is set to high, hence the discharge switch 318 is off so as to enable the current source 316 to charge the capacitor C_chg with the charging current I_C. When the capacitor C_chg is charged to have the charged voltage V_C thereon to reach the reference voltage V_ref, the comparator 310 resets the RS latch 312 by the comparison signal, and therefore the PWM switch 304 turns off, such that the boost capacitor C_O is charged by the line current I_L. At the same time, the discharge switch 318 turns on by the output Q of the RS latch 312, and hence the capacitor C_chg is discharged rapidly. During the off period of the PWM switch 304, the line current I_L decreases linearly to zero, which triggers the zero current detector 306 to set the RS latch 312 by the detection signal for another new cycle.

[0031] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary circuit for the power factor corrector 30 of FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the line voltage Vin is divided by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₁ and R₂ to generate a divided voltage Vd whose waveform 46 is shown in FIG. 7. In the voltage source 308, a voltage chopper 3082 clamps its input voltage under a maximum V_t1 when it passes therethrough, and therefore a chopped voltage Vd′ is generated from the divided voltage Vd, as shown by the waveform 48 in FIG. 7. The chopped voltage Vd′ is further inversely amplified by an amplifier 3084 to generate the reference voltage V_ref, as shown by the waveform 50 in FIG. 7. On the other hand, the output voltage V_O is divided by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₃ and R₄ to generate a feedback voltage V_FB, and an error amplifier 3161 in the current source 316 compares the feedback voltage V_FB with a reference voltage V_ref2 to generate an error signal V_EA whose phase is further compensated by a compensation network 3163. After inversely amplified by an amplifier 3162, the resultant signal is coupled to the base of a transistor 3164 to conduct a reference current Ia flowing through a resistor R₉ connected to the emitter of the transistor 3164. A current mirror 3166 connected to the collector of the transistor 3164 mirrors the reference current Ia to generate the charging current I_C to charge the capacitor C_chg to generate the charged voltage V_C for the comparator 310 to compare with the reference voltage V_ref.

[0032] FIG. 7 shows the schematic waveforms of the line voltage Vin, the divided voltage Vd, the chopped voltage Vd′ and the reference voltage V_ref obtained from the power factor corrector 30 of FIG. 6, designated with numerals 45, 46, 48 and 50, respectively. As illustrated, when the line voltage Vin is lower than the threshold V_t, the reference voltage V_ref is inversely proportional to the line voltage Vin, and when the line voltage Vin is equal to or higher than the threshold V_t, the reference voltage V_ref is a constant V_t2. FIG. 8 shows a relationship between the reference voltage V_ref and the charged voltage V_C on the capacitor C_chg, in which waveform 50 represents the reference voltage V_ref and waveform 52 represents the charged voltage V_C. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, when the line voltage Vin is lower than the threshold V_t, it is inversely proportional to the reference voltage V_ref and therefore, the lower the line voltage Vin is, the higher the reference voltage V_ref is. In this case, it requires a longer charging time Dm for the charged voltage V_C (waveform 52) to reach the reference voltage V_ref (waveform 50) and thus the transistor 304 has a greater on-time. When the line voltage Vin increases, the charging time Dm reduces, and therefore the on-time of the transistor 304 reduces consequently, as shown in the region 442 of FIG. 5. Once the line voltage Vin equal to or higher than the threshold V_t, the reference voltage V_ref (waveform 50) is maintained at V_t2 and accordingly, the charging time Dc is kept fixed and the on-time of the transistor 304 is maintained constant, as shown in the region 444 of FIG. 5.

[0033] FIG. 9 shows another power factor corrector 60 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the voltage source 308 generates the reference voltage V_ref based on the output voltage V_O and the current source 316 generates the charging current I_C based on the line voltage Vin. When the line voltage Vin is lower than a threshold V_t, the charging current I_C is proportional to the line voltage Vin. Since the charging current I_C varies with the line voltage Vin, the on-time of the transistor 304 also varies with the line voltage Vin. On the other hand, when the line voltage Vin is equal to or higher than the threshold V_t, the charging current I_C is maintained constant, and the on-time of the transistor 304 is fixed consequently. In addition, since the reference voltage V_ref varies with the output voltage V_O, it will change as the output voltage V_O changes. Due to the reference voltage V_ref as a function of the output voltage V_O, if the output is low, the reference voltage V_ref is set higher, and the capacitor C_chg will take longer charging time to reach the reference voltage V_ref and to reset the RS latch 312. As a result, the line current I_L supplies more energy to the output and pull high the output voltage V_O. For example, when the output voltage V_O decreases, the reference voltage V_ref increases. As a result, the charging time for the capacitor C_chg to reach the reference voltage V_ref is prolonged, and the on-time of the transistor 304 becomes greater, such that the output voltage V_O increases, i.e., a load regulation function is achieved during load varying. For the modulation operations, at the initial stage, the output Q of the RS latch 312 is high and the PWM switch 304 is at on-state, resulting in the line current I_L ramping up. During the output Q of the RS latch 312 at high state, the discharge switch 318 turns off, and the current source 316 charges the capacitor C_chg with the charging current I_C. Once the capacitor C_chg is charged for the charged voltage V_C thereon to reach the reference voltage V_ref, the comparator 310 resets the RS latch 312 by the comparison signal, and therefore the PWM switch 304 turns off, such that the boost capacitor C_O is charged by the line current I_L. At the same time, the discharge switch 318 turns on by the output Q of the RS latch 312 to discharge the capacitor C_chg rapidly. During the off state of the PWM switch 304, the line current I_L decreases linearly to zero, triggering the zero current detector 306 to set the RS latch 312 by the detection signal for another new cycle.

[0034] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary circuit for the power factor corrector 60 of FIG. 9. As illustrated, the line voltage Vin is divided by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₁ and R₂ to generate a divided voltage Vd for the current source 316, whose waveform 72 is shown in FIG. 11. In the current source 316, a voltage chopper 3082 clamps its input voltage under a maximum V_t1 when it passes therethrough, and thus generates a chopped voltage Vd′ from the divided voltage Vd, as shown by the waveform 74 in FIG. 11. The chopped voltage Vd′ is connected through a buffer 604 to the base of a transistor 608 to generate a reference current Ia flowing through a resistor R₉ connected to the emitter of the transistor 608 and having the waveform 76 shown in FIG. 11. A current mirror 606 mirrors the reference current Ia to generate a charging current I_C to charge the capacitor C_chg to thereby generate a charged voltage V_C for one input of the comparator 310. Owing to the current mirror 606, the charging current I_C has a waveform identical to that (waveform 76) of the reference current Ia. On the other hand, the output voltage V_O is divided by a voltage divider consisting of resistors R₃ and R₄ to generate a feedback voltage V_FB, and an error amplifier 610 in the voltage source 308 compares the feedback voltage V_FB with a reference voltage V_ref1 to generate the reference voltage V_ref whose phase is further compensated by a compensation network 612. The comparator 310 compares the charged voltage V_C on the capacitor C_chg with the reference voltage V_ref to generate a comparison signal for the reset input R of the SR latch 312, and the SR latch 312 switches the transistor 304 in response to the outputs of the comparator 310 and the zero current detector 306 in the same manner illustrated for the power factor corrector 30. However, unlike to the power factor corrector 30, this embodiment uses the complementary output Q to switch the capacitor C_chg for charging thereon and discharging therefrom.

[0035] FIG. 11 shows the schematic waveforms of the line voltage Vin, the divided voltage Vd, the chopped voltage Vd′ and the reference current Ia obtained from the power factor corrector 60 of FIG. 10, designated with numerals 70, 72, 74 and 76, respectively. Since the charging current I_C is mirrored from the reference current Ia, it has the identical waveform as that (waveform 76) of the reference current Ia. When the line voltage Vin is lower than the threshold V_t, the charging current I_C (and the reference voltage Ia also) is proportional to the line voltage Vin, and thus the charging time for the charged voltage V_C to reach the reference voltage V_ref also varies with the line voltage Vin. In this case, the on-time of the transistor 304 decreases as the line voltage Vin increases. When the line voltage Vin is equal to or higher than the threshold V_t, the charging current I_C is maintained constant and the on-time of the transistor 304 is also kept constant accordingly.

[0036] Briefly, the on-time of the PWM switch 304 in the boost converter is piecewise varied with the line voltage Vin during the half-wave input voltage cycle. Namely, when Vin is higher than the threshold V_t, the on-time of the PWM switch 304 is constant, and when Vin is lower than the threshold V_t, the on-time of the PWM switch 304 is increased, i.e., the lower Vin generates the longer on-time. Although the SR latch 312 is used for the PWM generator in the above illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand other PWM generators may also applied from the teaching hereof for the piecewise on-time modulation. By using the piecewise on-time modulation apparatus and method of the present invention, a power factor corrector will increases the power factor of an AC-to-DC converter system and reduce the total harmonic distortion of the AC input current Iac.

[0037] While the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.