Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/C015924/1
Title:	Behavioural modelling, design and digital control of high-order resonant power supplies
Principal Investigator:	Foster, Professor MP
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Organisation:	University of Sheffield
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	01 December 2005	Ends:	31 May 2007	Value (£):	118,272
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Power Electronics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
All electronic goods require a power supply, whether they be as advanced as a computer games console or as ordinary as a mobile phone battery charger. Therefore, the power supply one of the most important elements in any electrical system. By minimising the size of a power supply, product designers can shoehorn more features within a given volume envelope. Furthermore, increased efficiencies can extend battery life and reduce weight. Together these ingredients have fueled the recent explosion in portable electronic devices such as PDAs, mobile phones and pocket MP3 players.The majority of power supplies in consumer electronic goods employ switching technology to achieve high-efficiency. The size of this type of power supply being related to the switching rate. Using faster switching rates significantly reduces the size of the power supply unit and, therefore, manufacturer's strive to employ the highest switching frequency realistically achievable to minimise size. Ultimately, however, there is a maximum limit to which the switching frequency can be increased (and the size reduction that can be achieved) because of limitations imposed by switching losses in the transistors. To overcome this, designers are utilising resonant circuit technology to shape the voltage and/or current through the transistors so as to achieve, what is termed, low-loss switching .Resonant converters are one example where manufacturers utilise resonant circuit technology to improve the performance of their system by allowing product designers to push the boundaries of size, performance and cost. Indeed, Philips, for example, employ resonant converter based power supplies in their computer monitors and televisions, while Bang & Olufsen use resonant converters to power their high-end audio-visual systems. However, although these forward thinking companies forsee the advantages offered by this technology, many others are reluctant to adopt resonant converters for their power conversion requirements. The main reason for this is the difficulty in accurately predicting the operational behaviour of this type of power supply, since, the output voltage is highly dependent on the load, and in applications where the load could change suddenly (such as in a computer), designing such a power supply remains very challenging.This project aims to develop a more generic approach to designing resonant converters by incorporating dynamic effects with the more traditional static considerations. The outcome will be a design recipe which will provide a system designer with the actual component values that are required to build a power supply with a specific output voltage given a range of operating conditions. Specifically, the project will provide a step towards automating the design of these high-efficiency power supplies.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.shef.ac.uk