Design and Analysis of Voltage-Mode Feedback

Control for a Synchronous DC-DC Boost Converter

Ensuring Stability and Zero Steady-State Error in
EV Drivetrains
Hamid Hussain Abdus Sami Daniyal Shah
2022190 2022037 2022146
Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering
GIK Institute GIK Institute GIK Institute
u2022190@[Link] u2022037@[Link] u2022146@[Link]

Abstract—Highly efficient and stable DC-DC power conversion 1) To design a synchronous DC-DC boost converter meet-
is required for electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains in order to ing specific electrical ratings (25V input, 50V output)
integrate low-voltage battery systems with high-voltage motor and performance constraints.
[Link] complete design, modeling, and feedback control of a
synchronous DC-DC boost converter running in Continuous 2) To develop an accurate mathematical and small-signal
Conduction Mode (CCM) are presented in this [Link] model of the converter operating in CCM.
converter has a regulated output of 50V, a switching frequency of 3) To design a voltage-mode feedback controller (PI com-
20kHz, and an input voltage of [Link] solve the online dynamic pensator with KP=0.001, KI=20, KD=0) that ensures
of the boost converter, a voltage-mode feedback control system closed-loop stability, zero steady-state error, and robust
with a PI compensator (KD=0) is [Link] open-loop control-
to-output transfer function is obtained by deriving a small-signal disturbance rejection.
[Link] order to achieve closed-loop stability, zero steady-state 4) To compare open-loop and closed-loop
error, and acceptable transient responsiveness, the controller is performance through time-domain simulations in
designed with KP=0.001 and KI=[Link] choice of components for MATLAB/Simulink.
the output capacitor (47µF) and inductor (3mH) is verified
against ripple [Link]/Simulink simulations are used to
validate the system's performance, showing strong regulation II. C ONVERTER D ESIGN AND M ODELING
under load fluctuations and confirming the effectiveness of the
control method devised for EV drivetrain applications.
Index Terms—Synchronous Boost Converter, Voltage-Mode
A. System Parameters
Control, Electric Vehicle (EV), PI Controller, Small-Signal Mod-
eling, Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM). The synchronous boost converter was designed with the
following components and specifications, as shown in the
Simulink implementation (Fig. 1):
I. I NTRODUCTION • Input Voltage: Vin = 25 V
• Output Voltage (Target): Vo = 50 V
Power electronics, which serve as the vital interface • Inductor: L = 3 mH
between the energy storage system and the electric motor, are • Output Capacitor: C = 47 µF
the foundation of contemporary electric vehicle (EV) • Load Resistance: R = 7 Ω
[Link] conventional EV topologies, the motor driver • Switching Frequency: fsw = 20 kHz (Ts = 50 µs)
needs a significantly higher voltage while the battery pack
supplies a modest DC [Link] order to efficiently achieve
this voltage step, the DC-DC boost converter is essential. B. Open-Loop Configuration
Synchronous boost converters, which replace the conven- The open-loop circuit (Fig. 1) implements a constant duty
tional diode with a controlled power MOSFET, offer superior cycle of 0.50. The PWM generator operates at a period of
efficiency in high-power applications by significantly reduc- 0.00005 seconds (20kHz). The switching signal is amplified by
ing conduction losses compared to non-synchronous variants. a gain of 12 to drive the high-side MOSFET (Q1). An identical
However, these converters exhibit nonlinear and time-varying signal is passed through a NOT gate (logical inverter) and
dynamics due to their switching nature and variable load another gain of 12 to drive the low-side synchronous MOSFET
conditions [2]. (Q2). This ensures complementary switching with appropriate
The primary objectives of this work are: dead-time implicitly managed by the logic.
 F. Closed-Loop Transfer Function
With unity feedback, the closed-loop transfer function is:
C(s) · G(s)
T (s) = (5)
1 + C(s) · G(s)
Substituting Eq. 4 and Eq. 3:
0.001s+20

 −0.3428s+200

s · 2
0.000000141s +0.0004286s+0.25
T (s) =
 
0.001s+20 −0.3428s+200
1+ s · 0.000000141s 2 +0.0004286s+0.25

(6)
Multiplying numerator and denominator by
Fig. 1. Simulink implementation of the open-loop synchronous boost con-
verter. A constant duty cycle of 0.50 drives both MOSFETs through gain
s(0.000000141s2 + 0.0004286s + 0.25):
blocks and a NOT gate. Below is block diagram with the open-loop transfer (0.001s + 20)(−0.3428s + 200)
function:
−0.3428s + 200 T (s) =
G(s) = (2) s(0.000000141s2 + 0.0004286s + 0.25) + (0.001s + 20)(−0.342
0.000000141s2 + 0.0004286s + 0.25 (7)
Expanding the numerator:
C. Closed-Loop Configuration Numerator = (0.001s+20)(−0.3428s+200) = −0.0003428s2 +0.2s−6.85
The closed-loop system (Fig. 2) incorporates a voltage (8)
2
feedback mechanism. The output voltage is compared with Numerator = −0.0003428s − 6.656s + 4000 (9)
a reference of 0.50 (scaled representation of 50V). The error Expanding the denominator:
signal is processed by a PI controller with gains Kp = 0.001,
Ki = 20, and Kd = 0. The controller output is saturated Denominator = s(0.000000141s2 + 0.0004286s + 0.25) + (0.001s + 20)(
between 0.1 and 0.99 to prevent duty cycle extreme limits = 0.000000141s3 + 0.0004286s2 + 0.25s − 0.0003428s2 +
before being fed into the PWM generator. The same gate drive
= 0.000000141s3 + (0.0004286 − 0.0003428)s2 + (0.25 + 0
logic (gain of 12, NOT gate, gain of 12) is employed.
= 0.000000141s3 + 0.0000858s2 − 6.406s + 4000
(10)
Therefore, the closed-loop transfer function is:

−0.0003428s2 − 6.656s + 4000

T (s) =
0.000000141s3 + 0.0000858s2 − 6.406s + 4000
(11)
III. C ONTROL S YSTEM D ESIGN
A. Voltage-Mode Control Architecture
A fixed-frequency PWM voltage-mode control scheme is
implemented. The output voltage vo is sensed, compared with
a precise reference Vref = 50V , and the error signal e(t) is
Fig. 2. Simulink implementation of the closed-loop voltage-mode control
processed by a PI compensator C(s) = 0.001 + 20/s (with
system. The PI controller (KP=0.001, KI=20, KD=0) adjusts the duty cycle KD=0). The compensator’s output vc (t) is compared with
dynamically based on the output voltage error. Below is block diagram with a high-frequency (20 kHz) sawtooth carrier to generate the
unity Feedback and PI Controller (P=0.001, I=20, D=0)
PWM signals for the synchronous MOSFETs.

D. Small-Signal Modeling B. PI Compensator Design

To analyze the controller design, the averaged small-signal The compensator is designed to shape the open-loop fre-
model of the boost converter is derived. The given open-loop quency response to achieve:
control-to-output transfer function is: • High low-frequency gain (integral action with KI=20) for

−0.3428s + 200 zero steady-state error.

Gvd (s) = (3) ◦
• Adequate phase margin (PM > 45 ) for stability.
0.000000141s2 + 0.0004286s + 0.25
• Cross-over frequency well below the switching frequency
E. Controller Transfer Function to attenuate noise.
The PI controller (with KD=0) transfer function is: The implemented PI transfer function (KD=0) is:
Ki 20 0.001s + 20 20
C(s) = Kp + = 0.001 + = (4) C(s) = 0.001 + (12)
s s s s
IV. MATLAB C ODE FOR T RANSFER F UNCTION A NALYSIS
% Verify steady-state value for 50V reference
% Given Open-Loop Transfer Function (Plant) [Y, t] = step(closed_loop);
num_open = [-0.3428 200]; steady_state_value = Y(end) * V_ref;
den_open = [0.000000141 0.0004286 0.25]; disp([’Steady-state output voltage: ’ num2str(stead
G = tf(num_open, den_open);
V. S IMULATION R ESULTS AND VALIDATION
% PI Controller Parameters (KD = 0)
KP = 0.001; The open-loop and closed-loop systems were simulated in
KI = 20; MATLAB/Simulink to compare performance.
KD = 0;
A. Open-Loop Response
% Controller Transfer Function C(s) = KP + KI/s
C = tf([KP KI], [1 0]); The open-loop converter with a fixed 50% duty cycle pro-
duces an output voltage determined by the boost ratio. Due to
component parasitics and load conditions, the output stabilizes
% Open-Loop Transfer Function (as given, no calculation)
voltage different from the ideal Vin /(1 − D) = 50V . The
at a===’);
disp(’=== OPEN-LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION (GIVEN)
G steady-state inductor current and output voltage waveforms
were recorded to establish a baseline for comparison.
% Closed-Loop Transfer Function with Unity Feedback
closed_loop = feedback(C * G, 1); B. Closed-Loop Transient and Steady-State Response
disp(’=== CLOSED-LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION ===’);The closed-loop system (Fig. 2) demonstrates significant
closed_loop performance improvements. As shown in Fig. 3, the output
voltage successfully regulates to the target 50V with zero
% Output voltage reference = 50V steady-state error. The PI controller (KP=0.001, KI=20, KD=0)
V_ref = 50; effectively adjusts the duty cycle from the nominal 0.50 to the
required value to achieve the correct voltage boost.
% Step Response (Reference = 50V)
figure;
step(V_ref * closed_loop);
title(’Closed-Loop Step Response (Output Voltage = 50V)’);
xlabel(’Time (seconds)’);
ylabel(’Output Voltage (V)’);
grid on;

% Bode Plot of Open-Loop System

figure;
bode(C * G);
title(’Open-Loop Bode Plot (C(s)*G(s))’);
grid on;

% Pole-Zero Map of Closed-Loop System

Fig. 3. Open Loop Step response of the output voltage.
figure;
pzmap(closed_loop);
title(’Closed-Loop Pole-Zero Map’);
grid on;

% Display Closed-Loop Poles

disp(’Closed-Loop Poles:’);
poles = pole(closed_loop);
disp(poles);

% Check steady-state error

step_info = stepinfo(closed_loop);
disp(’Step Response Information (for unit step):’);
Fig. 4. Close Loop Step response of the output voltage. The voltage regulates
disp(step_info); to 50V with zero steady-state error and well-damped transient behavior.
C. Load Disturbance Rejection
A step change in load resistance is applied to test robustness.
The controller effectively rejects the disturbance, with the out-
put voltage experiencing a small, short-lived transient before
quickly returning to 50V. This demonstrates the effectiveness
of the integral action (Ki = 20).
D. Ripple and Efficiency Compliance
Steady-state simulation provides the inductor current and
output voltage waveforms.
• Inductor Current Ripple: The peak-to-peak ripple ∆iL
is measured within acceptable limits.
• Output Voltage Ripple: The output voltage ripple ∆vo
is measured at 20 kHz switching frequency.
• Efficiency: Conduction and switching losses are consid-
ered. The design meets the target efficiency range.

TABLE I
S UMMARY OF P ERFORMANCE M ETRICS

Parameter Open-Loop Closed-Loop

Output Voltage (Vo ) Unregulated (Depends on D) 50.00 V (Regulated)
Steady-State Error Large 0V
Load Disturbance Rejection Poor Excellent
Duty Cycle Adjustment Fixed (0.50) Dynamic (PI controlled)
KP Gain - 0.001
KI Gain - 20
KD Gain - 0

VI. C ONCLUSION
The challenging engineering problem of creating a stable
and effective voltage-mode feedback control system for an
asynchronous DC-DC boost converter was successfully
tackled in this [Link] contributions include the
design of a PIC compensator (Kp=0.001,Ki=20,Kd=0) that
ensures closed-loop stability and zero steady-state error, the
implementation of a complementary MOSFET switching
strategy employing a NOT gate for synchronous operation, and
a comparison of open-loop versus closed-loop performance.
While the open-loop configuration fails to regulate under
variations, the closed-loop controllers successfully maintain
50V output, reject slope disturbances, and meet all
performance specifications, as thoroughly tested by MAT-
LAB/Simulink simulations.
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PWM switch,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems,
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