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CHAPTER 3
OVERVIEW OF THE BUCK CONVERTER
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In the buck converter the average output voltage is less than the input supply
voltage. The buck converter is shown in Fig.3.1. The buck converter is similar to the step
down converter. The inductance and capacitance are the filtering components. Due to the
freewheeling diode the output voltage and current are maintained ripple free.

Fig. 3.1. Circuit diagram of buck converter
The most common power converter topology is the buck power converter, sometimes
called a step down power converter. Power supply designers choose the buck power converter
because the output voltage is always less than the input voltage in the same polarity and is not
isolated from the input. The buck regulator circuit is a switching regulator, as shown in figure. It
uses an inductor and a capacitor as energy storage elements so that energy can be transferred
from the input to the output in discrete packets.
The advantage of using switching regulators is that they offer higher efficiency than
linear regulators. The one disadvantage is noise or ripple, the ripple will need to be minimized
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through careful component selection. A requirement of the design is to have high current slew
rate (up to 930 A/s) to increase switching speed of microprocessor from one state to the other
but this causes voltage drop spikes at the processor power supply.
To achieve high current slew rate the inductor L
o
should be as small as possible. This in
turn while achieving faster transient response will cause the output voltage ripple to increase. To
reduce output voltage ripple, the switching frequency should be increased but this lowers
efficiency. This means that the selection of the switching devices will be an important issue. The
output voltage ripple can also be reduced by increasing the output capacitance, this means a large
capacitor in practical design.
The input current for a buck power converter is discontinuous due to the power switch.
The output current for a buck power converter is continuous because the output current is
supplied by the output inductor/capacitor combination, the output capacitor never supplies the
entire load current for continuous inductor current mode operation.
3.2 OPERATION OF BUCK CONVERTER
3.2.1 CONTINUOUS CONDUCTION MODE

Mode 1:

Fig. 3.2. Operation of buck converter in Mode 1
Continuous inductor current mode is when current flows continuously in the inductor
during the full switching cycle. A buck converter operating in continuous conduction mode
has two unique switching states during each switching cycle. The first state corresponds to
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the case when the switch is ON. The equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 3.2. In this
state, the current through the inductor rises, and the energy stored in it increases,
during this state the inductor acquires energy.
Vo
DT
I
Lo Vo
dt
di
Lo Vi
L

(2.1)
When the switch is closed, the diode is in the OFF state. The diode is there so
there will always be a current source for the inductor.
Mode 2:

Fig. 3.3. Operation of buck converter in Mode 2

The second state is when the switch is OFF and the diode is ON. The equivalent
circuit is shown in Figure 2.3 In this state, the inductor current free-wheels through
the diode and the inductor supplies energy to the RC network at the output. The
energy in the inductor falls in this state.

T D
I
Lo Vo
dt
di
Lo Vo
L
) 1 (
0

(2.2)

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When the switch is open, the inductor discharges its energy. When all of its energy
has discharged, the current falls to zero and tends to reverse, but the diode blocks
conduction in the reverse direction. In the third state both the diode and the switch are
OFF, in this state the capacitor discharges its energy and the inductor is at rest with no
energy stored in it.
Combining both the equations 2.1 and 2.2 we can get the equations as below,
T D
Lo
Vo
DT
Lo
Vo Vi
) 1 (

, Vo = D x Vi (2.3)


Fig. 3.4. Buck operating waveforms
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3.2.2 DISCONTINUOUS CONDUCTION MODE

The inductor current flows into the output capacitor and load resistor combination.
The average current flowing in the output capacitor is always zero so the buck
converter load current is the average of the inductor current. When the load current is
decreased below a critical level, i.e. half the inductor ripple current, the inductor
current will be zero for a portion of the switching cycle. In a non-synchronous buck
converter, if the inductor current attempts to fall below zero, it cannot due to the
unidirectional current flow in the freewheeling diode, and just stays at zero until the
start of the next switching cycle.

This operating mode is called discontinuous conduction mode. A buck converter
operating in discontinuous conduction mode has three unique switching states during
each switching cycle as opposed to two states for continuous conduction mode. If the
load current is decreased further, the circuit is put into discontinuous mode. This condition is
shown in Figure 2.6


Fig. 3.5. Discontinuous Mode

3.3 CONCLUSION
Thus the Buck converter and its operation and different kinds of modes has been
presented in this chapter. The disadvantages of the buck converter has been
overcome with the help of the Interleaved buck converter(IBC).