Fourth International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices Volume IV : Conference on March 19-22, 2007 Hammamet, Tunisia Sensors,

, Circuits & Instrumentation Systems

Analytical Design Equations and Analysis of Class-E Power Amplifiers for Transcutaneous Energy Transfer System
Ghazi Ben Hmida, Hamadi Ghariani and Mounir Samet
Laboratory of Electronics and Technology of Information (LETI) National Engineers school of Sfax Electrical Engineering Department. B.P. W, Sfax, Tunisia 3038 ghazi_benhmida@yahoo.fr hamadi.ghariani@enis.rnu.tn mounir.samet@enis.rnu.tn

Abstract This paper describes the analytical design equations and analysis of a class-E power amplifier for implantable microsystems. These systems use inductive link to supply with power and data. We designed a transmitter with class E power amplifier to provide maximum power transfer with high-efficiency. Simulation results of the design class-E amplifier circuit with PSpice are presented to verify the theoretical results. It is possible to obtain drain efficiency about 90.4%. Key words Class E power amplifier, inductive link, implantable microsystems.

drive the transmitter coil. There are many types of amplifiers that may be suitable. Among them class D and class-E with both theoretical 100 % of efficiency (only ideal switches) are very suitable candidates. The topology chosen is class E. The major advantage of this topology versus other types (like class D or class C) is essentially the easy inclusion of the parasitic drain-source capacitance of the switch transistor into the design optimization.
Power & Data

I. INTRODUCTION Various implantable microsystems have been proposed for clinical applications in recent years. A small and flexible implanted device is the key component to any field application. Pacemakers, defibrillators and cochlear implants are already widespread, while retinal implants, neuro-muscular stimulation, recording devices [16] and instrumented orthopaedic implants [7] are still under development or used on a laboratory scale. For most of these long-term implantable devices, an inductive powering system is preferred to batteries for the power supply because of reliability reasons. The inductive link between two magnetically-coupled coils is now one of the most common methods to wirelessly transfer power and data from the external world to implantable biomedical devices. Achieving high power transfer efficiency is one of the challenges that one would face in the design of such systems. For this reason, we use a transmitter with class E power amplifier to provide maximum power transfer with high-efficiency. Figure 1 shows the block diagram of a wireless power transfer system. The external unit transmits the commands and data as well as the power necessary for the internal unit via wireless telemetry [8]. This wireless transcutaneous transmission is achieved by high efficiency class-E amplifier and inductive coupling technique. The implanted device is externally controlled and powered by a modulated radio frequency signal. The receiver circuitry of the implant provides the stably regulated voltage and demodulates the data from radio frequency signal [9]. The critical element of the external transmitter is the circuit to

Class E transmitter
Transmitter Receiver coil skin coil

Implanted device

Inductive link

Fig. 1. Block diagram of wireless power transfer system

In section II, class E power amplifier is introduced and analysed. Section III describes the analytical design equations for optimum operation. Simulation results are presented in section IV.

II. CIRCUIT ANALYSIS In order to supply enough power to the receiver coil, a high efficiency transmitter/amplifier has to be used, where a class E power amplifier is a good candidate [10]. A structure of class E power amplifier is shown in figure 2. A high-speed power switch (MOSFET transistor) drives a resonant network consisting of a parallel capacitor or shunt capacitor (Cd), a transmitter coil (L1), a tuning capacitor (C) and a resistive load (RL) i.e., RL represents the equivalent load of the implanted device with the receiver coil and parasitic resistances of the transmitter coil [11]. When the switch is OFF, the RF choke inductor (RFC) acts as a current source charging the resonant network and creating a transient voltage across the switch. When the switch is ON, its current rises smoothly until the switch is off again (figure 3). Losses are kept at minimum by having the

ISBN 978-9973-959-06-5 / SSD 2007

transistor switch on when both voltage and current are small [12]. The current and voltage across the transmitter coil are sinusoidal at the resonant frequency of the tank circuit, which has to be the same as the driver switching frequency. The optimum conditions, i.e., zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-voltage-derivative switching (ZVDS) are necessary for the Class E amplifier to achieve high efficiency [13-15]. The efficiency of Class E transmitter can reach 100 % with theoretical design.
Vdd

7) The MOSFET turns on and off very fast so the transition time can be neglected. Since the transistor is turned on at zero voltage in the Class E amplifier, the turn-on transition is negligible. 8) The switch duty cycle is 0.5. Referring to figure 2, the current through the circuit is given by: I dc + I out sin(t + ) = I d (t ) + I p (t ) (1) Where Idc is the dc input current, Iout is the output current amplitude, and = t. The current through the shunt capacitance is Ip. Id is the current through MOSFET transistor. Figure 3 shows theoretical waveforms of the switch voltage (Vds) and current (Id). When the switch is ON, i.e., for 0 < < , Vds ( t ) = 0 (2) I p (t ) = 0 (3) Equation (1) gives : I d (t ) = I dc + I out sin(t + ) (4) When the switch is OFF, i.e., for < < 2, I d (t ) = 0 (5) The current through the shunt capacitance is given by : I p (t ) = I dc + I out sin(t + ) (6) Hence,
Vds ( t ) = 1 Cd

Idc

RFC C Id() Cd Ip() L1=L+X/ Iout sin(+) RL

Vin

Fig. 2. Basic circuit of the class E amplifier

OFF ON OFF ON

Vin t Id t Vds 0 2 Fig. 3. Theoretical waveforms of the switch voltage (Vds) and current (Id) t

I p ( t )dt = Cd [( t ) I dc I out cos(t + )] + K1

1

(7)

Vds ( ) = 0 , so we can obtain K1

So,
Vds ( t ) = 1 [( t ) I dc I out (cos( t + ) + cos )] (8) C d

Imposing the ZVS condition given by Vds ( 2 ) = 0 then

cos = I dc 2 I out

(9)

Imposing the ZVDS III. DESIGN OF THE ANALYTICAL EQUATIONS FOR OPTIMUM
OPERATION

dVds ( t ) = 0 condition at the switch dt

turn-on (t = 2)
I dc + I out sin = 0

The derivations of design equations are carried out under the following assumptions. 1) The shunt capacitance of the amplifier consists of the MOSFET output capacitance and an external linear capacitance. 2) The inductance of the choke coil is large enough to neglect its current ripple. 3) The internal resistance of the choke coil is zero; therefore, the dc voltage drop across the choke is zero. 4) The loaded quality factor of the output resonant circuit is high enough so that the output current can be considered a sine wave. 5) The load resistance includes parasitic resistances of the series resonant circuit; i.e., the resonant circuit is considered to be a pure reactance. 6) The MOSFET ON resistance is low enough so that the current and voltage waveforms remain almost unchanged.

(10) (11)

sin =

I dc I out

From (9) and (11), we obtain :

2 (12) = 32.48 Since the dc component of the voltage drop across the choke inductor is zero, the average value of the switch voltage is equal to the dc supply voltage. Thus : 2 1 (13) Vdd = Vds ( t )dt 2 0 Using equations (8, 9 and 11), we obtain :

= tan 1

V dd =

I dc C d

(14)

Vds is maximal when : dVds ( t ) = 0 dt (15) Then : I dc + I out sin(t + ) = 0, t On (11) gives : t = 2 (16) So, calculating drain source voltage : 2I dc (17) Vds ( 2 ) = C d Using equations (14 and 17), one obtains Vds max (18) = 2 = 3.562 Vdd The output impedance can be decomposed into two constituents : real and imaginary. The real part of the impedance gives a Vdsi voltage. The imaginary part of the impedance gives Vdsq voltage. The Vds(t) function is periodic; so we can calculate the first order coefficients of the Fourier series of this signal. Real part :
Vdsi = 1
2

(28) RL Using equations (21 and 26), the load resistance is given by, 2 8Vdd RL = (29) Pout ( 2 + 4) Using equations (24 and 26), the excess inductance is given by, 2 X Vdd ( 2 4) Ls = = (30) 2Pout ( 2 + 4) Using equations (28 and 29), the resonator inductor is given by, 2 8QLVdd L= (31) Pout ( 2 + 4) The condition of resonance of LC circuit is LC 2 = 1 , so the expression of the resonator capacitance is given by : P ( 2 + 4) (32) C = out 2 8QLVdd The shunt capacitance is expressed from equations (14 and 26) by: Pout (33) Cd = 2 Vdd IV. CLASS E SIMULATION To verify the theoretical results, class-E power amplifier was simulated with PSpice. We desire to achieve an output power of 150 mW. So using analytical design equations described in section III, we calculate the different class-E component values. The table I contains the class-E parameter values. The theoretical value of shunt capacitor is 51.46 pF, but this value doesnt give the optimum operation; due to the assumption that Cd consists of the MOSFET output capacitance and an external linear capacitance. Using the method specified by N. Sokal [16] to search the optimum operation point, one found Cd = 56,5 pF. The simulated waveforms of the gate-source voltage Vgs and drain-source voltage Vds are shown in figure 4. The ZVS operation was achieved at the switching frequency 13.56 MHz (13,56 MHz that belongs to the ISM band: Industrial Scientific Medical). Using equation (18), we calculate the switch peak voltage VDSmax=11.75 V. The simulation value of VDSmax was 11.67 V. Figure 5 shows simulation waveforms of the gate-source voltage (a), the current through the shunt capacitance (b) and current through the NMOS transistor (c). The current through the transmitter coil, figure 5(d), is almost sinusoidal due to the high quality factor (QL = 10). The DC power given by the Vdd source (PDC) is 148.2 mW, while the absorbed power by the load RL (Pout) is 134 mW. The drain efficiency is then: DE = Pout/PDC = 90.41 %.

QL =

Vds ( t ) sin( t + )dt

0

(19)

Vdsi =

8 I outVdd I dc ( 2 + 4 )

(20)

V V RL = dsi = dd I out I dc

8 2 + 4

(21)

Imaginary part :

Vdsq =

Vds ( t ) cos(t + )dt

0

(22)

Vdsq =

I outVdd 2 4 2 I dc 2 + 4
Vdsq I out =

(23) (24)

X = Ls =

X > 0, then X = Ls with Ls is an excess inductance. The output power is done by :

1 1 I V 8 Pout = ( I out ) 2 RL = dc dd 2 (25) 2 2 sin 2 I dc + 4 As a result : Pout = I dcVdd (26)
2

Vdd 2 4 2 I dc 2 + 4

Drain efficiency is:

Pout I dcVdd = =1 (27) Pdc I dcVdd So the class E power amplifier has a theoretical efficiency on 100 %.

The quality factor of the resonant circuit is given by:

Table I: Class E parameter values Operating frequency Supply voltage Load resistance 13.56 MHz Vdd = 3.3 V

waveform satisfied both conditions for optimum operation. The drain efficiency of class-E transmitter can reach 90.4 %, by PSpice simulation, using a model of a real transistor. REFERENCES
[1] C-C. Wang, Y-H. Hsueh, Y-T. Hsiao, U-F. Ghio, C-C. Huang, and P-L. Liu. An implantable neural interface micro-stimulator chip with external controllability. 2004 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Advanced System Integrated Circuits (AP-ASIC2004) / Aug. 4-5, 2004. K. D. Wise, D. J. Anderson, J. F. Hetke, D. R. Kipke, and K. Najafi. Wireless Implantable Microsystems : High-Density Electronic Interfaces to the Nervous System. Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 92, no. 1, pp.76-97, January 2004. R. R. Harrison and C. Charles. A Low-Power Low-Noise CMOS Amplifier for Neural Recording Applications. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 958- 965, June 2003. P. T. Watkins, R. J. Kier, R. 0. Lovejoy, D. J. Black, and R. R. Harrison. Signal Amplification, Detection and Transmission in a Wireless 100-Electrode Neural Recording System. Proceedings 2006 IEEE Intl. Symp. Circuits And Systems (ISCAS). May 2006. G. J. Suaning and N. H. Lovell. CMOS Neurostimulation ASIC with 100 Channels, Scaleable Output, and Bidirectional RadioFrequency Telemetry. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 48, no. 2, February 2001. Eyal Margalit, et al. Retinal Prosthesis for the Blind. 2002 by Elsevier Science Inc. Survey of Ophthalmology, Vol 47, Number 4, pp. 335-356, JulyAugust 2002. F. Burny , M. Donkerwolcke, F. Moulart, R. Bourgois, R. Puers, K. Van Schuylenbergh, M. Barbosa, O. Paiva, F. Rodes, J.B. Bgueret, P. Lawes. Concept, design and fabrication of smart orthopedic implants. 2001 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Medical Engineering & Physics 22 (2000), pp. 469479. M. Catrysse, B. Hermans, R. Puers. An inductive power system with integrated bi-directional data-transmission. 2004 Elsevier Science B.V. Sensors and Actuators. A 115 (2004) 221229. G. Ben Hmida, M. Dhieb, H. Ghariani and M. Samet. Transcutaneous Power And High Data Rate Transmission For Biomedical Implants. IEEE Design and Test of Integrated Systems in Nanoscale Technology (DTIS 2006), September 5-7, 2006 Tunis, Tunisia. G. A. Kendir, W. Liu, G. Wang, M. Sivaprakasam, R. Bashirullah, M. S. Humayun and J. D. Weiland. An Optimal Design Methodology for Inductive Power Link With Class-E Amplifier. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, vol 52, no 5, pp. 857-866, May 2005. G. Ben Hmida, M. Dhieb, H. Ghariani and M. Samet. Etude et Optimisation du lien inductif dans les systmes implantables. 4me Confrence Internationale, JTEA 2006, 12-14 Mai 2006, Hammamet, Tunisia.

R L = 41.87 L s = 566.45 nH Q L = 10 L = 4.915 H L1 = L + Ls = 5.48 H C d = 56.5 pF L RFC = 12 H C = 28 pF [4] 1000/0.35 (m/m) [3] [2]

Excess inductance Quality factor Resonator inductor Transmitter coil Shunt capacitance RF choke inductor Resonator capacitance NMOS transistor W/L
12V

Vds
8V

[5]

4V

[6] Vgs

0V 7.50us 7.52us 7.54us VG(M1) VD(M1) 7.56us 7.58us 7.60us Time 7.62us 7.64us 7.66us 7.68us

[7]

Fig. 4. Gate-Source voltage Vgs - Drain-Source voltage Vds vs time. [8]

2.0V

1.0V 0V VG(M1) 100mA

(a)

[9]

0A

(b)

[10]
-100mA - I(Cd) 150mA 100mA 50mA 0A ID(M1) 100mA

(c)

[11]

0A

(d)

-100mA 7.50us - I(L1)

7.52us

7.54us

7.56us

7.58us

7.60us Time

7.62us

7.64us

7.66us

7.68us

Fig. 5. Simulation waveforms (a) Gate-Source voltage (b) Current through the shunt capacitance (c) Current through the NMOS transistor (d) Current through the transmitter coil.

V. CONCLUSION An analysis and a design of the analytical equations for a high efficiency class E amplifier were presented for optimum operation. The theoretical results were validated by PSpice simulation. In particular, the switch voltage

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