Non-Isolated Direct AC-DC Converter Design

with BCM-PFC Circuit

Y. Kobori, L. Xing, H. Gao, N.Onozawa, S. Wu, S. N. Mohyar, Z. Nosker, H. Kobayashi, N. Takai and K. Niitsu

 Abstract— This paper proposes two types of non-isolated when the inductor is charged, and the blue dashed line shows the
direct AC-DC converters. First, it shows a buck-boost converter current flow when the inductor is discharged. Three switches
with an H-bridge, which requires few components (three operate at a frequency of 200 kHz and the operation mode varies
switches, two diodes, one inductor and one capacitor) to convert with changes in input voltage polarity and the charging or
AC input to DC output directly. This circuit can handle a wide discharging of the inductor.
range of output voltage. Second, a direct AC-DC buck converter Let us consider the case when the input voltage is positive, as
is proposed for lower output voltage applications. This circuit is shown in Fig.1 and Fig.3 (a). First, S1 and S3 are ON for a time
analyzed with output voltage of 12V. We describe circuit of D*Ts (D is the duty ratio, the ON part of the duty cycle, and
topologies, operation principles and simulation results for both Ts represents the switching period) and the inductor is charged.
Next S1 and S3 are turned OFF and D1 and D2 are turned ON so
circuits.
that the inductor is discharged into the capacitor and the resistor.
For a positive input, S1 and S3 are alternately turned ON and
Keywords— AC-DC converter, Buck-boost converter, Buck
OFF as shown in Fig.3 (a). The operation is just like the
converter, PFC, BCM PFC circuit
common buck-boost converter, and we obtain a steady output
voltage.
I. INTRODUCTION

A C-DC converters are indispensable for virtually all

electronic devices, from cell phones to large
manufacturing machinery. AC-DC converters produce S2
steady direct current (DC) from alternating current (AC) inputs. D2

In a typical converter, the AC input is rectified and connected to

a high-voltage, high-frequency switching circuit employing a
D1
transformer to create the desired DC output voltage. However,
this type of converter is bulky and has low efficiency, because it
contains a switching DC-DC converter, a transformer, and a
rectifier.
In this paper we propose a new circuit to realize non-isolated Fig.1 H-Bridge AC-DC converter (Current when Vin >0）
direct AC-DC conversion: a non-inverting buck-boost converter
with H-bridge circuit. This circuit comprises of three switches
operated by changes in input voltage polarity to make current S2
flow in the inductor in one direction. In this circuit, the output D2
voltage can be set to a value above the input voltage to a value
less than 10 volts. Next we propose a novel direct AC-DC buck
converter for low output voltage with a single switch and one D1

diode bridge.
We introduce their operating principles and show simulation
results to verify their basic operation and performance. We also Fig.2 H-Bridge AC-DC converter (Current when Vin <0）
calculate the voltage-conversion ratio and compare it with that
of a commonly used buck-boost converter. ON OFF

II. DIRECT BUCK-BOOST AC-DC CONVERTER S1 S1 OFF

D1 D1 ON
A. Proposed Circuit and Operation
S3 S3 OFF
The proposed direct buck-boost AC-DC converter is shown
in Fig.1 and Fig.2, where the red solid line shows current flow S2 S2

Y. Kobori is an adjunct professor at Gunma University, Kiryu, Japan and he

PWM PWM ON OFF

is also with Oyama National College of Technology, Oyama, Japan (phone:

+81-285-20-2255; fax: 285-20-2886, e-mail: kobori@ oyama-ct.ac.jp). t0 t1 t2 t0 t1 t2
L. Xing, G. Hong, N.Onozawa, S. Wu, S.H. Mohyar, Z. Nosker, H.
Kobayashi, N. Takai and K. Niitsu are with Department of Electronic （ａ）Vin＞０ （ｂ）Vin＜０
Engineering, Gunma University, Kiryu, Japan (e-mail: Fig.3 Timing chart of switches
k_haruo@el.gunma-u.ac.jp).

1
 B. Simulation Results
The circuit schematic for simulation is illustrated in Fig.4.
The input voltage is 100Vrms with a frequency of 50 Hz and we
use PWM operating at 200 kHz. The other parameters are
shown in Table 1. We set the output voltage to 50V and the
output current to Io=0.5A. 1.0A 0.5A

S2
D2 Fig.7 Load transient response
Vo

D1

Fig.4 Simulation circuit Fig.8 Waveform of inductor current

Table 1 Simulation Parameters of Fig. 4 C. Voltage Conversion Ratio

C 220 uF Compared with the PWM clock frequency, the frequency of
L 220 uH the input sine wave is very low; hence the instantaneous input
Vo 50 V voltage can be considered to be almost constant. Accordingly,
the output voltage Vo can be calculated as follows:
Io 0.5 A
VREF 5.0 V
D
The waveforms of input voltage Vi and output voltage, output
Vo = 1－D ・Vi
voltage ripple, the inductor current waveform and load transient
response are shown in Fig.5, Fig.6, Fig.7 and Fig.8 respectively. D
= 2 ･ 1－D ・Vrms･sin(θ) (1)
These figures show the transient responses when the input
voltage is near its peak value. The output voltage ripple is １
6mVpp, which is very small, and the inductor current ripple is D(θ) = (2)
under 1.7App. １＋ 2 ／M･sin(θ)
For the transient response, we set the current change just as ∆I
＝1.0 x 0.5A. The voltage ripple is 15mVpp / 0.5A in Fig.7, Here D is the duty ratio, and M is given by
which is very small compared with the output voltage. We see in M=Vo／Vrms (3)
Fig.8 that when the inductor current is large (1.0A), it operates
in continuous mode. When the inductor current is small (0.5A), Thus the average duty ratio D* in a half period is obtained as
it operates in intermittent mode. follows:
1
150 D* = π ∫ D(θ) dθ
50
V

-50
1 π dθ
-150
= π ∫０ (4)
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
１＋ 2 ／M･sin(θ)
time/mSecs 5mSecs/div

Fig.5 Waveform of input voltage and output voltage Since we cannot solve the above equation analytically, we
solved it approximately by using interval integration. In Fig.9
we compare the result with that of a commonly used
non-inverting buck-boost converter, where the lateral axis
indicates the average duty ratio and the vertical axis shows the
output voltage. We see that, compared with the common
buck-boost converter, the output voltage is a little bit smaller for
the same duty ratio; in other words a larger duty ratio is used for
Fig.6 Output voltage ripple a given low output voltage, which makes it possible for our
circuit to convert to a low output voltage directly, and this is an

2
advantage over the commonly-used PWM-controlled D3-D1 or D4-D2 as in Fig. 10(a); (2) When Vi＜0, first the
buck-boost converter. switch is ON and the current flows through D2-D3. When the
switch is OFF, the current flows same as Vi>0 as shown in Fig.
Vo(本方式) Vo(従来) 10(b).
400

350
B. Simulation Results
300
We have performed circuit simulations to check the operation
250
and performance of the proposed direct buck AC-DC converter.
200
The waveforms of input voltage, output voltage and output
150
voltage ripple for a load current of 0.5 A are shown in Fig.11
100
and Fig.12. We see that output offfset is +10mV and output
50
ripples are +65/-95 mV, which occur at zero-cross points of the
0
0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800
input source.

Fig.9 Average duty ratio vs. Vo (Vi rms=100V)

III. DIRECT BUCK AC-DC CONVERTER

A. Proposed Circuit and Operation

The proposed direct buck AC-DC converter with a diode
bridge is shown in Fig.10, where the output DC voltage Vo is
less than the input AC voltage Vi rms. The input AC source is
first rectified by the diode bridge, where the red solid line shows Fig.11 Output voltage of inverting converter
current flow when the inductor is charged, and the blue dashed
line shows the current flow when the inductor is discharged. The
switch S operates at a frequency of 200 kHz and the current
mode in the diodes varies with changes in input voltage polarity
and the charging or discharging of the inductor.

Diode Bridge

D3
D1
Fig.12 Output ripple of the inverting converter
D4
D2
S For the transient response, we set the current change just as ∆I
＝1.0 x 0.5A. The voltage ripple is ±7mVop / 0.5A in Fig. 13,
which is very small compared with the output voltage.

(a) Current flow when Vi > 0

Diode Bridge

D3
D1
Fig.13 Load transient response
D4
D2
S
1 IV. POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) CIRCUIT
For AC-DC converters, distortion of the input current, and
spurious current at clock frequencies should be reduced below
(b) Current flow when Vi < 0 the level permitted by EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference)
Fig.10 Direct Buck AC-DC converter regulations, because AC-DC converters are connected directly
The operation of the switch is as follows: (1) When Vi>0, first to the power lines. We have designed PFC circuits to meet this
the switch is ON and the current flows through D1 and D4. Next requirement.
the switch is OFF which causes the current to flow through

3
 A. Conventional PFC in Boost Converter ∴ Toff = (Vi/Vo)*Ton*sin(θi) (7)
In conventional AC-DC converters, a boost- type PFC circuit
with an active filter is frequently used as shown in Fig. 14. It Here, Ip represents the peak current of IL.
consists of an analog multiplier, an op-amp, two comparators
and D, L, C components. In this circuit, the on-time of the PWM
Buck-Boost
signal should be constant to keep the waveform of the input Converter
current similar to that of the input voltage sine wave. The
waveform of the inductor current, as shown in Fig.15, is a series
Vo
of triangle waveforms in BCM. The current is zero at switching
timing from off to on. The solid line represents the charge
current to the inductor and the dashed line shows the discharge. Current
So the input charges in a single triangle waveform and the Control Detector
voltage source is shown below. Logic Error Amp.

Qin(t)=T*(Ton* Vi*sinωt)/2L (5) Q S

OP
R
The on-time Ton of PWM signal is designed to be constant but
the off-time is variable, and thus the clock frequency varies in
phase. In this case, the PWM period is given below, Saw-tooth Gen.
T=Ton+Toff
Fig.16 New BCM PFC without an analog multiplier.
=Ton+L*Ton*Vi*sinθ/(Vo-Ton*Vi*sinθ) (6)
Eq.(7) tells us that Toff is proportional to the input sin(θi)
IL Detector Boost Converter wave. Thus the input current is shaped nearly the same as the
input voltage because the average of Vi/Vo is much larger than
1 in Eq.(7). This means that a multiplier is not needed in the new
∽ PFC system shown in Fig.16. We note that conventional AC-DC
DC
ATTN OUT
PFC correction requires large capacitors to hold the input AC
power and to output the DC power, and our proposed converter
also requires a large capacitor of 47mF.
Error Amp.
S
C. Simulation Results
R
× OP In general, AC-DC converters have many output voltages and
Multiplier today’s most popular level is 12V output. Fig.17 shows the
input voltage and the output voltage as well as the input current.
Fig.14 Conventional PFC circuit in BCM The input current is of saw-tooth shape with clock frequency of
about 100 kHz. In Fig.17, the input current represents the
waveform of the source current through a LPF.
Input Voltage
(Sine Wave) IL: Inductor Iin (Io=1.0A)
Current
Vo

Vin Iin (Io=0.5A)

Fig.15 Waveform of inductor current in BCM.

B. New PFC in Buck Converter

Since our proposed circuit is a buck-boost converter different
from the above boost converter, it needs a new PFC circuit. In Fig.17 Waveform of Vi, Vo and Iin (through LPF)
our proposed circuit, the input current is not equal to the
inductor current, because the on-time current is input current In this waveform, the power factor calculated from simulation
and the off-time current is load current. Thus the on-time is is about 0.97. The output voltage ripple caused by clock signals
constant and the off-time is given by is small enough, and ripple caused by input signals is 25mVpp
at Io=0.5A. and 60mVpp at Io=1.0A. The ripple frequency is
Ioff (t) = Ip－t*Vo/L 100Hz. Fig.19 shows the waveform of the input voltage and the
inductor current while Fig.20 shows the wide scope waveform
=Ton*Vi*sin(θi)/L－t*Vo/L
of the inductor current.

4
 Vo ripple [mVpp] offset [mV]
100Hz [mV]
70
Io=1.0 [A]
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Fig.18 Output voltage ripple (Io=1.0 A). -10 50 100 150 200 250 300

-20
Vi [Vrms]
Fig.22 Output ripple and offset vs. input voltage

V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have described a direct AC-DC buck-boost
converter with H-bridge topology, a direct AC-DC buck
converter and a PFC circuit in BCM for a direct AC-DC buck
converter. We have investigated and proposed direct AC-DC
Fig.19 Input voltage and inductor current. buck converters and those with BCM-PFC circuit. We
explained their principles of operation and verified their basic
operation by simulations. Simulation results show that the
output voltage ripple for buck converters (Vo =12V) with direct
BCM-PFC circuit is 60mVpp at Io=1.0A. Furthermore we have
developed a new PFC circuit for BCM converters with a new
multiplexer. Our simulations show that the power factor in
BCM-PFC circuit is about 0.97 at Vi=100Vrms, Vo=12V and
Io=1.0A.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig.20 Inductor current in BCM. We would like to thank T. Shishime, M. Ohshima and, N.
Okamoto for valuable discussions.
Fig. 21 shows the characteristics of load regulation: the ripple
and the offset of the output voltage at Vi=100 Vrms and REFERENCES
Vo=12V when the output current is changed. In this case, the
output voltage ripple and the output offset is linear to the output [1] L. Xing, H. Gao, Y. Kobori, N. Okamoto, M. Ohshima, K.
current Io. Fig. 22 shows the characteristics of line regulation: Wakabayashi, T. Okada, M. Onozawa, H. Kobayashi, N.
the ripple and the offset of the output voltage at Io=1.0 A and Takai and K. Niitsu , “Novel DC-DC Converter Design,” IEE
Japan, Papers of Technical Meeting on Electronic Circuits, ECT-11-047,
Vo=12V when the input voltage is changed. The ripple is July 2011, pp. 59-64 (Japanese)
almost constant and the offset increases exponentially with load [2] K. Harada, T. Ninomiya and B. Ko, Fundamentals of
current. Switched-Mode Converters, Corona Publishing Co., LTD.
(2004)
Vo ripple [mVpp] offset [mV]
[mV]
150 Yasunori Kobori (M’85-SM’02)
Vi=100 [Vrms] He received a bachelor’s degree in 1974
100 and Dr. Eng. In 2001 from Tokyo Institute
of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. In 1974, he
50 joined Consumer Research and Develop
Center, Hitachi Ltd. and engaged in video
0
equipments. He joined Matsue National
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
-50 College of Technology in 2002. He became
a visiting professor of Gunma University in
-100 2004. He joined the College of Technology of Kinki University
Io [A] in 2008, and joined Oyama College of Technology in 2010. He
Fig.21 Output ripple and offset vs. output current is also an adjunct professor at Gunma University in 2011. He is
interested in analog circuit and power electronics.