DesignSolution

PETER B. GREEN | International Rectifier

[email protected]

Use A Flyback Topology

To Drive Custom LED Lighting
When a lighting application requires a custom array of LEDs, a flyback ac-dc driver
can be developed quickly and economically, while providing power-factor correction
and dimmability.

L
ED replacement bulbs include integrated driver elec- A split primary winding is required to accomplish this,
tronics using a variety of circuit topologies. But LED which is constructed by first winding half of the primary on
light fixtures frequently require standalone LED power the inside of the bobbin and then winding the secondary and
supplies, sometimes called modules or bricks, often not auxiliary windings before finally winding the second half of
produced by the fixture manufacturer. These supplies are avail- the primary on the outside.
able in a wide range of power levels rated at different output High leakage inductance leads to larger ringing oscillations
voltages and currents to cover many different LED loads. at the MOSFET drain, creating increased losses in the snubber
LED power supplies for light fixtures typically fall with- network that significantly lower the converter efficiency. Effi-
in the 30- to 60-W power range, generally requiring isola- ciency above 85% should be achievable for most converters.
tion, constant output current, a wide input voltage range, This depends largely on load voltage and current. High cur-
high power factor and low total harmonic distortion (THD), rent outputs produce greater losses in the output diode.
short-circuit and open-circuit protection, and electromag- The flyback converter can provide high power factor and
netic interference (EMI) compliance. Dimming by 0- to 10-V isolation in a single conversion stage using a high-voltage
control also may be required. MOSFET. This is done by means of an unsmoothed full-wave
The flyback topology enables a cost-effective platform to rectified primary bus voltage with the converter operating in
provide the desired functionality. This type of converter is critical conduction mode (CrCM). The regulating loop speed
based around a control IC. Several types of control ICs are is slow relative to the ac line frequency so the switching-on
available. These devices include func-
tionality specific to the LED driver in DFB

addition to basic switch-mode power

RADJ RSN CSN
supply (SMPS) control. They also vary
RIN
in associated system complexity, cost, DVCC
CIN
and ease of use. A good control IC to HV VCC
BR1 DSN
base a design on simplifies the design 1 8
process through its versatility and ease VDC OUT CVCC RZX1

of interface with surrounding circuits. lineAC 2 7

input IRS2983 CVOUT
COMP COM
3 6 Load
BACKGROUND
RG
ZX CS
A critical factor in creating as effi- 4 5
cient a flyback converter as possible is M1
RF
the design of the transformer, which is
RDC
in fact a coupled inductor. It is neces- CCOMP
CF RZX2 RCS
CDC
sary to minimize conduction and core
losses and essential to minimize leak- CI

age inductance, which should be kept

below 3% of the actual inductance. 1. A simple fixed-load LED driver doesn’t require many components.

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DesignSolution

time does not vary significantly over the within half a second of applying ac pow- introduce noticeable delay on startup at
line half cycle. er. Longer switch-on delays are objec- low line voltages.
The input current then can remain tionable to most end users accustomed
approximately sinusoidal, providing a to the almost instant response of the CURRENT REGULATION METHODS
power factor above 0.9 over a wide input filament lamp. The first and simplest method uses
voltage range with a THD under 20%. Some IC controllers such as the primary-side regulation. Several LED
Output current must be smoothed by IRS2983 from International Rectifier controller ICs can regulate the LED
capacitors placed at the output to reduce accomplish rapid start by means of an output current within ±5% over a wide
the low-frequency ripple to an accept- on-board high-voltage startup circuit. input voltage range. This is done with-
able level. A tradeoff between ripple and This circuit is connected to the recti- out the need for any feedback loop, so
capacitor size typically results in ripple fied dc bus to supply a current to VCC at no opto-isolator is required. Control
in the region of 20%, which does not switch-on, enabling the VCC capacitors methods vary between different parts.
produce visible flicker in LEDs. to charge rapidly and allowing the sys- Some provide current regulation for a
One very important issue in LED tem to start up. This avoids the need for fixed load, and some can also accommo-
drivers is that light output should appear startup resistors that waste power and date some load voltage variation.

DF NTC
RSN CSN

RIN RRS RVL

DVCC
CIN VREG ROV
BR1 HV VCC DSN
1 8 DDS
OUT CVCC
VDC RZX1 DOV
AC CF
2 7 QVSS QVSN
line
input IRS2983 CVOUT
COMP COM
3 6 CS DVS
Load
CS RG
ZX
4 5 M1

ROS DCOMP RF IC4 RU

CP
RDC +
IC3 ROUT
CDC CCOMP Opto-isolator CF RZX2 RCS CVS –
RP

CI DFB RGS RI

2. An advanced LED driver with a current regulating feedback loop can use an opto-isolator for isolation. This converter supplies a constant
current over a wide range of LED load voltages.

DF NTC
RSN CSN

RIN RRS RVL

DVCC
CIN VREG ROV
BR1 HV VCC DSN
1 8 DDS
OUT CVCC
VDC RZX1 DOV
AC CF
2 7 QVSS QVSN
line
input IRS2983 CVOUT
COMP COM
3 6 CS DVS
Load
CS RG
ZX
4 5 M1

ROS DCOMP RF IC4 RU

CP
RDC +
IC3 ROUT
CDC CCOMP Opto-isolator CF RZX2 RCS CVS –
RP

CI DFB RGS RI

3. A 0- to 10-V dimmable LED power supply can use an isolated feedback loop with an additional dimming control input.

50 MARCH 2014 ELECTRONIC DESIGN

 Primary regulation operates from that’s located at the output side. The
states such as the line input voltage, error signal drives the opto-isolator to
MOSFET current, and de-magnetization close the loop.
voltage that can be sensed from the pri- The feedback circuit uses an op amp
mary side of the converter. These quanti- to amplify the dc output current sensed
ties are used to approximate the output by the shunt resistor ROUT. This allows
current or power. If the output voltage is current sensing with minimal power
fixed, the input power is approximately loss. The developed voltage is amplified
proportional to the input power and can so that at the regulated current, the op-
be used to provide regulation. amp output reaches the reference level
Open circuit protection is usually of IC3, a TL431 low-cost but very accu-
provided through the zero-crossing or rate device with a 2.5-V reference that
de-magnetization input, which senses behaves somewhat like a zener diode.
the zero crossing point for the trans- Loop compensation is provided by the
former and the reflected voltage shut- network RP and CP to roll off the gain
ting off the gate drive if it becomes too below the ac line frequency necessary for
high. This way, output components are maintaining a high power factor. A capac-
protected from over-voltage without the itor at COMP is also required to remove
need for direct sensing. noise, which can be 0.1 µF. If the loop
Short-circuit protection is provided speed is too slow, a large current transient
by collapse of the VCC supply since the occurs at the output at switch-on. If it is
auxiliary transformer winding loses too fast, the power factor is degraded.
voltage when the secondary side is Over-voltage protection is added
short-circuited. This causes the IC to by means of DOV and ROV. DOV is
shut down and then to restart through a zener diode rated a little above the
the high-voltage startup circuit. This desired over-voltage shutoff level such
cycle continues in hiccup mode until the that under open circuit conditions, this
short circuit is removed (Fig. 1). diode will conduct and force the op-amp
The second method, which uses a output high, driving the COMP pin low
feedback loop with an opto-isolator, is through the opto-isolator IC2 and shut-
more complicated and requires more ting off the gate drive.
components. It can provide a very accu- Since the ZX input of IC1 is not used
rately regulated output current over a in this case for over-voltage protection,
wide output voltage range. While the a 3.9-V zener diode DCOMP is added to
first method suits fixed-load LED driv- clamp the de-magnetization signal below
ers, the second fits drivers that can oper- the ZX protection trigger threshold. This
ate with a range of different loads with is done to allow the ZX detection to
the same current rating. operate over a wide output voltage range
The opto-isolator that is connect- without the risk of falsely tripping the ZX
ed to the control IC provides isolated protection or missing cycles at low line
feedback. In the following example, the when the output voltage is low.
control IC is configured for closed-loop IC4 is a low-cost op amp such as an
operation by connecting the input volt- LMV321, which requires a 5-V sup-
age sensing input to 0 V. The COMP ply and can operate down to 2.7 V. For
pin then becomes a current source con- the secondary-side circuitry to operate
nected to the collector of the opto-iso- under short-circuit conditions or with
lator transistor. very low-voltage LED loads, a dual-sup-
The voltage at this pin determines ply circuit is implemented for the op amp
the switching-on time and therefore and opto-isolator. Under normal oper-
controls the output current. The out- ating conditions, the supply is derived
put current and voltage are sensed and from the output through a simple voltage
compared with a reference by circuitry regulator built around QVSN.

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DesignSolution

The base of this NPN transistor is Flyback converters generate more

biased at one diode drop above QVSS so emissions than some other topologies
QVSS conducts only when the collector due to the asymmetry, ringing, and high
supply to QVSN has fallen below the dv/dt of the drain voltage. Common-
zener voltage of DDS plus the forward mode noise depends on leakage to earth,
drop of DDS. The collector of QVSN which depends partly on PCB layout
is supplied from the forward phase of and transformer construction. CY1
the flyback converter, which provides a and CY2 are used for further attenua-
voltage on CF. This relatively high volt- tion of common-mode noise, though
age varies considerably with ac input they require an earth connection, which
voltage, so it does not offer an efficient is not always available and may not be
means of supplying the secondary side too high since standards do not per-
circuitry. This alternative supply, then, mit ground leakage exceeding a small
is used only as a backup when the output amount. This is important to avoid false
voltage is not available. tripping of ground fault interrupt (GFI)
Hot reconnect is sometimes required types of protection breakers.
in LED drivers, meaning the load can be In addition to EMI emissions, immu-
disconnected and reconnected and con- nity should be considered. Both circuits
tinue operating normally. This is more presented include a varistor or voltage-
problematic than it may initially appear dependent resistor (VDR) connected at
because when the load is disconnected, the ac input. This is essential to absorb
the output capacitors CVOUT charge to the energy from surges that often appear
the over-voltage protection level, which on the line and can damage the MOS-
may be significantly higher than the rat- FET or IC if no protection is added. The
ed load voltage. VDR alone is not sufficient to protect
Discharging a large capacitor through the circuit against surges above 1 kV.
an LED load creates a very high current Since the one-stage power-factor cor-
transient that can destroy the LEDs. To rection (PFC) flyback circuit has no dc
add some protection against this, an NTC bus bulk capacitor, there is nothing to
thermistor has been added at the output. absorb a high-voltage surge except for
It’s advisable, however, to avoid hot recon- the VDR. Depending on the level of pro-
necting of LED loads wherever possible! tection required by the application, an
As in all switching converters, an EMI additional transil diode may be added
filter is necessary at the input. This is across the dc bus. This device acts like
based on a standard configuration to a zener diode clamping voltage but can
attenuate both common-mode and absorb much more energy. A 0- to 10-V
series-mode components of conducted controlled analog dimming circuit can
interference below the limits specified be added to the circuit by replacing IC3
by the applicable standard. with a second op amp (Fig. 3). Isolation
CX1 and CX2 are normally equal already exists at the output, making it
and should not be too large to maintain convenient to reference the dimming
the best possible power factor. Since circuitry to the secondary output.
these capacitors introduce phase shift, The 0- to 10-V control voltage provides
the larger they are, the more they will a reference for the current regulation loop
reduce the power factor particularly at so that as this voltage level is reduced, the
high line. LF1 and LF2 may be increased output current reduces proportionally.
as required provided the current rat- IC3 and IC4 are replaced by a dual op
ing is sufficient for the converter input amp, which can be a low-cost standard
current at low line voltage and full load. part such as an LM358. The 0- to 10-V
In some cases, a common-mode choke dimming system operates by sinking cur-
may be used in place of LF1 and LF2 or rent from an external dimmer or control-
even in addition to them if necessary. ler, which requires each LED driver to

MARCH 2014 ELECTRONIC DESIGN

produce a supply voltage a little over 10 V. For this to work, the RDS(on) to avoid high running temperature, and the transform-
supply voltage to IC3 can be increased to 12 V by changing DVS. er should be large enough to accommodate conductors large
The values of RDIM1 and RDIM2 are larger than RDPU, enough to keep the resistive losses low.
which should be large enough to limit the maximum current
sourced by the 0- to 10-V control input if it becomes short PETER GREEN is the LED Group manager, energy saving prod-
circuited to a small around 1 mA. This will not pull down sig- ucts, at International Rectifier Corp. He received a BSc in electrical
nificantly on the secondary VCC supply. RDIM1 and RDIM2 engineering from Queen Mary College, University of London, in 1985.
form a divider to scale the reference
voltage to match the output voltage of
IC3B at maximum output current. Loop
compensation is placed around IC3A.
A simple dimming scheme can provide
stable and linear dimming response over
a range of ac line input voltage typically
down to 5% or lower for a fixed load.
Dimming becomes more complicated
if it’s required to work over a wide range
of line and load. This may prove to be
impractical due to the limit of dynamic
range available in the flyback converter.
Some control ICs can operate in dis-
continuous conduction mode under
light load conditions such as during
dimming. The gate drive then can oper-
ate with a very small duty cycle, which
would not be possible if the system
were still working in critical conduction
mode. An IC incorporating this feature
should be used for the controller in a
dimmable LED driver design.
Whatever variation of the circuit is
used, the selection of components deter-
mines the thermal performance of the
system. A power supply for a lighting
application should avoid any compo-
nent exceeding 70°C in open air after
settling at maximum temperature. This
will prevent poor reliability and can
allow operating life up to 25,000 hours,
provided high-temperature-rated long-
life electrolytic capacitors are used. Typ-
ically, the components that run hottest
are resistors, the output diode, the snub-
ber components, and the MOSFET.
For designs where the output current
exceeds 0.5 A, a small package output
diode (DFB) inevitably exceeds the
desired temperature. A larger package
such as a DPAK or even TO-220 often
is necessary to avoid this. The MOSFET
should also be selected with low enough

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