IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC), September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China

978-1-4244-1849-7/08/$25.00C 2008 IEEE.

A Novel Sensorless Sliding Mode Control
Strategy for DC to Dc Converters: Analysis,
Modeling and Simulation
Seyed Reza Hadian Amrei
*
and Xu Dian Guo
**

*
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 150001. Email: srezahadian@yahoo.com
**
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 150001. Email: xudiang@hit.edu.cn



Abstract DC-DC Switch-mode Converters recently have
been increasingly used in many EV and HEV applications
when the power distribution is in the form of multi-
converter dc electrical system due to their good
specifications. Different control strategies such as Sliding
Mode Control and Current Mode Control have been applied
to DC-DC converters to improve their robustness,
efficiency, and stability. However, most of them need to
measure the inductor current or output voltage to work
properly; especially when the variation of input voltage or
output load is large. This paper proposes a new control
strategy by modification of two afore-mentioned schemes
and elimination of inductor current and capacitor voltage
sensors by introducing converter model and feed-forward of
the input voltage. Thus, a dynamic current reference is also
derived to mitigate the large load/input voltage variations
effects. The output voltage dynamically tracks the reference
voltage even when disturbances in input voltage or load
current are large. Discrete-time computer simulation results
are presented to validate the robustness and fast dynamical
response of proposed control scheme. Thus, realization with
DSP controller becomes feasible.
Keywords Buck Converter Current Mode Sliding
Mode Sensorless Control
I. INTRODUCTION
Switching converters have been increasingly utilized in
advanced vehicular electrical systems in the form of
multi-converter power electronic systems (AC/DC,
DC/DC, DC/AC and AC/AC) due to their compactness,
low weight, high efficiency and other advantages[1-2].
However, in large power systems wherever the input line
voltage and output current may have fast and large
variations, the role of control strategy selection on
dynamic response becomes more essential[3] , [4],[5].
Because classical linear control methods have stability
limitations, digital and nonlinear control methods must be
applied to ensure large-signal stability.
the sliding mode (SM) control concept has been
considered to improve the line/load regulation capabilities
of different switching converters due to its robustness
against control parameters variations and fast transient
response of variable structure systems (VSS) control
strategy on Discontinuous Non-Linear systems[6-15],
but this strategy may cause some Chattering and
Bifurcation problems that must be avoided by some
special techniques[13-15]. On the other hand, the
Current-Mode (CM) control strategy has been
successively applied to DC/DC converters for quite a long
period of time[16-19], but its current ripple becomes large
in high power ratings and resonance might be
produced[20-21]. Moreover, the requirements of current
sensors in both systems will increase the cost of the circuit
and reduce the systems reliability. Thus, it seems to be
more advantageous to add the good features of two above-
mentioned schemes while avoiding their drawbacks and
eliminating current/voltage sensors.
In this paper, a novel sensorless control scheme is
proposed to render both good dynamics for line and load
regulation; and applied to Buck converter. Subsequently,
different realization methods are investigated by using
numeric examples and simulation, which show the
excellent dynamic response and unique functionality for
high voltage and large power applications.
II. FUNDAMENTALS OF SM AND CM CONTROL
SCHEMES
Simplified CM and SM control schemes are shown in
Fig.1 and Fig.2, respectively. Where i
L
, U
C
are inductor
current, capacitor voltage, respectively; i
ref
, U
ref
are
current reference and voltage reference respectively. HPF
denotes high pass filter, K
i
and K
u
are coefficients for
current and voltage gains, F/F stands for logic flip-flop,
M
C
stands for the slope of ramp signal or carrier
waveform, f
C
is the synchronizing frequency of trigger
pulse for CM control. The main objective in CM control
strategy is to limit the inductor current [16-21] by
applying a ramp waveform (namely PCM/ACM control
strategies) to maintain a constant output voltage and
voltage feedback determines the current reference. The
duty ratio, control-to-output gain, audio-susceptibility,
output impedance of CM controller are dependent to the
slope of external ramp signal.

HPF K
i
PI
to gate drive
+
+
M
C

K
u
U
C
+
U
ref
i
L
_
+
+

Fig. 1 SM control scheme simplified diagram
IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC), September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China
+
PI
K
i

to gate drive
R
S Q
F/F
i
L

i
ref

U
C

_
+
+
_
M
C

Uref
fC
_


Fig. 2 CM control Scheme simplified diagram

For SM control scheme, the main idea is to find a
sliding surface for a linear combination of current and
voltage variables that satisfies existence and reach ability
conditions; and force it to fall between defined boundary
values [6-9].. These conditions mean that at least one
surface must be exist such that the system trajectory goes
towards boundary limits planes in the state space, and
from every starting point in the S-plane (i.e. every initial
condition) the desired sliding surface can be reached and
the system rapidly moves towards equilibrium. The
accuracy of SM controller mostly depends on the
boundary limit values.
The SM control strategy doesn't need to current
reference, while for CM control it is derived from voltage
error and the peak current is limited by an external ramp
signal [17,18]. In the SM control scheme, the use of
output hysteresis band (or Bang-Bang) controller and
output limiter is inevitable; which makes the switching
frequency to become unstable. For SM controller, the
external ramp signal is used to synchronize switching
frequency with the saw- tooth waveform. In CM control
synchronizer pulse train applied to S-input of an R-S flip-
flop.
III. PROPOSED CONTROL SCHEME AND CONVERTER
MATHEMATICAL MODEL
Fig.3 shows schematic diagram of main circuit and
proposed control scheme for Buck converter; where i
O
, E
S

are output current, supply voltage respectively; L, C, R are
inductance, capacitance and load resistance values
respectively; ; i
ref
, U
ref
are current reference and voltage
reference respectivelySW1 and D show the IGBT and
its anti-parallel diode; PT is voltage transducer for input
voltage; d/dt is time derivative; C is capacitor value; k is
current gain; PI is proportional-integral controller
respectively. The converter equations can be stated as
following
d
( )
d
d
d
C S L
C C L
U E i
u t
t L L
U U i
t C RC

= +

(1)
Where ( ) {0,1} u t is the discontinuous control input
representing switch OFF and ON states
A. Establishing of converter model
Starting from the left side (derivative) of each line of
(1) and by backward construction of equations in order to
use integrator blocks(as used for Constructing "Analogue
Computers" in linear control systems) instead of derivations
to insure the stability of system, the mathematical model for
buck converter circuit is established as "Model" block in
Fig.3. The multiplier operator is used to simulate the
function of switch (SW1) transfer function in conjunction
with controller output relay, and gains 1/L , 1/C, 1/R are
used to model passive components of circuit, respectively.
Thus, by applying input voltage value E
S
to this model
and actual voltage E
S
to circuit at the same time ; output
voltage and current can be estimated properly.
i
O
L
SW1
D
C
R
i
L
V
C
i
C
E
S
V
ref
PI
K
i
ref
d/dt
C

C
1
L
1
R
1
Model
Controller
PT

Fig. 3 Proposed control circuit for Buck converter

B. Controller design and parameters selection
Considering
1 ref L
x i i = and
2 ref C
x U U = as state
variables for SM controller, the sliding manifold
1 1 2 2
s k x k x = + must be selected such that existence,
reaching [6-11] and stability conditions are satisfied.
Proportional integration (PI) regulators also must be added
for stability improvement and elimination of steady-state
error. However, from the CM control point of view,
appropriate control function can be achieved throughout an
inner current control loop, whilst the current reference is
determined by output voltage error as an outer feedback
loop.
Owed to minimum phase characteristic of Buck
converter, the current reference in steady-state operation is
first set at zero; and the amount of input energy transferred
to the inductor during switch ON time due to intrinsic
hysteretic band of SM control is supposed to properly
maintain the constant output voltage in OFF time, as
well. However, the current reference should be adjusted
based on the Energy Conservation equation, which from
IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC), September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China
the input and output energy equality at switch ON state
is derived as
2
S L C
E i U R = (2)
For Switch OFF state in Buck converter, no energy
transferred from input supply to output load, and the
capacitor voltage drop is compensated by the energy that
is stored in the inductor at the previous ON time to
some extent. Thus, assuming the constant capacitor
voltage in one duty cycle, the current reference can be
derived as
2
ref
C
S
U
i
E R
= (3)
The current reference calculation was terminated to this
point. However, for dynamic response optimization we
have to find a proper solution for fast changes of load (i.e.
output current) and input voltage. The aim here is to
estimate a current reference that copes with dynamics of
input/output variables. Considering the output circuit for
Buck converter, one can easily get
O
d
d
C
L
U
i i C
t
= (4)
Equation (4) is valid for both switch ON and OFF
states. The load resistance can be derived as
O C
R U i = (5)
Combining Equation (4) and Equation (6) gives
ref O
( )
C S
i U i E = (6)
The last equation can now be used to calculate the
Dynamic Current Reference in all switching states. At
this point we consider two different cases that generally
may occur in power supplies or DC interface converters:
1) If the input voltage is measured continuously, i.e. a
voltage transducer is provided (as it is the case in interface
DC/DC converters for level changing), estimating the
output current would be enough to find the current
reference.
2) For independently operating DC/DC converters (e.g.
for switch-mode power supplies, etc.), the input voltage is
usually not measured. Therefore, it must be calculated
from the other variables measurements. For Buck
converter at switch ON state the relationship can be
derived as
d
d
L
S C
i
E L U
t
= + (7)
Now the system dynamics can be defined first by
finding real-time input voltage from Equation (7) and
afterwards substituting it along with Equation (4)
successively.
IV. COMPARISON WITH CM AND SM CONTROL
SCHEMES
Considering the CM control, the new control scheme
has the superiority that it no needs to current sensor or
synchronizing pulse train and flip-flop. Also due to the
participation of ramp signal in the determination of current
reference for CM control strategy, the possibility and
effectiveness of calculating the Dynamic Current
Reference (which is used to compensate fast variations of
input voltage and load current) is in doubt. Therefore, the
calculation for such compensation (even though it is
applicable) becomes more complicated for CM than that
of proposed strategy.
Regarding to SM control scheme, again the current and
voltage transducers are removed. Moreover, the dependence
of switching frequency to amplitude of external ramp signal
is less; and chattering and bifurcation effects are strongly
eliminated due to the presence of current reference that
renders more robustness and smoother control trajectories
in the proposed control scheme.

V. SIMULATION RESULTS
Simulation models are generated by Matlab software,
and the results are shown in, Fig.6. Design parameters for
Buck converter, are shown in Tab.2, and the system
response in Fig.6. At point A, the maximum load was
applied at minimum input voltage and at point B was
removed and load reduced to minimum. At point C, the
input voltage is increased to minimum value while load is at
minimum and at point D the maximum load is applied. The
allowable output voltage ripple is considered to be less than
10%. It can be seen that at each step control feedback tends
to return the output to its set-point value, with a small
damping oscillation that is inevitable for such fast and large
variations.

Fig. 6 Simulation result for Buck converter

TABLE I.
PARAMETERS FOR BUCK CONVERTER DESIGN
Parameters Value Parameters Value
Maximum input voltage/V 18 Minimum input voltage/V 11
Maximum output power/W 500 Minimum output power/W 100
Output voltage/V 6 Switching frequency/kHz 30
Output capacitor/F 680 Input inductor/mH 0.5
Voltage controller
proportional
0.1 Voltage controller integral 10
Ramp signal frequency/kHz 30 Ramp signal amplitude/V 3
Hysteresis control upper
limit
0.2
Hysteresis control lower
limit
0.2

Simulation results show excellent agreement with
designed specifications. The output voltage Overshoot due
to load step change from 50% to 100% of nominal load is
less than10% for Buck converter.
VI. CONCLUSION
In the paper, a novel sensorless control strategy is
proposed, analyzed and applied to Buck DC/DC switching
converter. A mathematical model is established for main
circuit in conjunction with switching function. In the
IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC), September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China
control loop design, main concepts and advantages of
Sliding Mode and Current Mode control strategies are
combined together and problems due to both strategies
were resolved. Moreover, a new approach to dynamically
calculating the current reference for fast load and input
voltage variations compensation is derived. The system is
simulated by Matlab software platform to investigate the
validity of analyses; and the results show good agreement
between simulations and designated values. The proposed
control strategy can be applied to general DC/DC
converters wherever a good line and load regulations are
desired at the high power ratings, and the input voltage or
output current transducers are unavailable.
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IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC), September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China