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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Design and evaluation of a very high frequency dc/dc converter

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis presents a resonant boost topology suitable for very high frequency (VHF, 30-300 MHz) dc-dc power conversion. The proposed design is a fixed frequency, fixed duty ratio resonant converter featuring low device stress, high efficiency over a wide load range, and excellent transient performance. A 110 MHz, 23 W experimental converter has been built and evaluated. The input voltage range is 8-16 V (14.4 V nominal), and the selectable output voltage is between 22-34 V (33 V nominal). The converter achieves higher than 87% efficiency at nominal input and output voltages, and maintains efficiency above 80% for loads as small as 5% of full load. Furthermore, efficiency is high over the input and output voltage range. In addition, a resonant gate drive scheme suitable for VHF operation is presented, which provides rapid startup and low-loss operation. The converter regulates the output using high-bandwidth on-off hysteretic control, which enables fast transient response and efficient light load operation. The low energy storage requirements of the converter allow the use of coreless inductors, thereby eliminating magnetic core loss and introducing the possibility of integration. The target application of the converter is the automotive industry, but the design presented here can be used in a broad range of applications where size, cost, and weight are important, as well as high efficiency and fast transient response.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert C. N
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • David J. Perreault.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41545
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/41545

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert C. N. Design and evaluation of a very high frequency dc/dc converter. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41545