Isolated fFeedback cCoupling by mMeans of an acoustic channel

Andre Carpenter
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford,
Oxford, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1865 273000
andre.carpenter@ox.ac.uk

Area of interest: feedback coupling, signal isolation, piezoelectricity, DCdc–-DCdc converters

Abstract:
This paper describes an ultrasonic signal transmit link through an electronic circuit’s PCB that which
offers isolation and high immunity from EMI. This type of coupling may be adapted to such
applications as isolated switched-mode power supplies, high voltage current probes and data transfer.
Theis approach proposed approach employs ceramic materials with enhanced piezoelectric
characteristics, which have become widely available in recent years.
This type of coupling may be adoapted in applications such as isolated switched-mode power supplies
(SMPS), high- voltage current probes and data transfer. A further application might be the acoustic
coupling of electrically- isolated circuits. A rRecent research article has reported onhas investigated
using acoustic transfer for electrical isolation by incorporating devices designed specifically for the
media through which the acoustic wave propagates, in effect creating a piezoelectric transformer,
however . However, they observed notable limitations exist, such as a low cCommon mMode
rRejection rRatio (CMRR) and a relatively narrow bandwidth [4].
In the current present researchstudy, several system configurations with high CMRR, low voltage input
and wide bandwidth were analyszed and their relative efficiencies evaluated. A signal was transmitted
using piezoelectric devices through conventional PCB’s (FR4) of different thicknesses. FM modulation
proved quite effective for this purpose, revealing a data transfer bandwidth of up to 100kHz for the
overall link.
The efficient utilization of an ultrasonic link over PCB is demonstrated by applying it to in a switched
mode power supplySMPS feedback signal path. A DSP- implemented digitally- compensated
controller was adopted to further enhance the acoustic link and the converter’s dynamics.
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Isolated feedback coupling by means of an acoustic channel

Digest

I. Introduction
Isolated converters are required to provide electrical isolation between two interrelated systems. Isolation
between power source and load is required in certain applications in order to meet safety specifications. When
grounds lie at different potentials an electrical isolation is needed as well. Signal isolation is needed in the power
electronics systems that include separate primary and secondary ‘’grounds’ [1, 2]. Isolation must be provided
between all the input and output stages of the power converter. Thus, isolation must be provided in the power
stage as well as in the control loop feedback path. Power stage isolation is generally realized by application of
an electromagnetic or piezoelectric transformer while opto-couplers are very widely used to provide isolation in
the feedback loop. One of the disadvantages of opto-couplers is theirits low bandwidth [3]. The bandwidth of
the converter is reduced by the introduction of an extra pole in the control loop gain of the converter. While this
may not a present a problem in conventional, low- frequency converters, in modern high-frequency converters,
the opto-coupler imposes severe restrictions on control loop bandwidth. Another disadvantage of using an opto-
isolator is the large unit-to-unit variation in the current transfer ratio (CTR). The loop gain is directly
proportional to CTR gain. Hence, high variation in CRT imposes constraints on the control loop design.
Acoustical transfer of feedback signals in a switched- mode converter was reported in [4], where a piezoelectric
transformer (PZT) was employed for electrical isolation. The report . nHowever, noted someable limitations,
however,, such as a low common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) and a relatively narrow bandwidth were
observed [4]. The potential use of a circuit’s PCB as the mediuma allowing for propagation of the acoustical
wave propagation was introduced in [5]. This paper further explores tThe alternative of an acoustic link on an
electronic circuit’s PCB is further explored in this paper. It demonstrates tThe application of such a link in the
feedback path of an isolated flyback converter is demonstrated, and that t. Then, the dynamic response is further
improved by means of a digitally compensated controller.

II. Design considerations

The option to transmit information acoustically over PCB is promising as it requires no dedicated channel, it
inherently provides high- voltage isolation and EMI immunity, it is inexpensive, and as will be demonstrated
later on, it provides a wide- band signal transfer channel. Never the less the performance is design- sensitive
thus attention must be paid to the design details. Since PCBs have high densities of holes and conductors it is
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desirable to avoid configurations that require cuts in the PCB or occupy a great deal of space on the PCB. The
ease of installation also influences the practicality of the method, as well. Structures of the system have to
provide a high level of galvanic isolation. According to these requirements, a configuration was developed and
is shown in Figure. 1. The characteristics of soft ceramics are well suited for acoustic coupling as they have high
sensitivity and a low quality factor, Q M, which enables them to accommodate wider bandwidths. In situations
where there is low mechanical loss, hard ceramics may be employed for narrow- bandwidth acoustic channels.
With the proper choice of shape of thea PZT element,,’s shape we can improve the impedance match between
the PCBs and the PZT element. As the acoustic impedance of PCBs is much lower than the impedance of PZT
materials, it is desirable to reduce the acoustic impedance of the PZT element. One of possible solutions would
be the use of composite piezoelectric materials, but these are expensive and difficult to obtain. As will be shown
below, the direct use of expensive composite materials is not justified in view of the fact that strong acoustic
coupling can be achieved by alternative methods. Transducers’ aAs shown in Figure. 2, were I employed and
transducers, along with longitudinal vibration mode in order to enhance the output signal. This
optimization was detailed in [5].

Figure 1:The suggested configuration of acoustic coupling Figure 2: The suggested longitudinal mode sensor
using piezoelectric devices.
III. Simulation model.
For acoustic coupling simulations, a Redwood equivalent circuit [6] is employed for transmitters and receivers and the
following analoagy is used:; mechanical tension  electrical voltage; particle velocity  electrical current; acoustic
impedance electrical impedance. A rather detailed description may be found in [7]. The FM demodulator was also
modelled as well and the response to a step in frequency is shown in Figure. 3, yielding a bandwidthBW of approximately
62.,5kHz.

Figure 3:The response to frequency step from 250kHz to 255kHz

IV. Wave propagation considerations.

It is required necessary to do an attempt to find a mathematical expression for the attenuation and the
propagation of acoustic wave in the plate of PCB. ThisIt will produce a tool for the selection of the optimal
place of the sensor for a specific application. Expression (1) was developed in the study [5], where u is a
physical property associated with acoustic waves (pressure, particle velocity, force), a is attenuation coefficient

and d represents a distance from transmitter, the subscript ' 0 ' stands for initial conditions.
(1)
As it may be seen in Figure .5, in the 250kHz– - 350kHz range of frequencies, the calculated values are in good
agreement with the experimental ones.

Figure 4: Frequency responses of acoustic coupling with Figure 5: The frequency response of measured
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distances of 20mm, 40mm, 60mm and the high input (dashed line) and calculated (solid line) acoustic link with
impedance of sensor amplifier (dashed line – -simulated, different distances.
solid line – measured)
V. Digital processing implementation
Figure .6 depicts the structure of the digital power supply control system realizsed in the study. The sensed
analogue voltage is converted to a binary digital number with a built-in ADC of 781.,25kHz sampling
frequency. The digital output from the ADC is fed into a micro controller which provides the processing. On
board RAM program memory is used to store the digital processing algorithms for the microcontroller. Output
control signals are supplied by a built-in DPWM. A phase feedback is used for demodulation of the received
signal. Although the algorithm is realized at relatively high frequencies, a fast and precise method was found for
the digital processing realizsation of the acoustic signal. The structure of the algorithm is shown in Figure .7.
The controlled frequency closely follows the reference frequency due to the PLL action. The controlled
frequency in this case comprises the demodulated signal, which should correspond to the original message. The
reference is given by the modulated signal, which indirectly represents the signal. The pPhase detector detects
the phase difference between the modulated signal and the generated signal. This phase difference is filtered by
the loop filter that the message signal results. The PLL is a nonlinear system. Nonlinear sSystems have the
characteristic to of producinge non harmonic frequencies. These frequencies are undesirable because they cause
a distortion. One way to reduce this is by adding a filter to the loop based on the specification of the message
signal. The loop filter of the power supply control loop is employed in a digital implementation to improve
system responses. In order to protect the transistor fromof flyback a duty cycle limiter is needed. At the end of
the algorithm, the DPWM driver converts the duty cycle to thea conduction time of the transistor.

Figure 6: The structure of the digital power supply control system realized in the study.

Figure 7: The structure of the suggested algorithm.

To describe mathematically the function of the feedback loop, the association between the reference signal
sFM(n) and the output signal sout(n) of the DPLL is given in (2), yielding (3) for the error.
(2)
(3)
It is easily seenclear that if the gains G or kFM are large enough, the error in (3) tends towards zero the error
tends to ‘0’.

VI. Experimental results.

FThe further application of thise technique could be acoustic coupling of an electrically- isolated switched-
mode power supply (SMPS),s providing a high level of isolation and wide bandwidth. Though Although the
approach is suitable to many isolated converter topologies, a flyback was chosen to serve as a test bench due to
it being commonplaces commonness (, see Figure .8).
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Figure 8: The scheme of the flyback converter with the suggested isolator.

The power stage is isolated by means of a transformer that is assembled on the same PCB and no interference s
wasere detected between the power and control stages. A sinusoidal VCO is employed as modulator and a
closed control loop PLL for demodulation. The converter is operated at 65 kHz, with an input voltage of 24V
and an output of 5V. The response to a load step from 5Ω to less than 2.5Ω is shown in Figure. 9 for three
configurations. The distance between the transmitter and the receiver in this set-up was 2 cm. In the case ofFor
the digital acoustic coupling, I employed athe TMS320F2812 (of Texas Instruments) that runs at 150MHz clock
is employed. The improvement of the closed loop dynamics due to the digital compensation may be noted
(Figure. 9 (c)).

Figure .10 presents the frequency response of the analogue acoustic coupling modulator and demodulator,
indicating a bandwidth of approximately 12kHz (quite sufficient for converters with bandwidthBW of a few
kHz). It is stressed that the BW bandwidth is restricted by the analogue demodulator and can be enhanced by
application of a faster demodulator.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 9: The step response of flyback converter with acoustic link (a), direct coupling (b) and acoustic link with DSP
control (c). C; channel 1 is the output voltage,; channel 2 is the output current.

On the other hand an acoustic link adds a delay that which influencets the phase of the demodulated signal. In
order to minimize the acoustic delay the distance should be decreased. It is possible to compensate for the delay,
but anyway in any event, the delay is not critical, but and it is inevitable with long acoustic wave paths. In all the
cases compared in Figure. 10 the controllers have the same order. It can be seen that the first two responses (a
and b) are quite similar. The faster step response with the digital acoustic link (c) can be distinguished. The
acoustic link is faster even in comparison withto direct control because of the flexibility of DSP, DPWM not
being subjected to a surrounding noise, and the significantly wider bandwidthBW of the digital demodulator.

Figure 10: Acoustic link frequency response of at 290kHz central frequency, including analogue modulator and
demodulator

VII. Conclusions
An enhanced ultrasonic coupling of electrically- isolated circuits using piezoelectric devices was presented. The
coupling proves the effectiveness of signal transfer through PCBs, which does notwithout requiringe separate
guides and PCB cuts for ultrasound signal transfers. A wide BW bandwidth of about 100kHz was attained. The
acoustic link is efficient enough to operate with input signals of less than 1V, and in noisy environments, while
providing very high CMRR due to the absence of common mode stray capacitance between the primary and
secondary sides of the isolator. Simulation results show that while PSPICE models are adequate only in a
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narrow range of frequencies and require the use of a 3D solver to correct this deficiency, the calculation
technique that is presented in this research paper shows relatively quite accurate results over a relatively broad
frequency range. The present study also includes an SMPS application that proves the compatibility of these
methods with modern SMPSs.
A dDigitally- compensated controller proves most efficient in compensating the channel and improving the
overall system dynamics.

REFERENCES

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[2] M. Zirngast, Electronic Engineering (London) 61, no. 749, 33 (1989).
[3] R. Ambatipudi,. Design of Isolated Converters Using Simple Switchers. From Available from
http://www.national.com/appinfo/power/files/f17.pdf.
[4] S. Lineykin, & Yaakov, (2005).Feedback isolation by piezoelectric transformers: comparison
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2, Issues 5-6, pp. 830–-847 (2005).
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IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference, Anaheim, California, 25 February–1 25th-March
1st 2007. pp. 1639– - 1643 .
[6] M. Redwood,. Transcient performance of a piezoelectric transducer. J. Acoust. Soc. Amer.,
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[7] A. Arnau, A. Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications.; Springer, 2004.