Microchip's reference design for digital interleaved PFC increases power efficiency

CHANDLER, USA: Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, announced the Digital Interleaved Power Factor Correction (PFC) Reference Design, which demonstrates how to realize the benefits of fully digital PFC for green power-supply designs.

Specifically, this free reference design provides an easy method to evaluate the power efficiency and features of Microchip’s dsPIC33 “GS” series of Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) for Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPSs), in an interleaved PFC application.

The trend toward digital power conversion is enabling green power-supply designs, along with smarter and more efficient power systems. This trend helps to lower the carbon footprint of power systems and ease the burden on the world’s strained power grids. High-performance power supplies are used in a wide variety of applications, including telecom and industrial equipment, digital TVs, lighting, air conditioners and other home appliances.

Digital interleaved PFC improves the power supply’s overall efficiency, along with the input power factor, voltage regulation and the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the input current.

“This reference design enables our customers to quickly bring the benefits of digital interleaved PFC to their products, and create a more efficient and greener power distribution grid,” said Sumit Mitra, vice president of Microchip’s High Performance Microcontroller Division. “It uses the flexible dsPIC33F 'GS' series of DSCs, which enables easy customization and configuration via simple modifications to the control software.”

TI intros low-cost Piccolo MCU motor control kits with PFC

BANGALORE, INDIA: Power factor correction (PFC) is becoming a key requirement for motor control applications, as regulation standards aimed to prevent spikes in the power grid are increasingly implemented.

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) has announced two new Piccolo Motor Control Kits that enable PFC and sensorless field-oriented control of up to two motors with a single low-cost microcontroller (MCU).

Leveraging TI’s Piccolo MCUs and high-performance analog, the kits include everything needed to immediately begin development of cost-sensitive motor control applications such as pumps, HVAC, refrigerators and other appliances/white goods.

Allowing developers to efficiently meet their design needs, these controlCARD-based kits include a Piccolo controlCARD, Code Composer Studio IDE, software libraries and a hardware designer’s package. The Motor Control and PFC Developer’s Kit includes a single permanent magnet motor while the Dual Motor Control and PFC Developer’s Kit includes two.

Key features of Piccolo MCU Motor Control and PFC Developer’s Kits
* Single 60MHz TMS320F28035 MCU features 128KB flash and control-oriented peripherals such as 12-bit, 16 channel on chip ADC and high resolution PWM outputs.
* Sensorless field-oriented software tuned for kits’ motors allows developers to easily begin design right out of the box.
* Software is broken into incremental builds for easy, step by step learning and development of motor control plus PFC on Piccolo MCUs.
* Dual full bridge PWM motor drivers include programmable cycle-by-cycle current limit and two stage thermal protection capabilities.
* Isolated onboard USB JTAG emulation saves on cost by eliminating the need for an external JTAG emulator.
* Detailed documentation of field-oriented motor control theory and PFC principles, including instructions for executing both with one Piccolo MCU.