Digital Power Converter Basics Using dsPIC33 Digital Signal Controllers

In the following pages, you will find background information that analog designers need when approaching a new power converter digital design. The migration path from analog design to digital design using a simple buck converter example will be explained. The evolution of analog blocks to digital blocks is also covered by explaining the behavior of digital peripherals and how they mimic the behavior of their analog counterparts. Furthermore, we compare the performance of the two different approaches.

The high-performance Digital Signal Processing (DSP) computational core is introduced as the architecture block that organizes the operational activities of the peripherals. Implementation of Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM), Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), and comparator peripherals on a dsPIC^® Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) are covered as well as their advantages and disadvantages as compared to an analog implementation. Digital design advantages and the impact on auxiliary functions within the dsPIC DSC are also covered.