Automatic resonant frequency tracking in unregulated LLC resonant converters based on total resonant current harmonic calculation

The desired working condition for the unregulated LLC resonant converter is to have the switching frequency equal to the resonant frequency in order to achieve higher efficiency. However, since the converter works in open-loop condition, the switching frequency usually deviates from the resonant frequency in real converter prototype. In this paper, a novel switching frequency control scheme to track the resonant frequency is proposed. Theoretically, the primary side current of LLC resonant converter is a pure sinusoidal waveform when it works at resonant frequency. The proposed control algorithm is based on tracking the minimum value of the total resonant current harmonic to realize the switching frequency tracking the resonant frequency. A closed-loop digital controller is presented to calculate the total resonant current harmonic to estimate the shape of the waveform. The switching frequency can be well controlled to track the resonant frequency. As a result, the higher efficiency can be achieved.