A new high frequency inductor loss measurement method

Recently, the integrated point-of-load (POL) converters are pushing to high frequency in order to reduce the converter volume. The inductor loss accounts for a significant part of the total converter loss. So accurate measurement of the inductor loss is important for magnetic design. The conventional methods have limitations when measuring high frequency inductor loss under different excitation conditions. In this paper, a new method utilizing reactive cancellation concept overcomes the shortcoming of conventional methods, and increases the accuracy. With appropriate excitation, this method can measure the inductor loss under practical AC waveform and DC current working conditions.