Improving the response time of a switching regulator using sensit and design/ASTAP

The criteria of stability and response, as measured by the phase margin, and the frequency of the zero dB crossing are crucial to the successful design of the control circuitry of any power supply, including switching regulators. Using several unpublished techniques, these performance functions were written in a form suitable for ASTAP, so that their sensitivities with respect to the statistically specified elements and parameters could be calculated automatically and their corresponding best and worst combinations determined automatically. The same performance criteria were also used in DESIGN/ASTAP to systematically improve the response of the control circuitry of the switching regulator while maintaining its stability, i. e., its phase margin, at 45 degrees.