A complex ripple analysis of switching DC/DC power converter circuits

An efficient and simple algorithm for comprehensive ripple analysis of switching power converter circuits is presented. Ripple analysis includes investigation of rms and peak-to-peak ripples as well as analysis of the ripple harmonic spectra of voltage and current waveforms. Knowledge of voltage and current ripples either inside the power train circuit or those present in the power converter input and output filter circuits has crucial practical implications. Ignoring the harmonic contents can lead to inaccurate results in determining the power conversion efficiency. A shortcoming of currently used methods for power conversion efficiency calculation is demonstrated. Computation results for hard and soft switching closed-loop power converter circuits are included.