Digital Power Supply and PFC Design Workshop

Overview

​Overview Learn how to design digital power supplies from the ground up quickly and easily with this in-depth laboratory-based design workshop and receive free software to ease the design process. 

This workshop is 4 days long and is aimed at analog PSU designers and embedded systems engineers who need to design high performance stable digital power supplies and Digital PFCs. 

During the workshop, you will learn how to design stable analog and digital control loops in both voltage mode and current mode for DC/DC and off-line applications. You will then design, code, implement and test several digital power supplies in our well-equipped laboratory during days 1 to 3. On the 4th day, the design and implementation of digital PFCs is covered in detail to address the most recent needs of our industry.

First, the engineering concepts, theoretical material, and step-by-step design procedures are taught in the class and then put into practice with numerous laboratory exercises on real digital power supplies. The design practices taught in the class can be applied to any MCU with all labs based on ST’s ARM based STM32G474.

All attendees will receive:

  • 4 days of intensive engineering training and lab-based exercises
  • All necessary software templates and easy to program exercises to start you on your digital power projects.
  • Workshop material, lab notes, lunch and refreshments
  • A free 12-month license for Biricha’s Power Supply Design Software WDS and PFC Loop Design Software PLD for STM32

The attendees work only alone or in pairs at a workstation. We have a total of 10 workstations, so the total number of attendees is strictly limited to 20 engineers. 

The participants will work alone or in pairs at a workstation. Each workstation is well equipped with a laptop running STM32cubeMX, IAR Embedded Workbench IDE, Biricha design software, a SIGLENT SDS2302X oscilloscope (location dependent) and several digital power supplies.

Workshop Agenda**

​​Day 1: Introduction to Digital Power Programming​

  • Introduction to digital power
  • Closed loop control of switch mode power supplies in analog and digital domains
  • Biricha templates and easy project setup (I/O pins, PWM, ADC, Interrupts etc.)
  • Number formatting for digital Compensator design with:
    • 16-bit Fixed-point number representation 
    • 32-bit IQMath arithmetic
    • Floating point 
  • Hands-on Laboratory exercises

Day 2: Digital Power Supply Design

  • A detailed study of analog power supply design fundamentals
  • Detailed discussion and design of digital power supplies
  • Implementing a simple digital controller for your digital power supply
  • Digital voltage mode controller design
  • Off-line power supply design considerations: Limit cycling, Hi-Res PWM, ADC quantization
  • Hands-on Laboratory exercises

 
Day 3: Peak Current Mode Control and Running Multiple Control Loops

  • Detailed review analog peak current mode design
  • Removing sub-harmonic oscillation and slope compensation
  • Digital peak current mode controller design
  • Analog and digital slope compensation
  • Phase margin erosion in the digital domain due to delays
  • Running multiple power supplies
  • Hands-on Laboratory exercises

Day 4: Digital PFC Design & Implementation​

Learn how to design and stabilize single-phase and interleaved digital power factor correction systems from the ground up quickly and easily during this in-depth laboratory-based day.

  • Fundamentals of power delivery, power quality & PFC
  • Single Phase CCM Boost PFC topology operation & design
  • Digital PFC translated from analog PFC
  • Step-by-step digital PFC control loop design (voltage loop and current loop)
  • Voltage feed-forward & filter design in the digital domain
  • Digital interleaved PFC
  • Hands-on Design and live demos

Course Details

Europe

Tuesday 5th November – Friday 8th November 2024
Freiham, Munich, Germany

Workshop Language is English
2750 EUR for 4 days

North America

Tuesday 22nd October – Friday 25th October 2024
Austin, TX, USA

2750 USD for 4 days

The class runs from 9:00am – 6:00pm on Days 1-3.
The class runs from 8:30am – 12:30pm on Day 4 to allow for easy travel.
All attendees will work in pairs at a workstation. This means you may be paired up with someone else at a workstation if you have not registered in multiples of 2.
Price is for a ‘single’ seat – however you will be work in a pair with someone else at a workstation.

​​The price includes:

  • 4 Days of training
  • Free  12-month license of Biricha’s Power Supply Design Software  Biricha’s WDS*
  • Free  12-month license for Biricha’s PFC Loop Design Software PLD
  • Comprehensive lecture notes and detailed step-by-step lab manual
  • Lunch and refreshments throughout each day

Audience

These workshops are designed for engineers who:

  • Need learn how to design stable digital controllers for their power applications
  • Need to understand power supply fundamentals, stability and design techniques with a focus on digital power
  • Need to get up to speed with digital voltage mode control and peak current mode control using both legacy and modern ICs
  • Need to apply  modern Digital PFC techniques to their products

Prerequisites

The audience should have a degree in electrical/electronic engineering, computer science or equivalent.
These workshops are highly technical, intended for professional engineers and are not suitable for the general public without relevant qualifications.

Cancellation Policy

Classes are subject to cancellation if the minimum number of attendees is not met ten days prior to the date of the workshop and full refund will be given: Minimum = 5; Maximum = 20.
​In the event of short notice cancellation by Biricha due to unforeseen circumstances, the liability of Biricha and its partners is limited solely to the refund of the course fees. No refund will be given if you can not make the event but you may delay to another Biricha workshop or transfer your registration to a colleague. In fairness to all attendees, confirmed participants who do not attend the scheduled session are obliged to pay the liable fee.

Testimonials for This Workshop

Here is what people are saying about past digital power workshops:

  • “I highly recommend this workshop for engineers interested in an introductory class on digital power. I now have the ground work to read white papers on Digital Power to further my education.”
  • “This was one of the best workshops of any kind that I have attended. The class content was very informational and the labs were engaging.”
  • “This course provides a good over-view of the theory and then allows student to submerge into the practical designing aspect of a digital power supply. Very enlightening and powerful course.”
  • “This is an excellent, solid, theory based seminar. It takes the mystery out of digital control.”
  • “There are few instructors or workshops that clearly and efficiently present a continuous stream of valuable information. This is one of the best workshops I have attended in years and I left each day looking forward to the next. Outstanding material and presenter.”
  • “The workshop has cleared the confusion surrounding what is possible with digital power and how to implement it. I will use this material to develop digital power solutions for automotive applications.”
  • “The material is supported by many practical examples and tutorials, and includes a brief question and answer session at the end of each section.”
  • “It was extremely useful hands-on practice orientated workshop, helping understanding in-deep design challenges.”
  • “The workshop is very informative and interactive. You just don’t dig in to the theories but get a real feeling by doing hands-on lab.”

* 6 months trial license. This software is not necessary for understanding the material in the class
** Agenda is subject to change

This version of WDS is free to use for all STM32 customers and provides a quick and easy method to stabilize your digital power supply.​

Since 2008 Biricha has run highly popular hands-on workshops and industrial seminars. Some of the companies who have attended our workshops include: