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Getting Started Guide for ADS and PEPro for Power Electronics Applications

Configuration Guides

Introduction

This is a getting started guide for Advanced Design System (ADS) and Power Electronics Professional (PEPro). In this guide, you will find a step-by-step workflow of using ADS and PEPro for designing a switched-mode power supply. The example of the buck converter used in this guide is available in any install of ADS.

Trends in switched mode power supplies

The trend in switched-mode power supplies is to use wide band gap devices because these enable a higher switching frequency and higher edge speeds (the “di/dt” of the switched loop). These two in turn enable a smaller, lighter, cheaper power supply because the energy storage capacitors and magnetics can be smaller if you top them off more frequently. The higher edge speeds enable higher efficiency because there’s less heat dissipated when you have lower switching losses because the transistors spend less time in the dissipative cross over region.

Schematic view is no longer enough

These high slew rates come with a dark side, in particular the large spike voltage and noise generated by the layout parasitics, particularly inductance, of the PCB layout traces. This phenomenon is often called conductive electromagnetic interference (conductive EMI).

Simulation of Closed Loop Buck Converter Using PEPro

This example is used to demonstrate the use of PEPro in simulating a closed loop buck converter. A complete simulation flow of using ADS-PEPro in designing a Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) can be understood through this example. It contains a component library which includes all the components used in the buck converter design with necessary layout footprints and electrical models. The PCB layout of the buck converter can then be opened in PEPro where the EM model extraction can be done with a few user inputs. Based on the user inputs, proper EM settings will be generated automatically. After the EM model extraction, a post-layout circuit simulation can run to show the impact of PCB layout on the overall module performance.

When all layers are not visible right click on upper tool bar field, if not checked then check layers (step 1) select layers tab (step 2) and press Show All Layers icon on top (step 3). This will activate all layers (see Figure 5 Layout design of the closed loop buck converter).

This view provides a possible layout with all the circuit components for this design. It can be then opened in PEPro where an EM model extraction can be performed.

A layout can be designed within ADS or imported from e.g., Allegro, Mentor or other PCB EDA software tools. To import PCB design, make sure imported data files are compliant with ADS accepted formats. ODB++ is a most common format for data exchange among PCB/EDA platforms.

Note: To check other formats or import design go to main ADS window and select: File-> Import -> Design …

The ADS layout window also allows 3D layout visualization. When in a layout window press 3 key to switch to 3D Preview and then press 2 key to get back.

The test bench schematic includes TranPE1, the transient simulation controller (applicable for Power Electronic applications) in which the RiseTime and FallTime parameters are automatically populated from the SMPS frequency plan type in PEPro. The X1 sub-circuit is the Device Under Test (DUT) in the test bench schematic. The sub-circuit is generated in PEPro as the EM-model of the full layout EM-extraction.

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