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Self-oscillating buck driver for power LEDs

Conference Paper October 2009
DOI: 10.1109/ECCE.2009.5316150 Source: IEEE Xplore

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Self-oscillating Flyback Driver for Power LEDs

E. Mineiro S Jr.1, C. S. Postiglione2, R. S. Santiago1, F. L. M. Antunes3 and A. J. Perin2
1

Instituto Federal de Educao, Cincia

e Tecnologia do Cear IFCE Sobral
317 Av. Dr. Guarany
Cear, Sobral, Brazil
edilson.mineiro@ifce.edu.br

Universidade Federal de Santa

Catarina
UFSC - INEP
PO Box 5119
Florianpolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
arnaldo.perin@inep.ufsc.br

Abstract -- The self-oscillating flyback converter is a popular

circuit for cost-sensitive applications due to its simplicity and
low component count. It is widely employed in mobile phone
chargers and as the stand-by power source in off-line power
supplies for data-processing equipment. However, this circuit
was almost not explored for supplying power LEDs. This paper
presents a self-oscillating flyback driver for supplying Power
LEDs directly, with no additional circuit. A simplified
mathematical model of the LED was used to characterize the
self-oscillating converter for driving the power LEDs. With the
proposed converter the LEDs manufacturing tolerances and
drifts over temperature presents little to no influence over the
LED average current. This is proved by using the LED electrical
model on the analysis.
Index Terms-- Bipolar transistor oscillators, DC-DC power
conversion, Light-emitting diodes, Lighting and Power supplies.

I.

INTRODUCTION

In the past few years there has been an increased

penetration of Solid State Lighting (SSL) into the lighting
market, mainly because of its enhanced efficiency and
flexibility. Recently, the SSL has been used in some niche
applications, such as: post sign, traffic lights, automotive
head lights and architectural implementations. Some authors
estimate that in a near future the SSL will replace standard
lamps used in general illumination [1]. The extended lifetime
inherent to the Light Emitting Diode (LED) qualifies SSL to
compete with other technologies in the market. In addition,
regarding safety issues, SSL has the advantage of being
operated at low voltage levels, when compared to other
technologies [2].
The self-oscillating flyback converter is a robust, low
component count circuit that has been widely used in low
power off-line applications. It is also referred to as ringing
choke converter (RCC) since the regenerative signal for
oscillation comes from ringing of transformer choke. The
merits of the RCC can be attributed to blocking oscillation,
automatically limiting input power when the output is
overloaded. Moreover, the oscillation may naturally cease if
the output is short-circuited. Even though the flyback
converter operating with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
also exhibits merits, when voltage-mode control is employed
it presents the trouble of right-half-plane zero while its choke

978-1-4244-2893-9/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE

Universidade Federal do Cear

UFC GPEC
PO Box 6001
Fortaleza, Cear, Brazil
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current is continuous. Furthermore, when working in

discontinuous current mode (DCM), the electromagneticinterference (EMI) may be serious since the choke oscillates
while the flyback current returns to zero. Reversely, the
oscillation of the RCC recycles after a quarter cycle of choke
oscillation. Thus, the EMI trouble of ringing is reduced [3].
Since the control of the circuit can be implemented with very
few discrete components without loss of performance, the
overall cost of the circuit is generally lower than the
conventional PWM flyback converter that employs a
commercially available integrated circuit controller [4][5].
This paper presents a self-oscillating flyback driver for
supplying directly power LEDs, without any additional
circuit. Analytical results are verified by laboratory
experiment. Depending on the circuit design, the oscillation
frequency is usually around tens of kilohertz and can be
increased by shortening the storage time of the bipolar
junction transistors (BJTs). This topology can also be
implemented with MOSFET devices with much higher
frequency, around hundreds of kilohertz, but this increases
the LED driver cost.
II.

ELECTRICAL MODEL AND LED JUNCTION TEMPERATURE

INFLUENCE

Fig. 1 shows a simplified electrical model for the Luxeon

III Emitter LXHL-PW09 white LED, produced by PhilipsLumileds. This electrical model has good accuracy for
currents near the LED rated current.

Fig. 1. Simplified electrical model.

The experimental measurements of the temperature

influence over the voltage VLED is showed in Fig. 2. The VLED
is linearly dependent of the LED junction temperature. The
series resistance, RLED, can usually be considered constant
with a value around 0.77 [6][7].

2827

through Ls is zero. These components provide current to the

base of main switch S1 to initiate the turn-on process and to
maintain it on. Capacitor Cs blocks DC current and limits the
maximum time that the switch S1 remains in on state.
Capacitor Cp is charged, through D1 and R1, with output
voltage reflected in Laux. A single zener diode DZ1 monitors
the voltage through Cp and prevents an over voltage in the
output, turning off the switch S1. This over voltage may
occur when the LED is damaged or is disconnected of the
circuit. Nevertheless, in the practice, it is necessary to use a
minimum load in the output, or a component to limit surge
voltage, once it is impossible to obtain an unitary coupling of
the windings.
The primary and the secondary currents of the transformer
are shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 2. Temperature influence in the voltage VLED.

III. IMPLEMENTED CIRCUIT

The self-oscillating flyback converter, shown in Fig. 3,
was made up using only discrete components. It operates at
the boundary of continuous/discontinuous conduction mode
(CCM/DCM) and uses peak current mode control. Therefore,
the circuit operates with a variable switching frequency. The
control circuit was developed with a single transistor Q1 and
a positive-feedback winding Laux.
Fig. 4. The primary and the secondary currents of the transformer.

Fig. 3. Self-oscillating proposed circuit.

The R3 is a startup resistor and it is limited by power

dissipation due to the high input voltage. Its power
dissipation should be less than 1% of the converters output
power for low powers.
The flyback transformer T1 consists of two secondary
windings and one primary. The output winding, with n2 turns,
forms the inductance Ls, the auxiliary winding forms the
inductance Laux and the input winding, with n1 turns, forms
the inductance Lp.
The components Rs and Cs, along with Laux, sense the
continuous/discontinuous conduction mode (CCM/CDM)
boundary of transformer T1, detecting when the current

To simplify the equations, the leakage inductance of the

flyback transformer and the temperature dependence of the
flyback components parameters are not considered. The
primary transformer winding has n1 turns (with inductance
Lp) and the secondary has n2 turns. The inductances were
considered ideal without ohmic losses. Consequently, the
primary current increases and the secondary current
decreases, both linearly, when the respective winding is
connected at a constant voltage [8]. A large capacitor Cin is
used in the input filter so that the voltage Vin is considered
constant. The same occurs with capacitor Co and the output
voltage Vo. Once the voltage source VLED, used in the LED
electrical model, is ideal, the output voltage has a small
ripple.
Losses are expressed by the energy transfer efficiency
from the primary (W1) to the secondary (W2). This relation is
shown in (1).

W2 = W1

(1)

The energy stored in the magnetic core (W1), at the end of

the power transistor conduction time ton is defined by (2).

2828

W1 =

Vin 2 2
ton
2 Lp

(2)

The energy supplied to the LED (W2) is defined by (3).

V2
W2 = o
2 Lp

n 2
1 toff
n2

(3)

I LED =

Applying equations (2) and (3) in (1), the relation (4) is

obtained.

2
off

V n

= in 2 ton
Vo n1

Since the only positive solution has a physical significance,

the equation (4) can be rewritten as (5).

toff =

Vin n2
ton
Vo n1

(5)

The period T is defined by (6).

T = ton + toff

(6)

(7)

The output power P2 in the LED can be determined by (8).

P2 = W2

1
1
= W1
T
T

(8)

Applying (2) and (7) in (8) leads to (9).

P2 =

Vin2
ton
2 Lp

Vin n2
+ 1
Vo n1

(9)

The power transistor conduction time (ton) can be

determined by (10), where ts is the storage time of the bipolar
transistor S1 and IM is the current through Lp when the
transistor Q1 is turned-on.

I
ton = L p M + ts
Vin

(10)

Applying (10) in (9) obtains (11).

P2 =

1
1 V
I M + in ts
2
2 Lp

1 n2 1
+
Vo n1 Vin

(11)

I LED =

P2
Vo

Applying (11) in (12) relation (13) can be obtained.

(12)

(14)

The storage time of the bipolar transistor S1 directly

influences the LED current and it normally varies with
current and ambient temperature. To reduce such influence,
the resistor R2 is used in series with the transistor to avoid the
super saturation of the BJT. A similar solution is used in
electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps.
If the storage time was not considered, equation (14) could
be simplified as in (15). Since the input voltage does not
influence the LEDs current, this driver can operate with
universal voltage input (e.g. 80VAC to 240VAC). This
condition can be obtained both when the driver operates with
low switching frequency, and the storage time is
insignificant, or in high frequency of S1 (e.g. MOSFETs).

I LED

1 n1
IM
2 n2

(15)

For the condition adopted in (15), the relation (16) is

obtained trough equation (5).

toff  ton

(16)

Resistor R1 is used to detect the primary current IM that

turns-on Q1. This current can be determined by (17), where
VBE is the base-emitter voltage for turning-on the transistor
Q1. Depending on the value of resistor R1, it can also
influence the storage time of S1.

IM =

The average current through the LED (ILED) can be

determined by (12).

(13)

V
1 n
n
I LED 1 I M + in 1 t s
2 n2
2 L p n2

Applying (5) in (6), (7) is obtained.

V n
T = in 2 + 1 ton
Vo n1

n2 Vo
+
n1 Vin

n2
V
 o satisfies the equation, than
n1 Vin
(13) can be approximated as in (14). In general this condition
occurs either when the transformer turns ratio is
approximately unitary (buck-boost), or when the relation
Vin  Vo is satisfied. In both cases it is possible to connect
one, or more LEDs in series, practically without variations on
the output current. Thus, under these conditions, the
converter stabilizes the current through the LED.
If the condition

(4)

1
1 V
I M + in ts
2
2 Lp

VBE
R1

(17)

Applying the simplified electrical model for the Luxeon

III Emitter LXHL-PW09 white LED, the flyback output
voltage Vo can be obtained by (18).

Vo = I LED RLED + VLED

(18)

Considering the temperature variation, the voltage VLED

can be determined by (19). VLED_25oC is the VLED for junction
temperature in 25C, and the VTemp is the voltage variation
according the junction temperature variation.

2829

VLED = VLED _ 25D C + VTemp

1 n

1
2

L p = 2 Vo I LED ( nom ) +
f nom

Vo n1 Vin ( nom )

(19)

Applying (19) in (18), (20) is obtained.

Vo = I LED RLED + VLED _ 25D C + VTemp

(20)

Applying (17) and (20) in (13) leads to (21).

I LED =

V
1
1 V
BE + in ts
R1 2 L p
2

(21)

n2
+
n1

I LED RLED
+
Vin

Vin

IM =

Vin

ts ) Vin ( nom )
Lp

(29)

(23)

V
1
1 V
BE + in ts
R1 2 L p
2

V
D
n I R
2 + LED LED + LED _ 25 C
n1
Vin
Vin

(30)

Co =

ton ( nom )
I

RLED ln LED (max_ ripple)

I

LED (min_ ripple)

(31)

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

(24)

The T1 turns ratio is given by (25).

n1
VR
=
n2 Vo + VFD 3

(25)

Where VFD3 is the forward voltage drop of D3 and VR is

the maximum secondary voltage referred to the primary,
defined by (26).

VR (max) = VCES Vmargin Vin (max) Vspk

(26)

VCES is the collector-emitter voltage (VBE=0), Vmargin is the

voltage margin, Vin(max) is the maximum input voltage and Vspk
is the voltage spike.
The nominal power transistor conduction time, ton(nom), can
be determined rewriting (7) for the nominal switching
frequency, fnom, leading to (27). Where Vin(nom) is the nominal
input bus voltage for this condition and the output voltage,
Vo, is considered constant.

V ( ) n

= in nom 2 f nom + f nom

Vo
n1

VBE
IM

The output capacitance Co can be determined trough

equation (31), where ILED(max_ripple) is the maximum value and
ILED(min_ripple) is the minimum value of the current ripple
through the LED.

From (23), the equation (21) can be approximated as in

(24). The junction temperature variation practically does not
influence the LED current. This is another way of showing
that the current through the LED is stabilized.

ton ( nom )

on ( nom )

R1 =

(22)

VTemp
n2 I LED RLED VLED _ 25D C
+
+

n1
Vin
Vin
Vin

I LED

(t

Resistor R1 can be determined rewriting (17).

VTemp

By analyzing Fig. 2, the relation (23) can be inferred.

(28)

The current through Lp when transistor Q1 is turned off

can be determined rewriting (10) and applying ton(max) which
was determined by (27). To simplify the evaluation, the
storage time is considered constant.

Where is defined in (22).

VLED _ 25D C

(27)

Extracting Lp in (9), and applying (12) and (27), (28) can

be obtained. Where ILED(nom) is the nominal current through
the LED.

For experimental results a 220 VAC (60 Hz) driver was

designed. The maximum input voltage is 370 V (260 VAC)
and the breakdown voltage of BJT S1 is 700 V (VBE=0).
Assuming that the voltage spike is 150 V and the voltage
margin is at least 100 V, the maximum secondary voltage
referred to the primary is 80 V, according (26).
According to (18), Vo is 3.54 V. The forward voltage drop
of output diode D3 (1N5819) is considered 0.3 V. The
transformer T1 turns ratio is 20.33 given by equation (25).
Assuming that the converter efficiency is 0.6, the input
voltage Vin is 311 V and the nominal frequency is 75 kHz.
The nominal power transistor conduction time is 3 s, given
by the equation (27). For a nominal current of 700 mA, the
designed primary inductance of T1 is 8.3 mH, given by
equation (28).
Assuming that the storage time in Q1 (model STBV32,
produced by STMicroelectronics) is 1.5 s, the current
through Lp when transistor Q1 is turned off is 0.056A,
according to (29). The sense resistance R1 is 12.2 ,
determined by (30).
The secondary inductance Ls is determined applying the
turns ratio in Lp. The auxiliary inductance of T1 is 38 H, and
it is determined as a reflected voltage of 5 V over Laux with
load. The capacitor Cp is charged with this reflected voltage
and the diode zener DZ1 (8V2) is used to monitor the instant
when the load is disconnected.
Table I resume all electronic components used in the
prototype.
TABLE I

2830

Circuit list of materials

Designator
S1
Q1
T1
D1
D2
D3
D4, D5, D6 and D7
DZ1
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Rs
Cin
Cs
Co
C1

Description
STBV32 (STMicroelectronics)
PN2222
Lp=7,8 mH, Ls=19,2 H and Laux=38 H
1N4148
MUR160
1N5819
1N4007
8V2 500mW zener
12.2 metal film resistor
10 metal film resistor
2.7 M carbon resistor
100 carbon resistor
82 k carbon resistor
470
2.2 F / 400 V
10nF / 50 V
330 F / 25 V with low ESR
4.7 nF / 2kV high voltage ceramic capacitor

Fig. 4 shows the current in the LED with low average

current crest factor. The average current through the LED
was 635 mA, the ripple factor measured was 15% and the
converter switching frequency was 69 kHz.

Fig. 5. The current in the LED to a capacitor filter of 2.2 F.

Fig. 6. LED current versus line grid voltage.

Fig. 7 shows the picture of the implemented circuit LED

driver and the lighting luminary with one power LED.
Fig. 4. The current in the LED.

The DC link can be connected to the output of a bridge

rectifier with a filtering capacitor, which allows the direct
connection of the circuit to the electric grid. Fig. 5 shows
current ripple through the LED for a rectifier output capacitor
filter of 2.2 F. In this case the magnitude of the line grid
voltage was 220 V.
Fig. 6 shows the curve for LED current versus line grid
voltage, experimental results and theoretical results.
Fig. 7. LED driver and lighting luminary with one power LED.

2831

V.

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

A low cost self-oscillating flyback driver for power LEDs

was presented. A simplified mathematical model of LED has
been used to characterize this converter for power LEDs
driver. The mathematical analysis was validated through the
experimental results.
The LED manufacturing tolerances and drifts over
temperature presents almost no influence on the LED average
current for this converter.
This driver can reduce the costs to replace actual compact
fluorescent lamps and incandescent lamps for power LEDs.

[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

[5]
[6]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank FINEP, FUNCAP and
CNPq for the financial support of this work, and Kleber C. A.
de Souza for his contributions on the original version of this
document.

[7]

[8]

2832

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