Analysis and Design of Self-Oscillating Flyback Converter
Brian T. Irving and Milan M. Jovanović
Delta Products Corporation
Power Electronics Laboratory
P.O. Box 12173, 5101 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709, U.S.A.
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,
the optimization of this circuit is almost exclusively performed by a cut-
and-try approach since its operation is generally not well understood. This
paper presents a detailed steady-state analysis of the self-oscillating flyback
converter along with its small-signal model. Design guidelines of the
control circuit and loop compensation are presented and verified on an off-
line, stand-by, 5-V/ 2-A power supply.
I. I
NTRODUCTION
The self-oscillating flyback converter, often referred to as
the ringing choke converter (RCC), is a robust, low-
component-count circuit that has been widely used in low-
power off-line applications. 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
control .
Generally, the operation of the circuit is not well
understood. This is primarily due to the fact that existing
literature deals with the circuit in a very superficial manner
[1]-[2]. Therefore, the design of this converter usually
follows a cut- and-try approach, which is a time consuming
process and which usually doesn’t lead to an optimized
design.
The purpose of this paper is to present a complete design-
oriented steady-state analysis and small-signal model of the
self-oscillating flyback converter that can be used in the
optimization of this circuit. In addition, a step-by-step design
procedure of the control circuit is presented and verified on
an off-line, 5-V/2-A, stand-by power supply.
II. A
NALYSIS
OF
O
PERATION
The self-oscillating flyback converter operates at the
boundary of continuous/discontinuous conduction mode
(CCM/DCM) and utilizes peak current mode control.
Therefore, the circuit operates with a variable switching
frequency. The implementation of the control is done
discretely, which is simple and cost effective since the pulse-
width modulator (PWM) and switch driver are implemented
with a single transistor, a positive-feedback winding, and a
resistor divider network. In applications which do not require
tight regulation, a simple feedback control consisting of a
single zener diode may be implemented. However, in
applications which require a tight output regulation, such as
applications with a wide range of input voltage and load
current, an error amplifier is often implemented.
The circuit diagram of an isolated self-oscillating flyback
converter with output voltage control is shown in Fig. 1.
Transformer T
1
consists of 2 secondary windings: output
winding N
S1
and positive-feedback winding N
S2
. Main output
V
O1
is isolated, and tightly regulated by error amplifier E/A,
whereas auxiliary output V
O2
is not isolated, and is loosely
regulated by main output V
O1
through transformer T
1
. Output
voltage V
O1
is sensed through a resistor divider consisting of
resistors R
d1
and R
d2
, and compared at the input of a
transconductance type amplifier (TL431) to a stable voltage
reference located within the TL431 device. Components
C
EA1
, C
EA2
, and R
EA1
are used as compensation to stabilize the
voltage control loop. The difference between the sensed
output voltage and the voltage reference is amplified by
TL431 and reflected to the primary side through optocoupler
IC
1
as error current i
e
, which in turn develops error voltage V
e
across (the sum of) resistors R
S
and R
F
. Error voltage V
e
is
summed with a voltage proportional to switch current i
S1
and
compared at the PWM modulator, which is implemented with
bipolar junction transistor (BJT) Q
1
, to a fixed voltage
threshold, which, in this case, is cut-off voltage V
γ
of
transistor Q
1
. Zero-current detect components C
ZCD
and R
ZCD
,
along with winding N
S2
, sense, with some delay, the
continuous/discontinuous conduction mode (CCM/DCM)
boundary of transformer T
1
, and delivers charge to main
switch S
1
to initiate switch turn-on. Finally, circuit start-up is
N
P
N
S1
N
S2
R
ZCD
C
ZCD
TL431
V
IN
C
O2
R
S
R
A
R
F
ZD
1
Q
1
S
1
D
1
C
O1
R
d1
R
d2
R
L1
R
L2
R
ST
D
2
R
B
IC
1
R
EA1
C
EA2
C
EA1
E/A
T
1
i
e
V
O2
V
Qbe
i
S1
V
ZCD
i
1
i
2
i
01
i
02
V
DS
V
G
V
2
V
O1
C
F
L
F
I
K
V
KA
V
d
PWM
MOD
Fig. 1 Circuit diagram of self-oscillating flyback converter
0-7803-7405-3/02/$17.00 (C) 2002 IEEE