Flyback architecture reduces low power AC-DC losses
Eggtronic in Italy has developed a fixed-output flyback AC-DC converter reference design for applications operating at powers below 120 W.
The QuarEgg PSR (Primary Side Regulation) flyback design significantly improves the efficiency above 94% and reduces the size of AC-DC converters that would traditionally have used active clamp flyback (ACF) and quasi-resonant (QR) topologies.
The reference design uses the Eggtronic patented forced zero voltage switching (ZVS) architecture and ASIC to provide a very flat idle-to-full-load efficiency curve ranging from 91% at low load to over 94.5% at maximum power.
The ZVS flyback architecture can significantly reduce total operational losses when compared to conventional ACF and QR techniques. Target applications for QuarEgg PSR include routers, set-top-boxes, white goods and other low-power applications where efficiency and power density are key criteria but power factor correction (PFC) is not required.
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The Eggtronic EPIC QuarEgg PSR ASIC is a mixed-signal, low-power controller with multi-mode operation and synchronous rectification control that provides all the necessary primary side regulation without the need for an optocoupler.
The 5 x 5 mm device incorporates an optimized low-power mode for enhancing performance at zero and light loads and provides built-in protection against overvoltage, overcurrent, brownout and extreme temperatures.
“Designers of low-power applications are demanding ever-smaller, higher density power conversion architectures,” said Igor Spinella, Eggtronic’s CEO and founder.
“We developed the QuarEgg forced ZVS concept to address these demands by providing engineers with a solution that enables high-efficiency low- to high-load operation while reducing overall component count. In our first iteration we created a PD concept that eliminated the need for a high-voltage, high-side clamping MOSFET, and now we have extended this concept to fixed-voltage solutions that allow us to place an EPIC controller on the primary side and further drive down BoM.”
Eggtronic in Modena, Italy, has over 300 international patents granted worldwide and launched its IC division that has been producing its first microchips since 2021.
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