Power MOSFET Switching Loss Precise

Analysis
Eric Chen, Alex Leng
Introduction

Power MOSFET is widely used in the power converter; DC-DC and AC-DC
converters have a lot of power MOSFETs. Efficiency is the most important
characteristic in the DC-DC and AC-DC converters’ application and is always decided
by the power MOSFET characteristics, like drain-source on-state resistance, rise time,
and fall time. However, in the typical oscilloscope, the power loss calculating function
is not common, and an extra method is needed to calculate the power consumption. In
this article, a mathematic method is applied to estimate the power consumption.

Power MOSFET Efficiency

The power efficiency of power MOSFET can be divided into two parts: conduction
loss and switching loss. The total power loss can be calculated by combining the
conduction loss and the switching loss as shown in the Eq. (1).

Ptotal = Pconduction _ loss + Pswitching _ loss (1)

The conduction loss is simply decided by the loading current and the drain-source
on-state resistance, and the difference between an experiment and a calculation can be
very close. Eq. (2) shows the conduction loss formula.

PConduction = I 2 × RDS ( on ) (2)

But for switching loss, the calculation becomes very complex because of the parasitic
capacitances.

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Switching Power Loss by Linear Approximation

In this article, the primary side power MOSFET of Flyback converter is analyzed as
shown in the fig.1. NIKOS P7105ATF is used in the AC-DC converter priority side,
and the switching waveform is shown in the fig. 2 and fig. 3. Fig. 2 is the rising edge
waveform, and fig. 3 is the falling edge waveform.

Fig.1 Flyback Converter

VDS

ID

Fig.2 Rising Edge Waveform

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Assume the drain current and drain-source voltage are linear during rising and falling
edge, and the waveform can be approximated as fig. 4.

VDS
ID

VG

Fig. 3 Falling Edge Waveform

Fig. 4 MOSFET Ideal Waveform

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In the linear approximation, the drain current can be decided by the formula (3), and
the drain-source voltage can be decided by the formula (4) during the rising edge.

t
iD (t ) = I D (3)
Ton

t
vDS (t ) = VDS (1 − ) (4)
Ton

Where Ton is the rising time, ID is the rated current, and VDS is the drain-source
voltage. The power consumption can be decided by multiplying current and voltage as
shown in the formula (5).

VDS I D t
P (t ) = iD (t ) × vDS (t ) = t (1 − ) (5)
Ton Ton

The energy can be shown in the formula (6).

Ton
Wri sin g = ∫ P (t ) dt
0

Ton VDS I D t
=∫ t (1 − )dt
0 Ton Ton

VDS I DTon
= (6)
6

Similarly, the energy during the falling edge can be decided in the formula (7) where
Toff is the falling time.

VDS I DToff
W falling = (7)
6

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The switching loss can be found by formula (8).

Wswitching = Wri sin g + W falling

VDS I D
= [Ton + Toff ] (8)
6

The power consumption can be found by multiplying the switching frequency fs.
However, in actual, the waveform is not a linear because of capacitors. Another
method is needed to analyze correctly.

Switching Power Loss by Riemann Sum

The linear approximation is not a very precise method to analyze the switching loss of
power MOSFET, so Riemann Sum is recommended. In mathematic, a Riemann sum
is a method for approximating the total area underneath a curve on a graph, otherwise
known as an integral. It may also be used to define the integration operation. In this
article, the rising edge is divided into six sections as shown in the fig. 5.

VDS

ID

Fig. 5 Riemann Sum Six Sections of Rising Edge

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In very section, the voltage and the current can be decided by the formula (9) and
(10).

V2 − V1
v(t ) = (t − t1 ) + V1
t2 − t1 (9)

I 2 − I1
i (t ) = (t − t1 ) + I1 (10)
t2 − t1

Where V2 and V1 is the voltage at time t2 and t1 and I2 and I1 is the current at time t2
and t1. The power can be found by multiplying current can voltage, and the energy can
be decided by integral power as shown in the formula (11).

t2
Wri sin g = ∫ v(t ) × i (t )dt (11)
t1

The energy of the six segments shows as below:

Section Ⅰ: (V1, V2) = (108V, 46V), (I1, I2) = (0, 0.2A), (t1, t2) = (0, 9.2ns)

9.2 n −62 0.2

WΙ = ∫ ( t + 108) × ( t )dt
0 9.2n 9.2n
= 6.133 × 10−8 ( J ) (12)

Section Ⅱ: (V1, V2) = (46V, 16V), (I1, I2) = (0.2A, 0.4974A), (t1, t2) = (9.2n, 17.2ns)

17.2 n −30 0.2974

WΙΙ = ∫ [ (t − 9.2n) + 46] × [ (t − 9.2n) + 0.2]dt
9.2 n 8n 8n
= 8.05296 × 10−8 ( J ) (13)

Section Ⅲ: (V1, V2) = (14.37V, 7.88V), (I1, I2) = (0.4974A, 0.7044A), (t1, t2) = (17.2n,
39.6ns)
39.6 n −6.49 0.207
WΙΙΙ = ∫ [ (t − 17.2n) + 14.37] × [ (t − 17.2n) + 0.4974]dt
17.2 n 12.4n 12.4n
= 1.22244 × 10−7 ( J ) (14)

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Section Ⅳ: (V1, V2) = (7.88V, 4.67V), (I1, I2) = (0.7044A, 0A), (t1, t2) = (39.6n,
75.2ns)

75.2 n 3.21 −0.7044

WΙV = ∫ [ (t − 39.6n) + 7.88] × [ (t − 39.6n) + 0.7044]dt
39.6 n 35.6n 35.6n
= 8.5386 × 10−8 ( J ) (15)

Section Ⅴ: (V1, V2) = (4.67V, 2.96V), (I1, I2) = (0A, -0.087A), (t1, t2) = (75.2n,
90.8ns)

90.8 n −1.71 −0.098

WV = ∫ [ (t − 75.2n) + 4.67] × (t − 75.2n)dt
75.2 n 15.6n 15.6n
= 2.69833 × 10−9 ( J ) (16)

Section Ⅵ: (V1, V2) = (2.96V, 0.153V), (I1, I2) = (-0.098A, 0A), (t1, t2) = (90.8n,
116.4ns)

116.4 n −2.807 0.098

WVΙ = ∫ [ (t − 90.8n) + 2.96] × [ (t − 90.8n) − 0.098]dt
90.8 n 25.6n 25.6n
= 2.53932 × 10−9 (17)

The energy can be found by adding form (12) to (17), and then multiplying the
switching frequency about 60kHz to get the switching power loss as shown in the
formula (18).

Pri sin g = (WΙ + WΙΙ + WΙΙΙ + WΙV + WV + WVΙ ) × 60k ≈ 0.02W (18)

Similarly, the power loss of falling edge can be found. In this article, the falling edge
is divided into two parts as shown in the fig. 6. The energy of the three segments
shows as below:

Section Ⅰ: (V1, V2) = (0.16V, 18.98V), (I1, I2) = (1.127A, 1.127A), (t1, t2) = (0, 52ns)

52 n 18.82
WΙ = ∫ ( t + 0.16) × 1.127 dt
0 52n
= 5.6084 × 10−7 (19)

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Section Ⅱ: (V1, V2) = (18.98V, 263.8V), (I1, I2) = (1.127A, 0.52A), (t1, t2) = (52n,
116ns)

116 n 244.82 −0.607

WΙΙ = ∫ [ (t − 52n) + 18.98] × [ (t − 52n) + 1.127]dt
52 n 64n 64n
= 6.65925 × 10−6 ( J ) (20)

Section Ⅲ: (V1, V2) = (263.8V, 263.8V), (I1, I2) = (0.52A, 0A), (t1, t2) = (116n,
144.8ns)

144.8 n −0.52
WΙΙΙ = ∫ 263.8 × [ (t − 116n) + 0.52]dt
116 n 28.8n
= 1.97533 × 10−6 ( J ) (21)

The energy can be found by adding form (19) to (21), and then multiplying the
switching frequency about 60kHz to get the switching power loss as shown in the
formula (18).

Pfall in g = (WΙ + WΙΙ + WΙΙΙ ) × 60k ≈ 0.55W (18)

Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ

Fig. 6 Riemann Sum Three Sections of Falling Edge

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Conclusion

In this article, the precise mathematic analysis is presented to analyze the switching
loss of a power MOSFET. In theorem, if the waveform can be divided into more
sections, the results can be more accurate.

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