High-Efficiency Wide-Bandwidth Boost Converter IC with Pulse-Skipped Switching and Gm-Boosted Compensation for Battery-Powered Portable Systems
High-efficiency power management is essential for silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-based sensing systems, especially in portable radiation detectors that demand long battery life and stable operation. Conventional fixed-frequency, voltage-mode boost converters face two critical issues: efficiency degradation at light load due to dominant switching losses, and narrow loop bandwidth in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), which limits transient response. This work proposes a boost converter IC that integrates a pulse-skipped switching (PSS) scheme with a Gm-boosted compensator to address these challenges. The PSS method adaptively suppresses unnecessary switching events, significantly improving light-load efficiency, while the Gm-boosted compensator enhances loop gain, expanding the bandwidth and enabling faster recovery under dynamic conditions. Implemented in a 250 nm BCD process, the converter provides up to 30 V output from a 3.3–5 V supply with load currents up to 10 mA. Simulation results show a peak efficiency of 86.3% at 1 mA and a loop bandwidth increase of more than 14 times compared with a conventional fixed-frequency, voltage-mode design. Beyond radiation applications, the proposed converter is broadly applicable to battery-powered IoT, medical monitoring, and portable energy systems requiring efficient high-voltage generation.
Authors
- Hui Seong Noh
- Se-Un Shin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3265-6624)
- Hyuntak Jeon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0537-8494)
- W.J. Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7661-7897)
Institutions
- Pohang University of Science and Technology (KR)
- Chungbuk National University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Energies
- Published
- 2025-10-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/en18215575
- Primary Topic
- Advanced DC-DC Converters
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00