For many decades, engineers and students have heavily depended on simulation packages such as Pspice to run transit and steady-state simulation for their circuits. The majority of these circuits, such as soft switching cells, contain complicated modes of operations that require the Pspice simulation to run for a long time and, finally, it may not reach a convergent solution for these kinds of circuits. Also, there is a need for an educational tool that provides students with a better understanding of circuit modes of operation through state-plan figures and steady-state switching waveforms. The unified steady-state computer aided model proposes a simulation block that covers common unified soft-switching cells operations and can be used in topologies simulation. The simulation block has a simple interface that enables the user to choose the switching cell type and connects the developed simulation model in the desired topology configuration. In addition to the measured information that can be obtained from the circuitry around the unified simulation model, the simulation block includes some additional nodes (other than the inputs and outputs) that make internal switching cell information, such as switching voltages and currents, easy to access and debug. The model is based on mathematical equations, resulting in faster simulation times, smaller file size and greatly minimized simulation convergence problems. The Unified Model is based on the generalized analysis: Chapter 1 discusses the generalized equation concept along with a detailed generalization example of one switching cell, which is the zero current switching quasi-resonant converter ZCS-QRC. Chapter 2 presents a detailed discussion of the unified model concept, the unified model flow chart and the unified model implementation in Pspice. Chapter 3 presents the unified model applications; generating the switching cell inductor current and the switching cell capacitor voltage steady-state waveforms, the State-Plane Diagram , the feedback design using the unified model, and the chapter concludes with how the model can be used with different topologies. Finally, chapter 4 presents the summary and the future work

The development in power conversion technology is in constant demand of high power efficiency and high power density. The DC-DC power conversion is an indispensable stage for numerous power supplies and energy related applications. Particularly, in PV micro-inverters and front-end converter of power supplies, great challenges are imposed on the power performances of the DC-DC converter stage, which not only require high efficiency and density but also the capability to regulate a wide variation range of input voltage and load conditions. The resonant DC-DC converters are good candidates to meet these challenges with the advantages of achieving soft switching and low EMI. Among various resonant converter topologies, the LLC converter is very attractive for its wide gain range and providing ZVS for switches from full load to zero load condition. The operation of the LLC converter is complicated due to its multiple resonant stage mechanism. A literature review of different analysis methods are presented, and it shows that the study on the LLC is still incomplete. Therefore, an operation mode analysis method is proposed, which divides the operation into six major modes based on the occurrence of resonant stages. The resonant currents, voltages and the DC gain characteristics for each mode is investigated. To obtain a thorough view of the converter behavior, the boundaries of every mode are studied, and mode distribution regarding the gain, load and frequency is presented and discussed. As this operation mode model is a precise model, an experimental prototype is designed and built to demonstrate its accuracy in operation waveforms and gain prediction. iv Since most of the LLC modes have no closed-form solutions, simplification is necessary in order to utilize this mode model in practical design. Some prior approximation methods for converter’s gain characteristics are discussed. Instead of getting an entire gain-vs.-frequency curve, we focus on peak gains, which is an important design parameters indicating the LLC’s operating limit of input voltage and switching frequency. A numerical peak gain approximation method is developed, which provide a direct way to calculate the peak gain and its corresponding load and frequency condition. The approximated results are compared with experiments and simulations, and are proved to be accurate. In addition, as PO mode is the most favorable operation mode of the LLC, its operation region is investigated and an approximation approach is developed to determine its boundary. The design optimization of the LLC has always been a difficult problem as there are many parameters affecting the design and it lacks clear design guidance in selecting the optimal resonant tank parameters. Based on the operation mode model, three optimization methods are proposed according to the design scenarios. These methods focus on minimize the conduction loss of resonant tank while maintaining the required voltage gain level, and the approximations of peak gains and PO mode boundary can be applied here to facilitate the design. A design example is presented using one of the proposed optimization methods. As a comparison, the L-C component values are reselected and tested for the same design specifications. The experiments show that the optimal design has better efficiency performance. Finally, a generalized approach for resonant converter analysis is developed. It can be implemented by computer programs or numerical analysis tools to derive the operation waveforms and DC characteristics of resonant converters