Power Supply Programming: How Should I Send Commands to my Instrument

Hi everyone!  Happy Labor Day to all you readers in the US!  Every month I struggle with what I am going to write and wind up waiting till the end of the month to do my posting (and I am keeping that streak alive).  In order to combat that, I came up with a series of topics on programming instruments, focusing on our power supplies.  Let’s say that this is the first in a series of three (or maybe four I am not sure).  Please note that anything that I state here is my opinion and not Agilent policy.  Today I am going to focus on the how to send commands to your instrument.  In other words, what sort of IO library do you use to send the commands?

All of my suggestions will be based on the Agilent IO Libraries as that is the environment that I am most familiar with.  There are two major options: direct IO where you use the SCPI from the instrument and drivers where there are functions that you call.

First let’s talk about direct IO.  I learned how to program instrument using HPBASIC as my programming language so this is where it all began with me.  Agilent has two modern standards for doing this.  The first and the older standard is the VISA library.  VISA works very well when you are programming an instrument in the C programming language.  Here is a snippet of C code from a N6700 example with VISA (I have intentionally not provided comments to show the program in its purest form): 

VISAstatus=viOpenDefaultRM(&defrm);

VISAstatus=viOpen(defrm,”GPIB0::5”,VI_NULL,VI_NULL,&session);

viPrintf(session,"VOLT 5,(@1) \n");

viPrintf(session, "OUTP ON, (@1) \n");

viPrintf(session, "MEAS:VOLT? (@1) \n");

viScanf(session,"%s",&voltmeasurement);

viClose(session);

viClose(defrm);

It works pretty well and makes sense once you know it.  The viPrintf and viScanf functions are very similar to some basic C functions so if you are a C programmer, this is really the way to go.

There is also a newer option that works pretty nicely in languages that support COM.  This option is called Agilent VISA COM.  VISA COM works well in Visual Basic and C#.  Here is the same program to the above written in VB:

Set ioMgr = New AgilentRMLib.SRMCls

Set Instrument = New VisaComLib.FormattedIO488

Set Instrument.IO = ioMgr.Open("GPIB0::5")

Instrument.WriteString " VOLT 5,(@1)"

Instrument.WriteString " OUTP ON, (@1)”

Instrument.WriteString "MEAS:VOLT? (@1)”

Result = Instrument.Readstring

Instrument.IO.Close

In my opinion, this is easier to read than VISA.  When I have to write a program now, I tend to stick with using VISA COM and Visual Basic. 

The other option is to use a driver.  We presently offer two different driver types for our instruments: VXI Plug and Play and IVI COM.  VXI Plug and Play drivers are obsolete now though so I will not reference them further today.  Here is an example of our program using the IVI driver (in C#):

driver = new Agilent.AgilentN67xx.Interop.AgilentN67xx();

IAgilentN67xxProtection2 protectionPtr;

IAgilentN67xxMeasurement measurementPtr;

IAgilentN67xxOutput3 outputPtr;

int channel

driver.Initialize(“GPIB0::5”, idquery, reset, initOptions);

outputPtr = driver.Outputs.get_Item(driver.Outputs.get_Name(channel));

protectionPtr = driver.Protections.get_Item(driver.Protections.get_Name(channel));

measurementPtr = driver.Measurements.get_Item(driver.Measurements.get_Name(channel));

outputPtr.VoltageLevel(3.0, 3.0);

outputPtr.Enabled = true;

mVolt = measurementPtr.Measure(AgilentN67xxMeasurementTypeEnum.AgilentN67xxMeasurementVoltage);

driver.Close();

As you can see, the driver is much more complex than the direct IO examples. There are a few reasons to use a driver though.  The first and most common reason is that your system itself it designed to use drivers.  Another good reason is portability.  There are instrument classes in the IVI driver that should work for any DC power supply that is compatible.  One of the main downfall of our IVI drivers is that the functions almost always map 1 to 1 with SCPI so there are not many functions that work at a higher level and you don’t save any time programming there.

My main approach is to use VISA COM in Visual Basic.  I find it to be the easiest for me to program and it is what works for me.  Of course no opinion is wrong though and we are happy that our readers are out there buying and programming our instruments.  Thanks!

How to choose a Power Supply Part 1: Student Edition

Note from GaryR: We were fortunate to have an intern, Patrick, in our department for the summer. He has since returned to college, but during his time here at Agilent Technologies, he successfully completed several projects for us. During his last week, he wrote a power supply blog post! Here it is, unedited!!

Hello, I am Patrick, an intern here at Agilent Technologies. This is my first blog post but you might recognize me as “new intern… named Patrick” from the Matthew Carolan insta-classic, “What is Command Processing Time?” And as “Uncredited Waveform Capture Author” from GaryR’s visually-stunning, “Current Limit Setting Affects Voltage Response Time” I might not be able to provide the same engineering life lessons Mr. Brorein, Mr. GaryR, and Mr. Carolan provide you monthly but hopefully you will enjoy this post nonetheless.

As you can probably tell from the title, this blog post is the first in a series written to help readers find the right DC power supply for them. For starters, there are a lot of other power supply companies out there; their products are not mentioned here. Actually, I better give you a disclaimer: this is an Agilent blog post about Agilent products written by an Agilent employee. However, my intentions in this post are to inform our readers on how to find a reliable and dependable power supply to the best of my abilities. I simply do not know enough about non-Agilent DC power supplies to be able to confidently recommend you any. With that out of the way, today’s post is written for college students, like myself, but can help give some insight to anyone looking for a power supply.

Agilent Technologies offers over 200 models of DC power supplies. Finding the perfect power supply for your needs is possible but can take some time. Fortunately, you have found your way to this blog post where I have already done all the work.

The first step in finding your power supply to buy is to determine your budget. If you are financially disabled like me, you are really lucky if you can save up $300 - $500 dollars between buying textbooks for a personal power supply. If you need convincing on why you make the expense, Matt’s “The Joys of Owning a DC Power Supply” brings up some good points. Personally, I like being able to work where I want and when I want, including at my home during the summer where I would be lucky to find working batteries let alone a power supply. Also with the lifespan these power supplies have, this is a piece of equipment you will be using for decades. So first, figure out your budget!

The next thing to determine is what are you using this power supply for? Are you a hobbyist who only has low power needs? Do you need to power multiple DUTs at once for a senior project? Maybe you need a very precisely regulated and accurate output for a research project? If I wanted to work on labs outside of school I would need a supply with multiple outputs. If I wanted to work on side projects in my spare time my requirements are a lot simpler. Figure out what your performance requirements are, and try to anticipate future projects if you can.

Now, how much space do you have to work with? Power supplies come in many different sizes. In a test rack, a smaller power supply means more room for other test equipment. As a student you probably are not going to have a test rack, but you might have a test bench. If your test bench is anything like mine, it is also your laptop table, study space, dining area, and entertainment center. As you do before you buy a new couch, make sure you measure before you buy your new power supply.

For a student, here would be my priorities when shopping for a power supply: inexpensive, compact, and capable. All Agilent power supplies already provide low noise and well regulated outputs, so you do not have to worry about that. But keep in mind what functions and features you would like. For example, it would be nice to find one with an autoranging output characteristic, which would essentially allow one to perform the job of multiple, and/or a computer interface.

For those with similar priorities as above, shown in Table 1 are the power supplies that you might like. The table was populated with power supplies listed in our “Agilent Power Products Selection Guide”. The row on the top represents the base (no options) price range of the power supply if ordered from Agilent. The column on the left side represents your best choice in that price range. Keep in mind that the only difference in some budget ranges is the voltage/current ratings, which is important for your application but does not necessarily make one power supply better than the other. Within the table, each square states the model number of the power supply, voltage/current/power ratings, number of outputs, and number of ranges, available computer interfaces, and dimensions. The output ratings are sometimes separated by commas or there is another set listed below the first. If the power supply has multiple outputs, then each output is separated by a comma. If the power supply has multiple ranges, then each additional range is listed below the first.

To use Table 1, simply find your budget range and then match your application needs to the available models. Models in the same budget range but have increased functionality are placed higher.

The two families of power supplies that fall into the sub $1,000 price range are the E3600 and U8000 series basic power supplies. The E3600 gives you a lot of voltage/current choices, a number of outputs, as well as the ability to program with it in four of the options listed above. The U8000 is more limited in all these aspects but is more affordable and has features typically found only in programmable supplies such as OVP and OCP protection, recall states, and more. See for yourself how the E3600 and U8000 stack up against other power supplies.

All the power supplies listed above come in a ½ RU w x 2 RU h, with 1 RU being equivalent to 19” width and 1.75” height. This size is compact and will have no trouble fitting on a desk, and when not being used can easily be moved and stored.

It is unfortunate that there is no relatively inexpensive Agilent power supply with autoranging output characteristics. At least there are choices (within the E3600 series) with multiple ranges, giving you more output flexibility for more applications (learn more about rectangular vs. autoranging output characteristics).

Also there is a three output power supply on the list (the E3630A) which is in the middle of the pack in terms of budget. The E3630A is actually the same power supply available at my school laboratories, able to handle every exercise I have done so far.

As a student, these power supplies might be outside your budget, but the least expensive choice, the U8001A, is about the same price as a Play Station 3. Would you rather choose: “fun” (the PS3) or “FUN!” (a power supply)? Please note that the distinguishing lowercase and uppercase variations of the word fun is not a reference to the level of fun but rather how loud I would yell it at you if we were face-to-face.

So, I have listed out your choices. All you have to do is figure out which one fits your applications. If you do not know what your applications are then you already missed a step in this blog post, so start over from the beginning. If you do not have an application then you probably do not need a power supply, but thank you for taking the time to read this. If you cannot find the right power supply for your application in this post then keep saving your money and look out for the next part on, “How to choose a DC power supply”, that is where the real fun starts. If you read this post and succeeded in choosing a power supply then awesome. Thanks for reading!

Techniques for using the Agilent N6781A and N6782A and their seamless measurement ranging when currents exceed 3 amps

In an earlier posting “Zero-burden ammeter improves battery run-down and charge management testing of battery-powered devices” (click here to access) I had talked about how the Agilent N6781A 2-quadrant SMU can alternately be used as a zero-burden ammeter. When placed in the current path as a zero-burden ammeter, due to its extended seamless measurement ranging, it can measure currents from nanoamps, up to +/-3 amps, which is the maximum limit of the N6781A. The N6782A 2-quadrant SMU can also be used as a zero burden ammeter. It is basically the same as the N6781A but with a few less features.

One customer liked everything about the N6782A’s capabilities, but he had a battery-powered device that drew well over 3 amps when it was active. When in standby operation its current drain ranged back and forth between just microamps of sleep current to 6 or greater amps of current during periodic wake ups. The N6782A’s +/- 3 amps of current was not sufficient to meet their needs.

An alternate approach was taken that worked out well for this customer, which was made possible only because of the N6782A’s zero-burden ammeter capability. The set up is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Setup for measuring micro-amps in combination with large active-state currents

The N6752A 50V, 10A, 100W autoranging DC power module provides all the power. The N6782A is set up as a zero-burden ammeter and is connected in series with the N6752A’s output. When current ranges from microamps up to +/- 3 amps the N6782A maintains its zero-burden ammeter operation, holding its output voltage at zero. Once +/- 3 amps is exceeded, the N6782A goes into current limit and the voltage increases across its output, at which point one of the back-to-back clamp diodes turns on, conducting current in excess of 3 amps through it. This all can be observed in the screen image of the 14585A software in Figure 2. The blue trace is the N752A’s output current. The middle yellow trace is the N6781A’s current and the top yellow trace is the N6781A’s voltage.

Figure 2: Current and voltage signals for Figure 1 setup captured with 14585A software

In Figure 2 measurement markers have been placed across a portion of the sleep current and we find from the N6782A’s measurement readback it is just 1.458 microamps average. The reason why this works is because of zero burden operation. Because the N6782A is maintaining zero volts across its output, there is no current flowing through either diode. If this same thing was attempted using a conventional ammeter or current shunt, the voltage would increase and current would flow through a diode, corrupting the measurement.

Now the customer was able to get the microamp sleep current readings from the N6782A and at the same time get the high level wake up current readings from the N6752A!

In a similar fashion another customer wanted to perform battery run down testing. Everything was excellent about using the N6781A in its zero-burden ammeter mode, along with using its independent DVM input for simultaneously logging the battery’s run down voltage in conjunction with the current. The only problem was they wanted to test a higher power device. At device turn-on, it would draw in excess of 3 amps, which is the current limit of the N6781A. Current limit would cause the N6781A to drop out of its zero-burden ammeter operation and in turn the device would shut back down due to low voltage. The solution was simple; add the back-to-back diodes across the N6781A acting as a zero-burden ammeter, as shown in Figure 3.  Any currents in excess of 3 amps would then pass through a diode. Schottky diodes were used so the device would momentarily see just a few tenths of a volt drop in the battery voltage, during the short peak current in excess of 3 amps. Now the customer was able to perform battery run-down testing using the N6781A along with the 14585A software to log all the results!

Figure 3: Agilent N6781A battery run-down test set up, with diode clamps for peak currents above 3A

Zero-burden ammeter improves battery run-down and charge management testing of battery-powered devices

One way of assessing run-time of battery-powered devices is to power them up with a regulated DC source, place the device into its appropriate operating modes, and get the corresponding current drawn by the device for each of the various operating modes. Estimations of battery run-time can then be made for different user types, based on the percentage of time spent in each of these operating modes, and the capacity of the battery in mA-hours. The DC source must be able to maintain a stable, transient free voltage at the DUT. A lot of general purpose power supplies have difficulty with mobile wireless devices that draw fast rising, high peak currents. Providing the regulated DC source meets maintains a stable voltage, it offers some advantages, including:

• Maintains a fixed voltage level over time, removing variability due to changing voltage.
• Using built-in current read-back eliminates voltage drop issues encountered with using a resistive shunt. This is problematic with mobile wireless devices that draw high peak, but low average current.

An alternative to using a regulated DC source to power the battery powered device is instead use the actual battery. Just like with using a DC source, one can make representative current drain measurements over shorter periods for all the various operating modes and then make predictions on run-time. Alternately one can also perform actual battery run-down tests which, when performed correctly, yields quite a few more insights beyond representative current drain measurements, such as:

• Low battery discharge termination details.
• Battery capacity and energy actually delivered.
• Actual run time achieved.
• How well the battery and device work together as a system

An actual battery-run down test is an indispensable part of validation as a final proof of performance.

Just as with evaluating battery run-down, it is also just as important to evaluate battery charging and management. Again, a lot of testing can be done on a device independent of its battery, but there is also a lot of additional value in validating a device’s charge management performance with its actual battery.

When validating a device’s discharging and charging performance with an actual battery, the first test challenge is the current drawn from or sourced to the battery needs to be accurately measured and logged over time, together with the battery’s voltage, for making good capacity and energy measurements. The second test challenge here is you cannot afford to introduce any significant drop in voltage between the device and its battery, as this alters charging and discharging performance of the battery powered device. This can be a real problem when trying to use shunt resistors.

An alternative is to use a zero-burden ammeter. You may ask how an ammeter can be zero-burden. It has to have some resistance in order to produce a measurable value, right? Well, not always. Agilent provides an innovative alternative use of the N6781A 2-quadrant source measure module that enables it to operate as a zero-burden ammeter (in addition to being a DC source). Using the N6781A as a zero-burden ammeter to evaluate battery run-down and battery charging of a battery-powered device is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1: N6781A zero-burden ammeter / wattmeter operation

The N6781A is able to operate as a zero-burden ammeter because it is able to actively regulate its output at zero volts independent of the current flowing through it. Because its output is zero volts, when placed in series between the device and its battery, there is no voltage drop. At the same time its precision current measurement system is able to now measure the discharge or charge currents. In addition a separate voltage measurement port allows it to measure the battery voltage, so now you are able to capture the battery’s discharge or charge voltage profile, as well as determine charge in amp-hours and energy in watt-hours, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Capturing, displaying, and evaluating battery run-down results with 14585A software

A useful reference providing further details on evaluating a device’s battery run-down and charging, and how to configure and use the N6781A as a zero-burden ammeter are available in our application note; “Evaluating Battery Run-Down with the N6781A 2-Quadrant Source Measure Unit and the 14585A Control and Analysis Software” (click here to access).

What is Dynamic Current Correction?

Gary and I were talking to one of the design engineers here yesterday about what he worked on recently that might make a good blog post.  We wound up talking about dynamic current correction.  This is an option for the current measurement systems of some of our power supplies.  In order to explain its purpose, let us start with a simplified picture of one of our power supplies:

If you look at the above figure, the current monitor resister is inboard of the output capacitor.   This means that our current measurement system is going to measure both Iout and Ic when we take a current measurement.  Ic is not in any way being sent to the output of the power supply and the DUT will never see this current, the DUT will only see Iout.    We wanted to provide a way that you can see the actual current that is going through the DUT so we offered the Dynamic Current Correction option in our current ranges.  

Since we are talking about a capacitor here, remember that the current through a capacitor equals the capacitance multiplied by the change in voltage over time (I = C * dv/dt).  If you are making a measurement at a DC voltage level, then there is no current through your capacitor since your dv/dt is near zero.  When you have a rapidly changing voltage waveform you can have a large dv/dt and your Ic will be a non-zero number.    A good rule of thumb would be that you want to use the dynamic current correction when you have a changing voltage and you want to turn dynamic current correction off when you have a DC voltage due to reasons that we will get into later.

In the below screenshot from my DC Power Analyzer I am operating an N6762A module set to go from 0 to 50 V with nothing connected to the output.  I do not have the Dynamic Current Correction range selected.

You can see here that the measured current goes up to 1 A even though the output is completely open therefore limiting any current flow.  That current is all flowing through the output capacitor due to the dv/dt of going from 0 to 50 V.  In this screenshot, you are seeing all Ic from the diagram above since Iout is 0.  This is not representative of the DUT current.  In this case we are going to want to use Dynamic Current Correction. 

Keeping everything set the same on the supply I turned the Dynamic Current Correction on and I measured the following waveforms:

As you can see, with Dynamic Current Correction turned on, the effect that the capacitor current has is much less noticeable. With a changing voltage, you definitely want to have this enabled.  

When Dynamic Current Correction is on, the power supply is using the capacitor equation (I= C* dv/dt) to calculate what the capacitor current is and then subtracting the calculated value out of the measured current.  This is a more accurate representation of the output current flowing through the DUT (Iout in the first picture).  There are tradeoffs though.  In some models dynamic current correction will increase the peak to peak current measurement noise and it can also limit the output measurement bandwidth.  These factors are the reason why you should turn it off when you are operating at DC voltages. 

The moral of this blog post is that you want to use the Dynamic Current Correction when you have a rapidly changing voltage and not use it when you have a static voltage.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Power analysis of automobile self-charging emergency tool

I was recently given a “Swiss+Tech BodyGard Survivor 8-in-1 Automobile Self-Charging Emergency Tool”. How’s that for a compact name? This device does have many features, so I imagine the company had some difficulty devising a name for it. It is meant to be carried in your car and kept close enough to the driver to be used in an emergency. It contains a glass breaker, a seatbelt cutter, a flashlight, an emergency flasher and siren, an AM/FM radio, and rechargeable NiCad batteries that charge by using the self-charging hand crank. See Figure 1.

Since this device contains rechargeable batteries and Agilent makes instrumentation that can do battery drain analysis, I figured I would test the device using our equipment. I used an Agilent N6705B DC Power Analyzer loaded with an N6781A 2-Quadrant Source/Measure Unit (SMU) for Battery Drain Analysis. See Figure 2.

The product’s instruction sheet includes information about the batteries (700 mAH) and the expected battery run time when using the various features. With fully charged batteries, the expected battery run time for each of the features listed below is:

• Flashlight: 12 to 16 hours
• Flasher: 10 to 12 hours
• Radio (low volume): 35 to 40 hours
• Flasher/siren: 6 to 9 hours

Given the battery amp-hour rating (700 mAH) and the expected run time in hours, we can calculate the approximate expected average current draw for each of the various features:

• Flashlight: 700 mAH / 14 hours = 50 mA
• Flasher: 700 mAH / 11 hours = 63.6 mA
• Radio: 700 mAH / 37.5 hours = 18.7 mA
• Flasher/siren: 700 mAH / 7.5 hours = 93 mA

Using the N6781A SMU and the built-in front panel features of the N6705B DC Power Analyzer, I was able to analyzer the current drawn from the batteries when using each of the features. Each feature was used by itself with the other features turned off.

The flashlight draws a steady-state current that I read right from the front panel meter as shown in Figure 3: 50 mA. This agrees perfectly with the expected current draw I calculated. For this measurement and all subsequent current measurements, I connected the N6781A in series with the batteries and set it to Current Measure mode where it acts likes a zero-burden shunt. The measured current is negative in my setup because positive current is current flowing into the battery and with the flashlight on, current is flowing out of the battery.

For the flasher, since the current is not constant, I used the N6705B/N6781A built-in data logger feature and captured 30 seconds of data while the device was flashing. I then used the markers to measure the average current. Since the flasher flashes for a very short period of time (low duty cycle), I expected the average current to be low. When using the flasher, the expected battery run time seemed unusually short to me. At 10 to 12 hours, it is shorter than the flashlight or radio run time, which seems odd. In reality, as shown in Figure 4, the flasher drew very little current (5.6 mA), so it appears that the instruction sheet run time for the flasher is too low. With the device flashing, the battery will last much longer than indicated. In fact, the expected battery run time, when flashing, is about 700 mAH / 5.6 mA = 125 hours, 10 times longer than the time shown on the instruction sheet!

With the radio on, tuned to a station, and set to a low but audible volume, I once again used the data logger to capture the current. The markers show an average current of about 10 mA, which is less than the calculated value of 18.7 mA, but within reason. See Figure 5.

Using the flasher and siren, the data logger shows a current draw of 93 mA, in exact agreement with the expected current draw calculated from the numbers on the instruction sheet. See Figure 6.

The last current analysis I did was to capture 30 seconds of data logging when turning the self-charging crank to recharge the batteries. I purposely varied my cranking rate to see what would happen. Figure 7 shows an average of about 350 mA when turning the crank at what I considered to be a typical rate (highest average numbers on the captured data log). To fully charge 700 mAH batteries, it would take about 2 hours at that rate, which is in agreement with the instruction sheet (it says 2 to 3 hours). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to turn that crank for 2 hours straight! Let’s hope I never have to use the tool for real, but I’m glad I have it just in case!

Consider the guard amplifier for making more accurate sub-µA current measurements with your DC source

As is the case with many sourcing and measurement challenges, when attempting to measure extreme values of most anything, factors that you can be blissfully unaware of, because they normally have an inconsequential impact on results, can become a dominant error to deal with. One example of this is when trying to make good low level leakage current measurements on devices and components and “phantom” leakages exceed that of the device you are attempting to test.

When measuring leakage currents of around a µA and lower, it is important to pay attention to your test set up as it is fairly easy to have leakage currents paths in the set up itself that range from adding error to totally obscuring the leakage current of the DUT itself you are trying to test. These leakage current paths can be modeled as a high value resistor in parallel to the DUT, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Leakage current path in DUT test fixture

• Many things can cause leakage currents on the fixture contributing to leakage current measurement error of the DUT:
• Is the PC fixture board made from appropriate high impedance material?
• Is the PC board truly clean?
• Was de-ionized water used to clean the PC board?
• If already in service for quite some time, have contaminants slowly built up over time?
• Any components associated with the connection path to the DUT are, or have become, unexpectedly leaky?
• Any standoffs and insulators associated with the connection path to the DUT are, or have become, unexpectedly leaky?

Even with all the above items in check there are still times when more needs to be done to further reduce leakage current inherent in the test set up. To help in this regard a guard amplifier is often added on high performance source-measure units (SMUs) to mitigate errors introduced from leakage current paths in the test set up. The Agilent N678xA and the B2900 series are examples of SMUs that include guard amplifiers. Application of a guard amplifier is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Guard amplifier in a leakage current test set up

The guard amplifier is a unity gain buffer connected to the output of the SMU to provide a voltage that matches the SMU voltage. The guard amplifier can typically furnish 100’s of µA or more to offset any leakage currents. The test set up needs to be designed to incorporate a guard, which is a conductive path that surrounds, but is not connected to, the SMU’s output path. The guard and guard amplifier do not eliminate any leakage paths. Rather they “intercept” and furnish the leakage current. Because the guard surrounding the SMU output path maintains its potential at that of the SMU’s output potential, the net difference is zero. Because the potential difference is zero no current “leaks” from the SMU output to the guard. The only current now flowing from the SMU output is that which is flowing into the DUT itself. This is just one more tool to get accurate results when making measurements at an extreme value; in this case when making extremely low leakage currents!

Why have multiple output range DC power supplies?

Most often DC power supplies have a rectangular output characteristic, as depicted in figure 1. With an increasing load they output a fixed output voltage up to the current limit, at which point the voltage drops in order to maintain the current fixed at its limit.

Figure 1: DC power supply rectangular output characteristic.

There is however DC power supplies that offer multiple output ranges. One example of a multiple (dual in this case) output range DC power supply is our N678xA series DC source measure modules. Their output characteristics are depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Agilent N678xA series source measure modules output characteristics

Unlike the output characteristic of a single output range DC power supply, you cannot get both the maximum current and maximum voltage of a multiple output range DC power supply at the same time.

What is the purpose of having multiple output ranges on a DC power supply?

There are times, especially when having to test a variety of devices, the need for greater current or voltage, but not necessarily needing both maximum voltage and current at the same time.  In these situations many times these test power needs are better served by a DC power supply having multiple output ranges. The advantages of a multiple output range DC power supply are smaller size, less power dissipation, and less input power required, in comparison to a single output range DC power supply of comparable voltage and current capability. If the N678xA series DC source measure modules had a single output range they would need to have a 60 watt output to cover the span of voltage they now provide with 20 watts of output power.  An even more extreme example is our B2900 series source measure units. They output up to 31.8 watts continuously, but can provide up to 210 volts and up to 3.03 amps over three output ranges.

The downside of having multiple output ranges is somewhat greater complexity. Figure 3 depicts a conceptual design for a dual output range DC power supply. 

Figure 3: Conceptual dual output range DC power supply

Because the transformer efficiently converts AC power by square of its turn ratio there is very little impact on its size to accommodate secondary windings with multiple taps or multiple secondary windings that can be alternately connected in series or parallel, in order to accommodate multiple output power ranges. Similarly, the linear series pass element dissipates about the same maximum power whether it is operating at a higher voltage with lower current, or at a lower voltage with a higher current.  

The end result is a multiple range DC power supply can provide a greater range of voltages and currents for a given output power at the expense of a little greater complexity. Often this is far preferable to the alternative of a much higher power, and larger single output range DC power supply!

What is Command Processing Time?

Hello everybody,

We have a new intern here at Agilent Power & Energy HQ named Patrick.  Gary, Patrick, and I have been having a philosophical debate on what the term command processing time means.  This is a very important number for many of our customers since it tells them what kind of throughput they can get out of our test equipment.  A fast command processing time allows you to reduce your test times and therefore increase your throughput.  The question that we have been debating is:  what is command processing time and how can we measure it?  We have been discussing three scenarios.   Let’s go through them.

The first option is the amount of time that it takes the processor to take one command off the bus so that it can get to the next command.  This tells you how quickly you can send commands to the instrument.  The only issue with this is that some instruments have a buffer so it is not actually “processing” the command, just bringing it into the buffer and letting you send the next command.  Obviously this is useful but it really does not address the throughput question.  This is pretty easy to test by sending a command in a loop and timing it.  You record the time before the command is sent and the time after the loop and then divide by the number of loops you executed.  This would yield a pretty good approximation of the time.

The second option is the amount of time from when the instrument receives a command until it starts performing the action.  I believe that this is what we list in our manuals for the Command Processing Time Supplemental Characteristic.  This does address the throughput issue.  This is also easy for us at Agilent to measure.  We have a breakout for GPIB that allows us to monitor the attention line.  The test that we did was send a VOLT 5 to the instrument.  We looked at the GPIB attention line.  The time from when the attention line toggles until the power supply starts slewing the voltage up would be our command processing time (measured with an always awesome Agilent Oscilloscope).  This is what I consider to be the command processing time.

The third option includes what I spoke about in the last paragraph but also includes the slewing of the voltage.  The processing time would be the time that it takes to take the command and complete all the actions associated with it (for example settling at 5 volts after being sent a VOLT 5 command).  I do not think that this is a bad option but we have a Supplemental Characteristic for voltage rise time that addresses the slewing of the voltage.   The test method would be the same as above using an oscilloscope but watching for where the voltage settles at five volts.

What do you, our readers and customers think the correct interpretation of command processing time is?  Also, please stay tuned for a future installment where we try to figure out what the quickest interface is: LAN, USB, or GPIB.  

Current limit setting affects voltage response time

The current limit setting in a power supply is primarily used to protect the device under test (DUT) from excessive current. You should set your current limit setting higher than the maximum amount of current you expect your DUT to draw, but low enough so that if your DUT fails as a short or low impedance, it does not draw an amount of current that can damage wires, connectors, or the DUT itself due to excessive current. The power supply will limit the current at the current limit setting and reduce the voltage accordingly. If you want, you can turn on over-current protection (OCP) and then the power supply output will turn off if the output transitions into constant current (CC) mode. For previous posts on this topic, click here and here.

Current limit plays an important role in protecting your DUT. But you should also know that the current limit setting can affect the voltage response time, specifically the up-programming speed. Voltage up-programming speed is the time it takes the output voltage to go from a lower voltage to a higher voltage. For example, the up-programming output response time for an Agilent N5768A power supply (rated for 80 V, 19 A, 1520 W) is specified to be no more than 150 ms with a full load (settling band is 1% of the rated output voltage). This spec assumes the current limit is set high enough to not limit the current. The output capacitor of this power supply will draw current as the voltage on the cap rises (Ic = C * dVc/dt). The output current and the cap current flow through the current monitoring resistor which is where the current is measured and compared to the current limit setting. See Figure 1. Therefore, the output cap current adds to the output current and can cause the power supply to momentarily go into CC mode as the output cap charges. If this happens, the output voltage will rise more slowly than if the power supply stayed in constant voltage (CV) mode the entire time the output voltage was rising and charging the output cap.

So, the current limit setting can slow down the voltage response time if set too low causing the power supply to momentarily go into CC mode as the output voltage is rising and the output cap is charging. This effect is shown in Figure 2 for various current limit settings on the N5768A power supply. As you can see, the lower the current limit setting (Iset), the longer it takes for the voltage to reach its final value.

If fast up-programming response time is important to you in your power supply application, make sure you set your current limit high enough to provide current to your DUT and to charge the power supply’s output capacitor without going into CC mode. Once the output voltage reaches its final value, you can always lower the current limit again to properly protect your DUT.

How can I measure output impedance of a DC power supply?

In my last posting “DC power supply output impedance characteristics”, I explained what the output impedance characteristics of a DC power supply were like for both its constant voltage (CV) and constant current (CC) modes of operation. I also shared an example of what power supply output impedance is useful for. But how does one go about measuring the output impedance of a DC power supply over frequency, if and when needed?

There are a number of different approaches that can be taken, but these days perhaps the most practical is to use a good network analyzer that will operate at low frequencies, ranging from 10 Hz up to 1 MHz, or greater, depending on your needs. Even when using a network analyzer as your starting point there are still quite a few different variations that can be taken.

Measuring the output impedance requires injecting a disturbance at the particular frequency the network analyzer is measuring at. This signal is furnished by the network analyzer but virtually always needs some amount of transformation to be useful. Measuring the output impedance of a voltage source favors driving a current signal disturbance into the output. Conversely, measuring the output impedance of a current source favors driving a voltage signal disturbance into the output. The two set up examples later on here use two different methods for injecting the disturbance.

The reference input “R” of the network analyzer is then used to measure the current while the second input “A” or “T” is used to measure the voltage on the output of the power supply being characterized. Thus the relative gain being measured by the network analyzer is the impedance, based on:

z_out = v_out/i_out = (A or T)/R

The output voltage and current signals need to be compatible with the measurement inputs on the network analyzer. This means a voltage divider probe may be needed for the voltage measurement, depending on the voltage level, and a resistor or current probe will be needed to convert the current into an appropriate voltage signal. A key consideration here is appropriate scaling constants need to be factored in, based on the gain or attenuation of the voltage and current probes being used, so that the impedance reading is correct.

Figure 1: DC power supply output impedance measurement with the Agilent E5061B

One example set up using the Agilent E5061B network analyzer is shown in Figure 1, taken from page 15 of an Agilent E5061B application note on testing DC-DC converters, referenced below. Here the disturbance is injected in through an isolation transformer coupled across the power supply output through a DC blocking capacitor and a 1 ohm resistor. The 1 ohm resistor is doing double duty in that it is changing the voltage disturbance into a current disturbance and it is also providing a means for the “R” input to measure the current. The “T” input then directly measures the DC/DC converter’s (or power supply’s) output voltage.

A second, somewhat more elaborate, variation of this arrangement, based on using a 4395A network analyzer (now discontinued) has been posted by a colleague here on our Agilent Power Supply forum: “Output Impedance Measurement on Agilent Power Supplies”. In this set up the disturbance signal from the network analyzer is instead fed into the analog input of an Agilent N3306A electronic load. The N3306A in turn creates the current disturbance on the output of the DC power supply under test as well as provide any desired DC loading on the power supply’s output. The N3306A can be used to further boost the level of disturbance if needed. Finally, an N278xB active current probe and matching N2779A probe amplifier are used to easily measure the current signal.

Hopefully this will get you on your way if the need for making power supply output impedance ever arises!

Reference: “Evaluating DC-DC Converters and PDN with the E5061B LF-RF Network Analyzer” Application Note, publication number 5990-5902EN (click here to access)

DC power supply output impedance characteristics

In a previous posting; “How Does a Power Supply regulate It’s Output Voltage and Current?” I showed how feedback loops are used to control a DC power supply’s output voltage and current.  Feedback is phenomenally helpful in providing a DC power supply with near-ideal performance. It is the reason why load regulation is measured in 100ths of a percent. A major reason for this is it bestows the power supply, if a voltage source, with near zero impedance, or as a current source, with high output impedance. How does it do this?

The impedance of a typical DC power supply’s output stage (like the conceptual one illustrated in the above referenced posting) is usually on the order of an ohm to a couple of ohms. This is the open-loop output impedance; i.e. the output impedance before any feedback is applied around the output.   If no feedback were applied we would not have anywhere near the load regulation we actually get. However, when the control amplifier provides negative feedback to correct for changes in output when a load is applied, the performance is transformed by the ratio of 1 + T, where T is loop gain of the feedback system. As an example, the output impedance of the DC power supply operating in constant voltage becomes:

Z_out (closed loop) = Z_out (open loop) / (1+T)

The loop gain T is approximately the gain of the operational amplifier times the attenuation of the voltage divider network. In practical feedback control systems the gain of the amplifier is quite large at and near DC, possibly as high as 90 dB of gain. This reduces the power supply’s DC and low frequency output to just milliohms or less, providing near ideal load regulation performance. Another factor in practical feedback control systems is the loop gain is rolled off in a controlled manner with increasing frequency in order to maintain stability. Thus at higher frequency the output impedance of a DC power supply operating as a voltage source increases towards its open loop impedance value as the loop gain decreases. This is illustrated in the output impedance plots in Figure 1, for the Agilent 6643A DC power supply.

Figure 1: Agilent 6643A 35V, 6A system DC power supply output impedance

As can be seen in Figure 1, for constant voltage operation, the 6643A DC power supply is just about 1 milliohm at 100 Hz, and exhibits an inductive output characteristic with increasing frequency as the loop gain decreases.

As also can be seen in Figure 1, feedback control works in a similar fashion for constant current operation. While a voltage source ideally has zero output impedance, a current source ideally has infinite impedance.  For constant current operation the 6643A DC power supply exhibits 10 ohms impedance at 100 Hz and rolls off in a capacitive fashion as frequency increases. However, for the 6643A, it is not so much the constant current control loop gain dropping off with frequency but the output filter capacitance dominating the output impedance. While the 6643A can be used as an excellent, well-regulated current source (see posting: “Can a standard DC power supply be used as current source?”) it is first and foremost optimized for being a voltage source. Some output capacitance serves towards that end.

An example of one use for the output impedance plots of a DC power supply is to estimate what the amount of load-induced AC ripple might be, based on the frequency and amplitude of the current being drawn by the load, when powered by power supply operating in constant voltage.

Fun at Matt's desk!

I am about to head out for a week long vacation (actually Gary will be there too) so I wanted to do something short and fun for this month’s blog post.  I have been with Agilent 13 years come mid June (man I am getting to be old).  Through the years, I have collected some interesting items on my desk.  I wanted to share some of the more interesting items that I have collected through the years.

Item 1:

What do you think this green object is?

If you answered a 2500 Watt resistor then you’re right!  This particular resistor is rated for 0.8 Ohms. Agilent sells power supplies that are rated all the way up to 6.6 kW so sometimes you need a high power resistive load.  I personally would not put 2500 W through this resistor unless I had a whole lot of ventilation.  Luckily last time I used it I only put like 1500 W through it so it only got mildly toasty.   

Item 2:

How much voltage do you think that this probe can measure?

This is the Agilent 34136A high voltage probe for our DMMs.   Before I acquired this probe, I was used to teeny tiny normal alligator clip probes but this probe can measure up to 40 kV!.  I don’t know about any of you readers but I probably would not want to be anywhere near a 40 kV Voltage myself.  This probe  has banana plugs on it and you can hook it up to our DMM products (34401A, 34410A, etc.).  This probe almost looks like a sword of some sort with the pointy tip and all.

Item 3:

How much capacitance do you think this smallish capacitor is rated for?

This is a 10 F capacitor.  That is right 10 Farads!  When I was in college, a 10 Farad capacitor was unthinkable, now you can find them in these tiny packages.   My colleague Paul used this to research this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flv6s94gBXE.

So this is just a quick tour of some of the neat stuff around my desk.  What kind of neat engineering stuff do you readers have on your desks?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Happy Summer everyone!

How much AC power do you need to support your DC output?

You may know the maximum rated output power of your DC power supply, but do you know how much AC input power is needed to support the DC output of the power supply? Probably not. Since no power supply is 100% efficient, you know you will need more input power than the output power produced, but how much more? The answer depends primarily on the efficiency of the power supply (since efficiency here is power out divided by power in).There are 2 main sources of losses contributing to the efficiency, or perhaps I should say “inefficiency”, of a power supply:

1. Overhead power loss– this is the power consumed by the power supply that is not directly related to the output power conversion. It is the amount of power consumed by the internal circuits that are needed just to provide the basic internal functions of the power supply, such as front panel display control, internal bias supplies, cooling fans, and microprocessor control. This power is dissipated as heat inside the power supply and is therefore not available to flow to the output. Some of this power is consumed even when the output is providing no power.
2. Power conversion loss – this is the power lost in the power conversion circuitry. All of the output power flows through the power conversion circuitry, but as it does so, some heat is generated. The power lost as heat is not available to flow to the output.

A power supply’s efficiency is typically specified at the maximum output power point and includes losses associated with both the overhead power and power conversion circuitry. Most power supply vendors will publish the maximum expected AC input current, watts, and/or volt-amperes for their products so you should be able to get this information from the vendor’s documentation. But let’s consider an example based just on the output power rating and efficiency.

A power supply rated for 2000 W of output power with an efficiency of 80% will require 2000 W / 0.8 = 2500 W of AC input power. In the United States, the standard AC line voltage is 120 Vac. At a nominal voltage of 120 Vac, the AC input current would be 2500 W / 120 Vac = 20.8 Aac which is more than a standard outlet can provide (15 A maximum is a typical rating for an outlet). If the AC input line voltage sags a little making it lower, the input current would be even higher! To accommodate the AC input of this 2000 W power supply, there are several alternatives:

1. Use a less-common receptacle (outlet) and plug rated for more than 20 A.
2. Have an electrician hard-wire the AC input connection to the AC mains ensuring the wires and AC mains branch circuit can handle the higher current (no outlet would be used).
3. If the power supply is rated for it, power the power supply from a higher AC input voltage, such as 208 Vac or 240 Vac to reduce the current required. This solution will also require a less-common receptacle and plug (middle receptacles in photo).

Many very high-power supplies (a few kW and above) require a 3-phase AC input voltage to accommodate the larger amount of output power (orange receptacle shown at top of photo).

One of my colleagues, Bob Zollo, wrote an article entitled “Do You Have Enough AC For Your DC?” that appeared in Electronic Design on May 7, 2013. For some additional information about this topic, take a look at the article:

https://electronicdesign.com/test-amp-measurement/do-you-have-enough-ac-your-dc

Power Factor and Active Power Factor Correction for Switched-mode Power Supplies

In my previous posting “More on Early Power Supply Preregulator Circuits” SCRs served to provide basically line frequency switched-mode operation for efficient power conversion and regulation in earlier mixed-topology DC power supply designs. Now that high frequency switched-mode power conversion circuits have long been highly refined, are physically much smaller, and are extremely cost effective they have become the game-changer. They can be used as a preregulator for mixed-topology DC power supply designs, as well as the complete DC power supply from the AC input to the regulated DC output, right? Well almost “yes”. They do bring all those of benefits over line frequency operation. As they can span a much wider range of AC input another benefit they bring is to eliminate the need for a complex AC line switch arrangement for the wide range of AC voltages needed.

It was recognized that one downside of high frequency switched-mode conversion is the AC input suffered from rather low power factor (PF). PF is the ratio of the real power to the apparent power. Low PFs cause increased losses in the AC power distribution system. Not only was it low, it was very non-linear, drawing current having high levels of odd harmonics. It turns out the third harmonic in particular can be additive, causing excessive current through the neutral line of AC power distribution systems. The reason for the low and non-linear PF is that the AC input of a high frequency switched-mode conversion circuit is a diode bridge feeding a large, high voltage, bulk storage capacitor, as shown in Figure 1. This non-linear load draws large peaks of current over short portions of the AC line period.

Figure 1: Non-linear AC load input of a high frequency switch-mode power converter circuit

As more and more electronic equipment was making use of switch-mode DC power supplies, minimum PF standards were established for products above a certain power rating, to avoid causing problems with the AC power distribution system. To meet the standards switch-mode DC power supplies above a certain power rating have had to incorporate power factor correction (PFC) into their AC inputs. While a few different approaches can be taken for adding PFC, most switch-mode DC power supplies incorporate a specialized switched-mode boost converter stage for providing active PFC. The active PFC stage is placed between the input rectifier bridge and bulk storage capacitor as depicted in Figure 2. An active PFC stage is designed to draw AC current in phase and in proportion to the AC voltage, typically providing PFs in a range of 0.95 to 0.99, which is comparable to a nearly purely resistive load!

Figure 2: Active PFC circuit in typical switched-mode DC power supply

While adding active PFC to a switch-mode DC power supply increases complexity, cost, and power loss somewhat, the overall combination of benefits of a switch-mode DC power supply with active PFC, either stand-alone or as a preregulator, is hard to beat!

More on Early Power Supply Preregulator Circuits

In my last posting “Ferroresonant Transformers as Preregulators in Early DC Power Supplies “, I introduced the concept of preregulators as a means of improving the efficiency of power supplies.  While a linear regulator provides excellent performance as a power supply, it has to dissipate all the additional power resulting from the voltage drop across it as it takes up the difference between the output voltage setting and the unregulated DC voltage at its input. This voltage difference becomes quite large for high-line AC input voltage levels, as well as low DC output voltage settings when the power supply has an adjustable output. A linear power supply becomes quite inefficient and physically large, having to dissipate a lot of power in comparison to what it provides at its output.  A preregulator helps to mitigate this disadvantage while still retaining the performance advantages of a linear output stage.

The ferroresonant transformer was a clever device and was an effective means of compensating for variance in the AC input voltage, but its output was fixed so it did not do anything for compensating for low DC output voltage settings when the power supply had an adjustable output.  A far more common type of preregulator circuit often used was an SCR preregulator circuit, depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Constant voltage power supply with SCR preregulator

The SCR is a four layer diode structure. Unlike a conventional diode it does not conduct in the forward direction until a signal current is applied to its gate input. It then latches on and remains conducting in its forward direction. It does so until the forward bias voltage is removed or reversed and it resets. In the reverse direction it is the same as a conventional diode.  By replacing two of the conventional diodes in the full wave diode bridge with SCRs as shown in Figure 1, the DC voltage feeding into the linear regulator output stage can now be preregulated.  The preregulator control circuit senses the voltage across the series linear regulator output stage. For each half cycle of the line frequency it adjusts the firing angle of the SCRs in order to adjust the DC voltage at the input of the linear regulator so that the voltage across the linear regulator remains constant, compensating for the load and output voltage level setting accordingly. Figure 2 shows how changing the firing angle of the SCRs changes the output voltage and current delivered by the SCR preregulator circuit.

Figure 2: SCR firing angle control of the preregulator’s output

In all, an SCR preregulated power supply with a linear output stage provided a good balance of efficiency, performance, and cost making its topology well suited for DC power supplies for a variety of lab and industrial applications for the time.  Still, time marches on and high frequency switching-based topologies have come to dominate for the most part, due to a number of advantages they bring. As a matter of fact it is not uncommon today to find a switching power supply serving as a preregulator as well!

Reference: Agilent Technologies DC Power Supply Handbook, application note AN-90B, part number 5952-4020 “Click here to access”