Application Report

SLUAA66 – May 2020

Practical Feedback Loop Design Considerations for

Flyback Converter Using UCC28740

SW Lee

ABSTRACT
The flyback converter is the isolated version of the buck-boost converter. The circuit that has become very
widespread is where the TL431 is used in conjunction with an optocoupler to provide feedback loop
isolation. Although the TL431 is advertised as a transconductance amplifier, it can be used as a standard
Type II error amplifier if it is connected properly. The TL431 and an optocoupler play an important role for
stable feedback and control loop, and this application report describes the design considerations to make
the entire loop stable for achieving proper operations on flyback converter.

Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
2 Design Considerations for the Stability ................................................................................... 2
3 Experimental Results ........................................................................................................ 5
4 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 6
5 References ................................................................................................................... 6

List of Figures
1 Typical Application Circuit of the UCC28740 ............................................................................ 2
2 Main Feedback and Control Loop ......................................................................................... 2
3 AC Test Results of the TL431A with Different Bias Conditions ....................................................... 3
4 Optocoupler Frequency Response Analysis Test Circuit ............................................................... 3
5 Frequency Response of LTV-817A Optocoupler ........................................................................ 4
6 Loop Gain and Phase Margin ............................................................................................. 6
Trademarks
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Introduction
The flyback converter represents very popular structure found in the market due to its simplicity, ease of
design and low cost. And, the flyback operated in current mode is the most widely used converter having
first-order behavior in the low-frequency portion. The UCC28740 is a flyback power-supply controller
which combines frequency with primary peak-current amplitude modulation to provide high conversion
efficiency across the load range.
Figure 1 shows the typical application circuit of the UCC28740. The circuit that has become very
widespread is where the TL431 is used in conjunction with an optocoupler to provide feedback loop
isolation. Note that several of the components including the TL431, an optocoupler, CFB, CFB3, RTL, RFB3
and RFB4 are involved in making the loop stable. In this circuit, the output of the TL431 is powered through
the resistor RTL and the optocoupler diode, connected in series with the power supply output.

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+ VF ±
VBULK VOUT
NP NS
+
CB1 CB2 COUT
±
VAC
UCC28740 RTL
SOIC-7
VFA ±
VAUX + VVDD ID IOPT
VDD HV
CVDD
ROPT
RS1
Optocoupler
VE RFB1
VS DRV
RLC VTL
RS2 CFB3 CS CFB
RFB3
RCS
VFB FB
IFB GND TL431 RFB2
RFB4

Figure 1. Typical Application Circuit of the UCC28740

The main effect is that the gain of the circuit is now driven by the current into the output of the TL431, not
by its output voltage. This current is determined by the voltage gain of the TL431, the supply voltage to the
top of RTL and the value of RTL itself.

2 Design Considerations for the Stability

Figure 2 shows the schematic highlighting elements around the TL431 and an optocoupler. At low
frequencies, the gain of the TL431 amplifier acts like an integrator with feedback capacitor CFB and resistor
RFB1. And, resistor RFB2 provides the correct DC regulation level, but due to the virtual ground at the input
of the error amplifier, it does not appear in any of the gain equations.
VOUT

VVDD IRTL
RTL
IC
ID IOPT

ROPT
COPTO
Optocoupler
RFB1
VTL
CFB
RFB3 CFB3
VFB Vref
TL431 RFB2
RFB4

Figure 2. Main Feedback and Control Loop

At mid frequency, the gain of the integrator around the TL431 amplifier reaches unity, and beyond this
point, the output voltage signal from the amplifier is attenuated. However, there is always gain from the
output voltage to optocoupler diode current due to the connection of the resistor RTL to the power supply
output, this is the dominant feedback path in the midband frequencies.
Figure 3 shows the open loop voltage gains of the TL431A (SOT23-3 Package) with different bias
conditions, and it’s important to choose a proper pullup resistor since the gain of the TL431A is
significantly changed by the pullup resistor. The value of this resistor must be chosen to provide sufficient
bias current to the cathode of the TL431A under all operating conditions. Also, notice that the output of the
TL431A must be kept above a minimum value required to provide the bias.

2 Practical Feedback Loop Design Considerations for Flyback Converter Using SLUAA66 – May 2020
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www.ti.com Design Considerations for the Stability

Voltage loop stability compensation is applied at the shunt-regulator which drives the opto-coupled
feedback signal. The tolerances chosen for the shunt-regulator reference and the sense resistors
determine the regulation accuracy.
The TL431A usually requires a minimum bias current of 1 mA to maintain regulation accuracy. Together
with the UCC28740 primary-side controller, careful biasing is important to meet standby power loss
requirements. The output voltage (VOUT) is set with a resistor divider by RFB1 and RFB2, and it is
recommended to use 1% tolerance or better divider resistors. To improve efficiency at light loads consider
using larger value resistors. However, if the values are too high, the converter is more susceptible to noise
and voltage errors from the Vref input current are noticeable.
60
VDC=9V, IK=1mA
VDC=10V, IK=2mA
VDC=7.5V, IK=6mA
VDC=7.5V, IK=3mA
VDC=7.5V, IK=2mA
40
VDC=10V, IK=10mA
VDC=7.5V, IK=1mA
VDC=7.5V, IK=0.735mA
Gain [dB]

20
Output

IK
VDC
0 +
±

-20

1k 10k 100k 1M 10M

Frequency [Hz]
Figure 3. AC Test Results of the TL431A with Different Bias Conditions

Figure 4 shows the way the optocoupler can be wired to unveil its pole position. The optocoupler chosen
for the EVM (Evaluation Module) design is a LTV-817A of Lite-on, and the V2 source fixes the DC
operation point of this common-emitter configuration. For the proper frequency response measurement, 3-
kΩ resistor (R2) is used for the DC bias until the collector of the optocoupler measured around 2.5 V, and
this is to ensure enough voltage dynamics when the AC sweep will begin. A similar resistor value (15 kΩ)
is used for the both Rpullup and R1 to bring the low frequency AC gain to the CTR value in this case.
C1
R1

Rpullup 15 NŸ
10 µF
15 NŸ
V1 = 5 V OUT
+ AC
R2
±
Copto
3 NŸ V2 = 1.6 V
1.3 nF +
±

GND

Figure 4. Optocoupler Frequency Response Analysis Test Circuit

The transfer function for this optocoupler frequency response circuit is obtained by calculating the
impedance offered by the network placed in the optocoupler diode path, CTR and the common-emitter
configuration with Rpullup and Copto.

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Vout s CTR u C1 u R2 u Rpullup u s

H s
Vac s R1 R2 u Copto u C1u Rpullup u s2 Copto u Rpullup C1 u R2 C1 u R1 u s 1 (1)
Developing and arranging Equation 1:
CTR u C1 u R2 u Rpullup s
H s u
R1 R2 u Copto u C1 u Rpullup Copto u Rpullup C1 u R1 C1 u R2 1
s2 us
R1 R2 u Copto u C1 u Rpullup R1 R2 u Copto u C1 u Rpullup
(2)
Factoring and rearranging Equation 2, we have:
s
H s CTR u C1 u R2 u R pullup u
Copto u Rpullup u s 1 u R1 R2 u C1 u s 1 (3)
The locations of the poles are:
1
f p1 opto 0.88 Hz
2uŒu 5 5 u& (4)
1
f p2 opto 8.12 kHz
2 u Πu &opto u 5 pullup (5)
When the optocoupler is connected to FB pin of the UCC28740, it will introduce a pole (fp2(opto)) due to Copto
coupling with the pull-up resistor (or the pull down in a common-collector configuration). fp2(opto) will affect
the total system stability, and the contribution of Copto should be considered for the stable operation. Also,
note that changing the DC operating point (different Vce of the optocoupler) does not affect the pole
position. Figure 5 shows the frequency response of LTV-817A (Lite-on) optocoupler, and fp2(opto) measured
to be 8.12 kHz at -3 dB gain attenuation as it is calculated in Equation 5.

-5
Gain [dB]

fp2(opto) = 8.12 KHz

-10

-15

-20

-25
10 100 1k 10k 100k
Frequency [Hz]

Figure 5. Frequency Response of LTV-817A Optocoupler

A capacitor (CP) can be added in parallel with the optocoupler in the primary side to adjust the location of
fp2(opto). When the optocoupler capacitor couples to a capacitor (CP), the new pole is shifted to
1
f p2 opto.Cp
2 u Πu &opto &P u 5 pullup (6)
Therefore, once a capacitor (CP) is known, it is needed to calculate the new pole frequency, and the new
pole frequency will be lower compared to fp2(opto) with this approach. The solution is to explore a new pole
for the proper gain and phase margins.

4 Practical Feedback Loop Design Considerations for Flyback Converter Using SLUAA66 – May 2020
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www.ti.com Experimental Results

The control law of the UCC28740 combines frequency with primary peak-current amplitude modulation
and provides a wide dynamic operating range of output power which allows the power supply designer to
easily achieve less than 30 mW standby power dissipation using a standard shunt-regulator and
optocoupler. For a target of less than 10 mW standby power, careful loss-management design with a low
power regulator and high CTR optocoupler is required.
In Figure 2, the transfer function from VTL to VFB is obtained by calculating the impedance offered by the
network placed in the optocoupler diode path on the primary side with CTR.
VFB s CFB3 u CTR u RFB3 u RFB4 u s CTR u RFB4
H s
V TL s CFB3 u Copto u RFB3 u RFB4 u s2 CFB3 u RFB3 Copto u RFB3 Copto u RFB4 u s 1 (7)
The location of the zero is determined by:
CFB3 u CTR u RFB3 u RFB4 u s CTR u RFB4 0 (8)
fz can be extracted from Equation 8 to obtain (considering CFB3=47 nF, RFB3=196k Ω, RFB4=22 kΩ)
CTR u RFB4
fz 17.28 Hz
2 u Πu &FB3 u &75 u 5FB3 u 5FB4 (9)
Also, the locations of the first pole and the second pole are determined by:
CFB3 u Copto u RFB3 u RFB4 u s2 CFB3 u RFB3 Copto u RFB3 Copto u RFB4 u s 1 0 (10)
fp1 and fp2 can be extracted from Equation 10 (considering Copto=1.3 nF)
105.62 Hz
f p1 16.81 Hz
2uΠ(11)
35.94 kHz
f p2 5.72 kHz
2uΠ(12)
Since the location of the both fz and fp1 is about 17 Hz as shown in Equation 9 and Equation 11, fp2 plays
the role of the dominant pole in the system. To make the system stable, the crossover frequency should
be less than fp2. If fp2 is less than the crossover frequency, the gain falls at a rate of -40 dB/decade, and
the system will be unstable in this case.

3 Experimental Results
The components including Copto, CFB3, RFB3 and RFB4 are important to determine the dominant pole position
properly, and the value of RFB4 is usually in the range from 10 kΩ to 100 kΩ. A tradeoff must be made
between a lower value for faster transient response and a higher value for lower standby power
Figure 6 shows the loop gain and the phase margin of applying CFB3, RFB3, RFB4, Copto values to a flyback
converter example. And, the UCC28740 EVM-525 is used for this measurement. As shown in Figure 6,
the crossover frequency, with a 110 VAC, 60 Hz input and load current of 1 A, is limited to about 1.5 kHz
passing it through with -1 gain slope (-20 dB/decade), and the phase margin measured to be 70 degrees
at this crossover frequency. The actual location of the dominant pole (fP2) is about 5.72 kHz as it is already
calculated in Equation 12.

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10 100 1k 10k

40

Gain [dB]
20 fc = 1.5 kHz

fp2 = 5.72 kHz

-20

180
Phase Margin = 70 deg
135

90
Phase [deg]

45

-45

-90

-135
10 100 1k 10k
Frequency [Hz]

Figure 6. Loop Gain and Phase Margin

The gain drops off rapidly with -2 gain slope (-40 dB/decade) after this pole frequency, and the gain
margin measured to be -8 dB when the phase is zero degrees.

4 Summary
The TL431 and an optocoupler play an important role for the stable feedback and control loop. The open
loop gain of the TL431 is significantly changed by the pullup resistor, and the value of this resistor must be
chosen to provide sufficient bias current to the cathode of the TL431 under all operating conditions. When
the optocoupler is connected to FB pin of the UCC28740, it will introduce a pole (fp2(opto)) due to Copto. fp2(opto)
will affect the total system stability, and the contribution of Copto should be considered for the stable
operation. The components including Copto, CFB3, RFB3 and RFB4 are important to determine the dominant
pole position (fp2) properly, and fp2 is calculated applying these components in this application report. The
location of fp2 has been confirmed by measuring the loop gain and the phase margin using the UCC28740
EVM-525.

5 References
• Texas Instruments, UCC28740 Constant-Voltage Constant-Current Flyback Controller Using
Optocoupled Feedback Data Sheet
• Texas Instruments, UCC28740, Using the UCC28740EVM-525 10 W Constant-Voltage, Constant-
Current Charger Adaptor Module, User Guide
• Texas Instruments, TL431A Precision Programmable Data Sheet

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