Switching voltage regulator modeling and its applications in power delivery design

Switching voltage regulator (VR) modeling has numerous advantages over the conventional state average VR modeling methodology, in terms of accuracy, functionality, tuning capability, and extended applications on EMI. In previous work, switching VR modeling based on Pspice was discussed in the work of Xu and Zhong (2013). However, it is fairly accurate with simulation time limited by circuit complexity and often results in convergence issues. Besides, due to the SPICE nature, a separate average model has to be derived in order to simulate its AC performance. In this paper, we introduce a novel switching VR modeling methodology in Simplis environment, together with Intel latest server platform collaterals. In addition to excellent AC/Transient correlations, the Simplis modeling demonstrates the capability of simulating VR controller specific functions, such as dynamic voltage identification (DVID), Advanced Transient Algorithm (ATA), auto phase shedding, etc. The results in combination reveal an exciting potential that system designers now can co-design VR and board level power delivery to achieve best overall performance and cost solutions.