Observer-based PI stabilization of power converters

In a recent paper a procedure to design globally asymptotically stable linear proportional plus integral controllers for switched power converters was proposed. The construction requires the measurement of the full state of the system, which is often unavailable in practice. In this note we identify a class of converters for which an asymptotically convergent reduced order observer, preserving the aforementioned stability property of the closed-loop, can be designed. The class is characterized by a simple linear matrix inequality. The new controller is illustrated with the widely-popular, and difficult to control, single-ended primary inductor converter, for which experimental results are presented.