Modeling of Saturable Inductors for Application in DCDC Converters This paper deals with a method by which the experimental characterization of a power inductor is obtained from onboard measurements that exploits a lowcost DCDC buck converter to supply the inductor under test with quasirectangular voltage waveforms of different amplitudes and bias conditions. The measurements of the voltage  v_mathrmL(t)  across the inductor and the current  i_mathrmL(t)  are performed up to inductions approaching the magnetic saturation. After suitable integration of  v_mathrmL(mathrmt) , the magnetic flux is obtained as a function of  i_mathrmL  and the accuracy of the described identification process is checked by comparing the measured waveform of the current to numerical simulation of the same quantity obtained assuming as input the DC current component and the measured voltage waveform.

A lowcost online estimator for switchmode power supplies with saturating ferritecore inductors Ferritecore inductors are largely used in switchmode power supplies (SMPSs) and can be fruitfully exploited also when working in partial saturation. Several behavioral models have been recently proposed to represent both inductance and power losses in saturation conditions. In this paper we exploit this kind of models for estimating online relevant features of the SMPS inductor, such as current ripple and power loss, which are difficult to monitor through acquisition of easilymeasurable quantities only. The method works at electrical steadystate, but is able to follow the thermal transients. Models are implemented on a lowcost microcontroller and tests are performed on a boost converter, for different operating conditions.