Subharmonics and chaos in a controlled switched-mode power converter

A difference equation is derived for the output current, at successive switch events, of a simple switching-regulator DC/DC converter using a pulsewidth modulator. Wideband feedback control of the nonlinear circuit leads to a one-dimensional return map of zigzag form from which a stability criterion is found. Operation in the unstable region is described and verified by numerical simulation. The system exhibits a noisy bifurcation, chaos and subharmonics.< >