Thursday, July 1, 2010

what are differences of full bridge vs. half-bridge class d

What are the advantages of full-bridge vs. half-bridge Class D amplifiers?

The following is a quick summary:

Half-Bridge
PWM Two-level switching (high and low logic levels)
Current Limited to the rating of each mosfet, assuming 1 mosfet high side, and 1 low.
No. of mosfets 2 minimum
Gate drive One dual gate driver possible
DC offset Critical -- must be virtually zero
Supply voltages Need positive and negative voltages
Distorsion Less than 1% possible
Bandwidth 20-20KHZ possible depending on design
Power regulation A pumping effect makes regulation more difficult

Full bridge
PWM Three-level possible
Current capacity Twice the half-bridge rating for the same mosfet types
No. of mosfets 4 minimum
Gate drive More complex than half-bridge
DC offset Self-canceling
Supply voltages One voltage can be used. Also can work from positive and negative supplies
Distorsion Much less than 1% possible
Bandwidth 20-20KHZ practical
Power regulation Easier than half-bridge

One comment on the gate drive system for the full-bridge circuit is that the logic is straight-forward but it may be necessary to add gate drive buffers to increase the strength of the gate drives.

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