
6-6
6.3.1 Power Control - Full Bridge Amplifier
Output power in the Full Bridge modes is con-
trolled by monitoring the output voltage and
current, multiplying the two together and the
product of the operation is power. The measured
power is then compared to the requested power
and if the power is greater than requested power,
the power control circuit reduces the HVDC. If
the power is less than the requested power, then
the power control circuit increases the HVDC.
The power control loop encompasses several
assemblies, however we will only focus on the cir-
cuits of the Power Control Assembly. For this dis-
cussion, it is important to refer to the schematic
(Figure C-6). The RF Output can be constant
current, power regulated or a fixed output voltage,
all depending on the RF load.
The inputs labeled VSN (voltage sense) and ISN
(current sense) are ratios of the RF output voltage
and current that is delivered to the patient. U1 &
U3 are RMS-to-DC converters that convert both
signals to a DC level so they can be monitored
and controlled. The DC level is then connected
to the input of a unity gain amplifier (U2). U2
is used to control both voltage and current lim-
its outside of the load regulation range. For the
time, we will focus on the simpler aspect of this
circuit, and cover the limits later in the discussion.
Power regulation can be seen on the load curves
that are within this manual. (See Figure 5.1.10,
Pure Load Curves) Using Pure Cut as our mode
for discussion, the output power is regulated
between 300 ohms to 1K ohms. When the RF
load is between 300 ohms and 1K ohms, the
outputs of the amplifiers connected to U1 & U3
are negative, or the diodes D4 & D3 are reverse
biased. The DC value of the RMS-to-DC con-
verters is passed around the amplifier to the cath-
odes of D4 & D3, where they are buffered by the
unity gain amplifiers, U2.
U12 is a multiplier that multiplies the mea-
sured voltage (VSN) and measured current (ISN)
together for a product term called POWER
(P=VI). On the output of U12 is an amplifier
(U10) with a potentiometer (RA5) in the feed-
back. This potentiometer is used to calibrate the
gain of the loop and it is this potentiometer that is
adjusted for Pure Cut calibration. The output of
the amplifier (U10) is called measured power and
the measured power is compared to the requested
power PCON at V10D. The difference of the
two is called PERR (Power Error), a signal that
can increase or decrease the HVDC for power
control. When the signal is positive, the HVDC
is reduced and when negative, the HVDC is
increased.
Digressing back to the outputs of the RMS-to-
DC converters for a moment, the DC value of the
output voltage and current are both connected to
the inverting input of the unity gain amplifiers.
As long as the load is within the defined limits
for power regulation (300 ohms - 1K ohms), the
measured value will exceed the reference level or
the level on the non-inverting inputs. The output
of the amplifier is then negative, reverse biasing
D3 & D4 diodes, and the output of the RMS-DC
converters is passed through the 2.7 ohm resis-
tors.
The signal called ILIM is actually a reference.
When the output current is less than this refer-
ence, the ILIM value is used as the multiplier with
the measured voltage. ILIM is dependent on the
dial setting, however for each dial setting it is
fixed and becomes a fictitious representation for
the output current. ILIM is multiplied against the
measured voltage and the product is compared to
the requested power. With a fixed current being
compared to a fixed power setting, the result is a
fixed voltage on the RF output. For loads that
are greater than the loads for power regulation
(R>1K ohms in cut), the RF output voltage is
fixed (V=P/I).
On U2-3 (VLIM) is a reference voltage that is
really a fictitious value for the output voltage. For
heavy loads (R<300 ohms in Cut), the output
voltage is less than this reference so the value is
multiplied against the measured output current.
The product of the two is then compared to the
requested power. With a fixed voltage (reference)
and a fixed power setting, the output current is
fixed (I=P/V). The resistance for power regula-
tion drops with power setting, meaning at full
power the load is 300 ohms but at 100 watts, the
load is 100 ohms.
Calibration of the Power Control circuit is set in
Pure Cut initially by adjusting RA5. This poten-
tiometer calibrates the loop gain for accurate
power monitoring and control. Blend modes are
a direct function of Pure Cut and do not need to
be calibrated, however Bipolar and Pinpoint do
require calibration. Bipolar is calibrated by adjust-
ing RA6 and Pinpoint is calibrated by adjusting