A novel random PWM technique with low computational overhead and constant sampling frequency for high-volume, low-cost applications

A novel random pulse-width modulation (PWM) technique for three-phase voltage-source inverters, characterized by low computational overhead, a variable switching frequency, and a constant sampling frequency, is presented. The technique is based on two strategies: 1) the so-called arithmetic PWM (APWM), which yields the same switching patterns as the classic space-vector modulation, but with minimal computational effort and 2) randomization of switching periods by varying the delay of switching cycles with respect to corresponding sampling cycles. Simplicity of the technique, named a variable-delay random PWM (VDRPWM) method, allows its implementation in cheap, low-end processors. It makes the VDRPWM the best choice for high-volume, low-cost applications, such as domestic and automotive ac drives and UPSs. The random aspect of the technique has a mitigating effect on the acoustic and electromagnetic noise emitted by the supplied system. This feature has been confirmed by experiments with a 40-hp induction motor drive.     

Analysis, design, and implementation of a random frequency PWMinverter

Random pulse width modulation (RPWM) approaches can make the harmonic spectrum of inverter output voltage be continuously distributed without affecting the fundamental frequency component, and thus the acoustic noise and mechanical vibration of an inverter-fed AC motor drive are greatly reduced. However, the analysis and design of the RPWM mechanisms are generally not so trivial for practical engineers that their applications are limited. In this paper, a random frequency PWM (RFPWM) inverter and its practical design procedure are presented. First, the effects of the attributes of a random signal on the inverter output harmonic spectrum distribution characteristics are analyzed using an intuitive concept, then based on which, the quantitative design. Simulink simulation and implementation of the proposed RFPWM inverter are introduced. The proposed RFPWM inverter is employed to power an indirect field-oriented induction motor drive. The simulated and measured results indicate that the uniform random distribution of inverter output harmonic spectrum and thus smaller acoustic noise and mechanical vibration are obtained by the proposed RFPWM scheme     

Improved spectral performance of random PWM schemes with weightedswitching decision

The authors present a statistical approach to the analysis of random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) methods which generate PWM signals by comparing a reference modulating function with random numbers or signals. Such an approach is used to analyze and optimize a new weighted RPWM (WRPWM) method and also a standard trapezoidal RPWM method. The WRPWM scheme combines the advantages of the nondeterministic and deterministic PWM methods by adding some deterministic nature into the nondeterministic RPWM method. Both theoretical and experimental results confirm that the optimized WRPWM method has better spectral performance over the standard RPWM schemes and has attractive features such as the potential of third-harmonic boosting, reduced acoustic noise, and minimal low-order harmonics under an overmodulation condition for electronic drive applications     

Current control for induction motor drives using random PWM

Current control in voltage-source inverters with random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) is investigated. The random modulation is introduced to alleviate the undesirable acoustic, vibration, and EMI effects in inverter-fed AC drive systems. A novel RPWM digital technique with dithering of the switching frequency and compensation of the processing time is described. Design of the current control loop is discussed. Results of investigation of an experimental drive system are presented, proving the feasibility of the proposed solutions     

Noise analysis of DC-AC random PWM schemes

Random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) techniques for DC-AC power converters usually work well with high-sampling frequency. When RPWM schemes are implemented in digital signal processors (DSPs), the sampling frequency is limited by the speed of the processors. This paper analyzes the noise spectrum of various DSP-implemented RPWM techniques using a statistical approach. The relationship of the noise components and the sampling frequency for both the standard RPWM and the weighted RPWM methods is generalized. The dependency of the noise characteristics on various factors is calculated theoretically and verified experimentally. The generalized noise theory for randomized PWM switching provides useful practical guidelines to the choice of sampling frequency     

A comparison of nondeterministic and deterministic switchingmethods for DC-DC power converters

An analysis and experimental results of the random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) and random pulse-position modulation (RPPM) methods for DC-DC converters are presented. The characteristics and performance of power converters under two randomized modulations are evaluated. The theoretical relationships of discrete harmonics, continuous noise, and output-voltage ripple of the RPWM and RPPM schemes are established and compared with those of a standard deterministic pulsewidth modulation (PWM) scheme in a buck converter. Limitations in the randomly switched DC-DC converters, which have not been addressed before, are highlighted. Randomized schemes generally have inherent problems in achieving low-output-voltage ripple due to the low-frequency continuous noise within the passband of the converter filter. The inherent low-frequency noise-induced voltage ripple problems of nondeterministic switching methods for DC converters are confirmed experimentally. The performance of the RPPM method is found to be closer to the standard PWM method than that of the RPWM method. For DC-DC power conversion, the RPPM method offers much better output-voltage performance than the RPWM method     

Random modulation techniques with fixed switching frequency forthree-phase power converters

This paper proposes a new family of random modulation techniques for three-phase power converters which operate with a fixed switching frequency. The techniques are based on adjusting the duration of the zero-vectors or adjusting the three pulse positions in a switching period. Three methods are selected for experimental tests because they preserve the fixed switching frequency known from standard PWM techniques. The new methods are also compared with random switching frequency modulation and with fixed switching frequency modulation. Voltage, current and acoustic noise spectra are used for comparison and it is concluded that two of the techniques are especially useful at lower fundamental frequencies. The techniques can substitute classic random modulation techniques with variable switching frequency in some applications     

Novel random PWM schemes with weighted switching decision

A new random pulse-width modulation (RPWM) scheme, which includes a weighted decision switching process, has been developed and tested. The switching strategy can be applied to the entire range of the modulation index. The scheme combines the advantages of the deterministic nature of the standard pulse-width modulation (PWM) schemes, and the nondeterministic spread-spectral characteristic of RPWM schemes. Test results have confirmed the improved spectral performance of the proposed schemes over a standard RPWM scheme at both low- and high-modulation indexes     

Acoustic noise reduction in sinusoidal PWM drives using a randomlymodulated carrier

Acoustic noise in an inverter-driven electric machine can be reduced by avoiding the concentration of harmonic energy in distinct tones. One method to spread out the harmonic spectrum without the use of programmed PWM (pulse width modulation) is to make the switching pattern random. It is proposed that the switching pattern can be randomized by modulating the triangle carrier in sinusoidal PWM with bandlimited white noise. All of the advantages of sinusoidal PWM are preserved with this technique. These include, real-time control, linear operation, good transient response, and a constant average switching frequency. By controlling the bandwidth and RMS value of the bandwidth limited noise modulation, it is shown that the instantaneous variation in switching frequency and the bandwidth of the energy spectrum in the machine can be specified within predetermined limits. Experimental results show the absence of acoustic noise concentrated at specific tones, which is present in conventional sinusoidal modulation     

Analysis of random PWM switching methods for three-level powerinverters

This paper presents a generalized theory which covers both two-level and three-level random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) schemes. Various three-level RPWM schemes with low switching frequency are presented and compared with two-level schemes. Three-level RPWM schemes have less discrete harmonics and continuous noise than two-level RPWM schemes. They have desirable spectral characteristics and can be employed in high-voltage inverter-fed motor drives. Measurements have confirmed the theory and the attractive features of three-level RPWM schemes     

Analysis of power and power spectral density in PWM inverters withrandomized switching frequency

A novel method for accurate calculation of power spectra of the pulsewidth modulation (PWM) voltage-source inverter with randomized switching frequency is presented. The case of a limited pool of switching frequencies, convenient and adequate for technical purposes, is considered, and a mathematical background for this type of random PWM (RPWM) is provided. It is shown that the limited-pool RPWM gives rise to not only a continuous spectrum, but, also, under certain circumstances, pure power spectral components (harmonics), typical for the deterministic PWM. Criteria for the existence of harmonics are given, and formulae for both the power and the power spectral density are derived and verified experimentally     

A New Hybrid Random PWM Scheme

This paper proposes a new hybrid random pulsewidth modulation (PWM) scheme based on a TMS320LF2407 DSP, in order to disperse the acoustic switching noise spectra of an induction motor drive. The proposed random PWM pulses are produced through the logical comparison of a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) bits with the PWM pulses corresponding to two random triangular carriers. For this reason, the PWM pulses of the proposed scheme possess the hybrid characteristics of the random pulse position PWM and the random carrier frequency PWM. In order to verify the validity of the proposed method, the simulations and experiments were conducted with a 1.5-kW three-phase induction motor under the 2.5-A load condition. The DSP generates the random numbers, the PRBS bits with a lead-lag random bit (8 bit) and the three-phase reference signals. Also, a frequency modulator MAX038 makes the randomized frequency triangular carrier (3 $pm$ 1 kHz). From the results, the proposed scheme shows good randomization effects of the voltage, current, and acoustic noise of the motor as compared with conventional scheme (3 kHz).      

基于噪声调制的薄膜电阻加热温度控制系统

基于脉宽调制（PWM）技术的控制系统广泛应用于工业和日常生活中,随机脉宽调制（RP-WM）技术也已提出.利用耦合到系统的环境噪声和系统本身的噪声经加工处理后调制控制信号,由噪声信号的自相关函数和功率谱密度函数给出噪声调制脉冲的平均开关频率和平均加热功率的计算方法.利用模拟器件设计了一个简单的基于噪声调制的薄膜电阻加热温度控制系统.实验表明：控制系统能够稳定地运行,在一定范围内能抑制噪声,实现了高精度温度控制.     

Digital quasi-random modulated SFAVM PWM in an AC-drive system

A main research topic in PWM-VSI inverter-driven electrical machines is to reduce the generated acoustic noise which often is dominated by a multiple of the switching frequency in the inverter. This paper proposes a modulation scheme for reducing the acoustic noise effect from an AC machine which can be implemented digitally for low and high performance systems. The scheme is based on a stator flux asynchronous vector modulation (SFAVM) imposed by a digital band limited PWM white noise generator for varying the switching frequency randomly. The white noise generator can be used for 8, 16 and 32 bit microcontrollers. The modulation strategy is tested in a 1 kVA high performance 16 bit microprocessor controlled AC drive system. Voltage-spectra on the line-to-line voltage and the acoustic noise spectra are presented and show that the new modulation strategy can decrease the noise effect. The stator-flux-polygon and the line current are measured and demonstrate the random modulation strategy. Finally, the total sound pressure level from the AC machine is investigated with fixed switching frequencies and with different randomly modulated frequency spans. It is concluded that a properly chosen fixed switching frequency has the lowest total sound pressure level. However, the random modulation strategy distributes the noise frequencies and the noise is more comfortable and less annoying     

Acoustic noise radiated by PWM-controllel induction machine drives

This paper investigates the acoustic noise radiated from two nominally identical induction motors when fed from sinusoidal, and asymmetric regular sampling subharmonic and space-vector pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converters. The theory for analyzing the noise spectrum is developed further to account for the interaction between the motor and the drive. It is shown that manufacturing tolerances can result in significant differences in the noise level emitted from nominally identical motors, and that mechanical resonances can result in extremely high noise emissions. Such resonances can be induced by stator and rotor slot air-gap field harmonics due to the fundamental component of current, and by the interaction between the airgap field harmonics produced by the fundamental and the PWM harmonic currents. The significance of the effect of PWM strategy on the noise is closely related to the mechanical resonance with vibration mode order zero, while the PWM strategy will be critical only if the dominant cause of the emitted noise is the interaction of the fundamental air-gap field and PWM harmonics     

Active attenuation of electromagnetic noise in an inverter-fed automotive electric drive system

Electromagnetic noise, typical for systems with switching power converters, is especially troublesome in automotive electric drive systems because of the multitude of sensitive electronic equipment onboard of modern cars. To satisfy the relevant engineering norms, passive radio-frequency (RF) filters must be installed in the power electronic part of a drive. The RF filters add to the cost and size of the drive, which car designers strive to minimize to increase the passenger space. In this paper, active attenuation of the electromagnetic noise by means of the so-called random-delay pulse width modulation is described in application to an inverter-fed automotive ac drive. Based on computer simulations and experimental investigation, this simple and inexpensive method is shown to be highly effective.     

Random switching techniques for inverter control

New techniques which dramatically reduce acoustic noise by randomising the inverter switching frequency for inverter control are presented. It is shown that the proposed techniques combine the advantages of conventional pulsewidth modulation (PWM) techniques based on regular-sampling techniques and random PWM techniques     

Design and implementation of vector-controlled induction motordrives using random switching technique with constant sampling frequency

Recent results have shown that random switching techniques reduce electromagnetic interference, annoying acoustic noise, and other undesirable effects. However, to incorporate random switching techniques into digital-controlled induction motor drives, it requires dynamic adjustment of the gains of controllers. This paper presents details of the design and implementation of induction motor drives using a new random switching technique. It is shown, and confirmed by experimental results in this paper, that the sampling frequency of inverter control is constant, and therefore it is not required to adjust the gains of controllers dynamically. The details of controller design of the random switching inverter-controlled vector drives are fully explored, including the controller design in the discrete-time domain and the effect of the random technique on the speed response. Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of inverter-controlled vector drives using random switching techniques are highlighted by experimental results     

Spread spectrum in three-phase inverter by an optimised dual randomised PWM technique

Randomised pulse width modulation (RPWM) technique has become a viable alternative to deterministic pulse width modulation (DPWM). By spreading the power spectrum in a continuous noise, this new technique better complies with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements for conducted electromagnetic interferences (EMI) and allows reducing the emitted acoustic noise in variable speed drives (VSDs). The most popular RPWM schemes are randomised pulse position modulation (RPPM) and randomised carrier frequency modulation (RCFM). The combination (RCFM-RPPM) or dual RPWM (DRPWM) has also been proposed. In this article, we propose an optimised DRPWM (ODRPWM) for the three-phase inverter. First, the modulating principle is proposed, and then, a mathematical model of power spectral density (PSD) of the output voltage is developed and validated for the three schemes, namely RPPM, RCFM and RCFM-RPPM. PSD analysis shows that the proposed scheme is more effective on spreading PSD. Moreover, this analysis reveals optimal parameters of randomisation for a maximum spread of the PSD. The optimisation problem is then modelled and solved using two powerful non-linear methods.     

Improved frequency characteristics of the randomized PWM boost rectifier

A randomized pulse width modulation (RPWM) algorithm is applied in the control unit of the boost rectifier to achieve improved frequency characteristics in the wide band. First, the introduction of the RPWM switching is reflected in a smaller increase of the total harmonic distortion (THD) factor in the input current. Nevertheless, decrease of the power factor is negligibly small. Second, the power spectrum density (PSD) of the input current is estimated and measured to evaluate the influence of randomization in the high-frequency range. This approach offers an effective and credible prediction method for reduction of conductive electromagnetic interference (EMI) by using the RPWM switching.