A direct AC/AC converter based on current-source converter modules

The research on direct AC/AC conversion in the past twenty years has been following two major directions: improving the performance of the original nine-bidirectional-switch matrix converter topology; and using converter topologies composed of unidirectional switches only. In this paper, a direct AC/AC converter topology based on current-source converter modules is proposed. It is shown, through analysis and simulation, that the proposed topology is free of any switching difficulties and gives high-quality sinusoidal waveforms on both sides. Furthermore, with the same number of semiconductor devices as in the original nine-bidirectional-switch matrix converter topology, it is able to perform all aspects of frequency changing, real power flow control, and independent reactive power flow control on both sides. The proposed topology finds applications in electric drive industry, as an AC motor drive, and power system industry, as an asynchronous link.     

Phase-controlled series-parallel resonant converter

A constant-frequency, phase-controlled, series-parallel resonant DC-DC converter is introduced, analyzed in the frequency domain, and experimentally verified. To obtain the DC-DC converter, two identical series-parallel resonant inverters are paralleled and the resulting phase-controlled resonant inverter is loaded by a voltage-driven rectifier. The converter can regulate the output voltage at a constant switching frequency in the range of load resistance from full-load resistance to infinity while maintaining good part-load efficiency. The efficiency of the converter is almost independent of the input voltage. For switching frequencies slightly above the resonant frequency, power switches are always inductively loaded, which is very advantageous if MOSFETs are used as switches. Experimentally results are given for a converter with a center-tapped rectifier at an output power of 52 W and a switching frequency of 127 kHz. The measured current imbalance between the two inverters was as low as 1.2:1     

Novel topologies for DC-DC converter with PWM control

Two topologies for the buck converter are presented. The first converter consists of two active switches whereas the second converter, derived from the parent twoswitch converter, consists of only one active switch. The main feature of this new converter is the ability to operate at a constant switching frequency using a simple PWM control. The design of the gate circuit is simplified as there is only one switch. The converter has a good efficiency, as is proved by the experimental results. The operation of the parent two-switch converter, from which the new single-switch converter is derived, is also presented to gain insight into the design of the new converter.     

A DSP controlled variable-frequency resonant-commutated converter

Features of a three-phase resonant-commutated variable-frequency converter applicable in a variety of industrial applications are presented. Minimization of switching losses and hence usage of naturally commutated devices as accomplished by resonant commutation of the converter is highlighted. Design and development of the TMS320C30 DSP based controller is described. Strategies developed for switching of converter devices in relation to the resonant-commutated link are discussed. Results from Pspice simulation studies of the converter are presented. Experimental results while the three-phase experimental model of the converter supplied passive loads are enclosed and observations summarized. Comparison of results confirms potential applicability of the converter in adjustable speed drive, induction heating, welding and active filter applications     

Two-wire bridge-to-frequency converter

An integrated two-wire bridge-to-frequency converter is presented for use as a remote-signal conditioner for sensor bridges such as strain-gauge bridges of platinum-wire temperature-sensing bridges. The converter has a sensitivity on the order of 1 Hz per 1-/spl mu/V/V relative bridge output. A center frequency of 10 kHz allows the application of an untrimmed bridge with an imbalance up to /spl plusmn/10000 /spl mu/V/V. The instability is less than 10/SUP -4/ per Kelvin and per 1-V supply-voltage variation. The untrimmed transfer inaccuracy is lower than 1%. The linearity error is lower than 0.01%. Different bridge readout functions can be chosen by different circuit configurations. The converter can be connected to a single supply voltage. The frequency output is modulated on the supply current. The supply voltage is 12-24 V.     

ZVZCS single-stage PFC AC-to-DC half-bridge converter

A zero-voltage- and zero-current-switched single-stage AC-to-DC half-bridge converter with high power factor is presented to reduce the switching losses and to achieve sinusoidal, unity power factor input currents. The single-stage approach, which combines a boost converter used as power-factor correction with a half-bridge converter used as DC-to-DC conversion into one power stage, has a simple structure and low cost. At the same time, the switching losses could be considerably reduced, because the switches of the proposed converter are designed to be turned on at zero voltage and off at zero current. Detailed analysis and experimental results are presented on the proposed converter, which is operated at constant switching frequency and in discontinuous conduction mode     

A current-tripler dc/dc converter

This paper proposes a novel zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) current-tripler dc/dc converter. Compared to the conventional phase-shifted ZVS full-bridge dc/dc converter with current-doubler rectifier, the proposed current-tripler dc/dc converter reduces the synchronous rectifier (SR) conduction loss as well as the transformer winding loss. Furthermore, the proposed transformer structure is very compact, and thus the power density of the converter could be greatly increased. Analysis and experimental results show that the proposed topology offers great advantages when the converter output current goes higher and the voltage goes lower, as demanded by future microprocessors and telecommunications systems. A 48-V/1.0-V, 100-A, 300-kHz prototype is implemented, and the experimental results show that it can achieve 87% efficiency at full load.     

An accurate integrated voltage-to-current converter

Presents a monolithic integrated differential voltage-to-current converter. The transconductance of the converter is determined accurately by one external resistor. A total error in the conversion factor as low as /spl plusmn/0.5 percent is obtained by using composite transistors and by using the mutual equality of integrated resistors. The transconductance has a nonlinearity of 0.02 percent and a temperature coefficient of 4/spl times/10/SUP -5///spl deg/C. The output impedance is 5 M/spl Omega/. The voltage-to-current converter is a versatile building block. It can be applied as an instrumentation amplifier, a universal current mirror or current follower, etc.     

A time coding analog-to-digital converter

An idea for a time-coding analog-to-digital converter using an exponential voltage sweep is presented. The technique inherently offers the possibility of convenient automatic recalibration in order to compensate for long-term drift. Thus, the converter is particularly well suited for on-line use in automatic digital data reduction systems. Attention is paid to the calibration and use of the converter. A design procedure is suggested and the obtainable accuracy evaluated in terms of the design parameters. Some comments are made concerning the merits of the scheme as compared with the most common existing systems.     

A resonant-commutated-link variable-frequency converter

A novel DC-link converter utilizing resonant commutation is presented. Since resonant commutation is accomplished, converter switches are thyristors (SCRs) with lower costs than forced commutated devices. Focus is on the variable-frequency operation of the converter, with potential application in variable-frequency custom power delivery or adjustable-speed motor drives. The converter operates with greater stored energy in the DC link, thus offering current holdup capabilities during a contingency which cannot be attained with a conventional resonant DC-link converter and achieves minimum switching losses without increased conduction losses. Harmonic elimination is achieved by employing sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) control of the converter. Simulation results and experimental validation of the resonant commutation of a low-voltage and low-power laboratory model are discussed. Work in progress and the scope of further work are discussed     

A current-sourced DC-DC converter derived via the duality principlefrom the half-bridge converter

A current-sourced switch-mode power supply topology is developed by applying a duality principle to a voltage-sourced half-bridge converter. The converter has boost converter characteristics and is suited to low-voltage high-current input applications. It is shown to compare favorably with the center-tapped transformer converter. Two optional enhancements-nondissipative snubber networks and inductor clamping windings-are also examined. Some results obtained with a low-power prototype are presented     

A low-power reconfigurable analog-to-digital converter

A low-power CMOS reconfigurable analog-to-digital converter that can digitize signals over a wide range of bandwidth and resolution with adaptive power consumption is described. The converter achieves the wide operating range by (1) reconfiguring its architecture between pipeline and delta-sigma modes; (2) varying its circuit parameters, such as size of capacitors, length of pipeline, and oversampling ratio, among others; and (3) varying the bias currents of the opamps in proportion to the converter sampling frequency, accomplished through the use of a phase-locked loop (PLL). This converter also incorporates several power-reducing features such as thermal noise limited design, global converter chopping in the pipeline mode, opamp scaling, opamp sharing between consecutive stages in the pipeline mode, an opamp chopping technique in the delta-sigma mode, and other design techniques. The opamp chopping technique achieves faster closed-loop settling time and lower thermal noise than conventional design. At a converter power supply of 3.3 V, the converter achieves a bandwidth range of 0-10 MHz over a resolution range of 6-16 bits, and parameter reconfiguration time of twelve clock cycles. Its PLL lock range is measured at 20 kHz to 40 MHz. In the delta-sigma mode, it achieves a maximum signal-to-noise ratio of 94 dB and second and third harmonic distortions of 102 and 95 dB, respectively, at 10 MHz clock frequency, 9.4 kHz bandwidth, and 17.6 mW power. In the pipeline mode, it achieves a maximum DNL and INL of ±0.55 LSBs and ±0.82 LSBs, respectively, at 11 bits, at a clock frequency of 2.6 MHz and 1 MHz tone with 24.6 mW of power     

A simple switched-capacitor-based capacitance-to-frequency converter

A simple integrated capacitance-to-frequency converter is presented. Its core is a switched-capacitor integrator. Under the control of a switch clock the converter produces a square-wave signal whose frequency depends on an external capacitor. It is insensitive to parasitic capacitance and not affected by the op amp offset voltage. Moreover, this converter has a linear capacitance-to-frequency transform characteristic. This experimental circuit has been implemented by a low voltage double-polysilicon 5-m NMOS technology. Since the circuit is cost-effective and power consumption is low (less than 10 mW), such a converter is suitable for many mesurement systems which use a capacitor as a sensor. For example, it can be used for atmospheric pressure measurement in a meteorological balloon which cannot be reclaimed after release.     

Resonant-tank control of parallel resonant converter

A control method called resonant-tank control (RTC) is proposed for a parallel resonant converter operating above resonance. Using a simple linear combination of tank variables, it has potential for high-frequency DC-DC converter applications. RTC controls the tank in a near-time-optimal manner and is shown to have better dynamics than conventional frequency control. Experimental results that confirm the superior transient performance of the RTC method are provided. The principle of operation of the RTC can be extended to operation below resonance as well as to series resonant converter control     

DC-controlled solid-state X-ray image converter

A thin solid-state X-ray panel of sandwich-type structure using photoconductive (PC) and semiconducting electroluminescent (EL) powder layers has been developed. The PC layer and the semiconducting EL layer are connected electrically in series. Both ac and dc voltages are applied across the combination. The X-ray sensitivity of the converter depends on the dc voltage drop across the PC powder layer and on input X-ray intensity. Gamma and input latitude of the converter performance are widely controllable by adjusting the dc voltage applied across the panel. The ac supplies excitation for the EL phosphor. The light output intensity at a low X-ray intensity level is substantially improved without deteriorating the picture resolution. For X-ray intensity of 30 mR/min, 80 kV peak, the converter produces light output about 800 times as bright as a conventional fluoroscope screen does, and Mo wire of 200-µm diameter is observed. However, seconds are required for image buildup and cutoff. Converted X-ray images using an experimental converter are also shown.     

A novel single-stage half-bridge AC-DC converter with high powerfactor

A new single-stage AC-DC power converter based on a half-bridge converter suitable for low-power applications is proposed. The proposed converter offers high power factor and direct conversion from the line voltage to an isolated DC output voltage. High power factor is achieved by adding a resonant circuit between the rectifying diodes and half-bridge leg. For soft switching, a half-bridge series-loaded resonant converter is adopted as a DC-DC converter part. A prototype is built and tested to show the validity of the proposed converter     

New zero-voltage-switching phase-shift full-bridge converter with low conduction losses

A new zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) phase-shift full-bridge (PSFB) converter with low conduction losses is proposed. It is based on the PSFB converter with series-connected two transformers, which features wide ZVS ranges. By adding a capacitor, the proposed converter overcomes the disadvantage of the based converter, such as the high circulating energy. Furthermore, the turns ratio of the transformers can be increased as well. Therefore, high efficiency of the proposed converter can be achieved. Operational principles and experimental results for a 100-W (5 V, 20 A) prototype are presented to validate the proposed converter.     

A new ZVT-PWM DC-DC converter

In this paper, a new active snubber cell that overcomes most of the drawbacks of the normal "zero voltage transition-pulse width modulation" (ZVT-PWM) converter is proposed to contrive a new family of ZVT-PWM converters. A converter with the proposed snubber cell can also operate at light load conditions. All of the semiconductor devices in this converter are turned on and off under exact or near zero voltage switching (ZVS) and/or zero current switching (ZCS). No additional voltage and current stresses on the main switch and main diode occur. Also, the auxiliary switch and auxiliary diodes are subjected to voltage and current values at allowable levels. Moreover, the converter has a simple structure, low cost, and ease of control. A ZVT-PWM boost converter equipped with the proposed snubber cell is analyzed in detail. The predicted operation principles and theoretical analysis of the presented converter are verified with a prototype of a 2 kW and 50 kHz PWM boost converter with insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). In this study, a design procedure of the proposed active snubber cell is also presented. Additionally, at full output power in the proposed soft switching converter, the main switch loss is about 27% and the total circuit loss is about 36% of that in its counterpart hard switching converter, and so the overall efficiency, which is about 91% in the hard switching case, increases to about 97%     

基于超材料的TEM-TE11 高功率微波模式转换器

利用高功率容量高折射率的超材料作为移相介质,设计了一种高功率微波TEM-TE11 模式转换器。采用扇形金 属栅格作为材料阵元,通过对阵元的角向及轴向的周期排布得到高折射率超材料并将其填充在模式变换区角向半空间内。 TEM 模微波在通过模式转换区域之后,超材料填充区域电场与未填充材料的真空区域电场相位差达到180°,从而实现 TEM 模到TE11 模的模式转换。采用CST Microwave Studio 软件对模式转换器进行了数值模拟,结果显示该转换器在工 作频点附近具有较高的转换效率,相对带宽约4%。结合模式变换器开展了辐射天线的设计,模拟得到典型的TE11 模远 场方向图。     

A new ZVT-ZCT-PWM DC-DC converter

In this paper, a new active snubber cell is proposed to contrive a new family of pulse width modulated (PWM) converters. This snubber cell provides zero voltage transition (ZVT) turn on and zero current transition (ZCT) turn off together for the main switch of a converter. Also, the snubber cell is implemented by using only one quasi resonant circuit without an important increase in the cost and complexity of the converter. New ZVT-ZCT-PWM converter equipped with the proposed snubber cell provides most the desirable features of both ZVT and ZCT converters presented previously, and overcomes most the drawbacks of these converters. Subsequently, the new converter can operate with soft switching successfully at very wide line and load ranges and at considerably high frequencies. Moreover, all semiconductor devices operate under soft switching, the main devices do not have any additional voltage and current stresses, and the stresses on the auxiliary devices are at low levels. Also, the new converter has a simple structure, low cost and ease of control. In this study, a detailed steady state analysis of the new converter is presented, and this theoretical analysis is verified exactly by a prototype of a 1-kW and 100-kHz boost converter.