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Nonisolated dc–dc converters are fundamental building blocks in the power supply for a wide range of applications. To cater to this heterogeneity in applications, development of dc–dc converters with suitable voltage conversion ratio (G) is imperative. Given a converter topology, G can be found out uniquely by using the principle of inductor volt-second balance, and the process of obtaining the voltage conversion ratio from the topology is simple. In contrast, the inverse problem, i.e., the process of obtaining the converter topology for a given voltage conversion ratio (G) is a challenging task, and the obtained topology is also not unique. This article presents a simple method to obtain a family of converter topologies from a required voltage conversion ratio. This method utilizes the principle of inductor flux balance as a synthesis tool. The step-by-step procedure to synthesize the converter topologies is outlined. To illustrate the efficacy of the proposed method, it is applied to synthesize various quadratic buck–boost topologies, and a family of converters is identified. Operation and feasibility of two novel topologies, identified by the proposed theory, are verified experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the pulsating power at the inverter output terminals, the passive storage elements of the boost stage of the current-fed switched inverter (CFSI) contain a power frequency harmonic component (100 Hz), apart from dc and switching frequency components. In prior designs, the second harmonic component is suppressed by increasing the size of the input filter inductor and capacitor or by using additional circuits. This paper presents a complete characterization of a control-based approach to suppress the power frequency harmonic component in the input inductor current of a CFSI. It also presents a comprehensive characterization of the harmonic power redistribution. Using the proposed approach, it is demonstrated that the inductor value of a CFSI is reduced by 61% for the same peak-to-peak ripple. This leads to an improvement in the conversion ratio, efficiency, and power density of the overall converter. A SiC MOSFET-based CFSI with 75-kHz switching frequency is used to verify the proposed design philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric elastomer generator (DEG) is a special variable capacitor generator used to harvest electrical energy from ambient mechanical vibrations, such as waves, building vibrations, wind, and human movement. The DEG, by virtue of its variable capacitance, converts the applied mechanical energy into electrical form. For successful energy harvesting, the DEG requires controlled charging and discharging operations. Thus, the energy harvesting circuits, used to charge and discharge the DEG, must work in tandem with the mechanical vibrations. The energy harvested during a single cycle of DEG operation increases with an increase in the DEG operating voltage. Hence, energy harvesting circuits must drive the DEG at high voltage levels. These two requirements make the energy harvesting circuit design a challenging job. In this paper, a novel energy harvesting system is proposed to drive the DEG without needing a position sensor, a high-voltage source, or a high turns ratio transformer. The theory of the proposed scheme is explained and validated with experiments performed on a prototype DEG. The control implemented leads to a special intermittent operation of the energy recovery circuit, which is also introduced. 2.597 mJ energy was harvested from a single elastomer film of 10 cm diameter with 2.3 nF capacitance in relaxed condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Z-source inverter (ZSI) employs an LC impedance network between the main inverter bridge and the power source. The unique feature of the ZSI is that it can operate either in buck or boost mode with a wide range of obtainable output voltages from a given input voltage. This topology also exhibits better electromagnetic-interference noise immunity when compared to a traditional voltage-source inverter (VSI). However, the LC impedance network of ZSI significantly increases the size and cost of the power converter and can make it unsuitable for low-power applications. This paper proposes a novel topology called switched boost inverter (SBI) which exhibits similar advantages of ZSI with lower number of passive components and more active components compared to ZSI. The steady-state and small-signal analyses of SBI, along with its pulsewidth modulation (PWM) control strategies, have been discussed in this paper. This paper also presents a comparison of SBI and ZSI with the same input and output parameters. The theoretical analysis given in this paper has been validated using a laboratory prototype of SBI, and the experimental results are presented for verification. The experimental harmonic spectrum of the inverter's output voltage with the proposed PWM technique is also plotted and compared with that of a traditional VSI. All the experimental results show good correlation between theory and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Active droop control of voltage regulators and point of loads is a preferred way of implementing adaptive voltage positioning to save motherboard space. This paper develops an improved model and design methodology for this control. The conventional model is explained and need for an improved model is described. Based on this improved model, a generalized design procedure, applicable irrespective of the modulation scheme, is developed. Experimental verifications on a five-phase/120-A prototype are presented to validate the design procedure. Results show that the loop performance and output impedance predictions of the model are accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract-Hysteretic modulators have superior dynamic performance, and they also help reduce the number of output capacitors without sacrificing the transient response. For proper hysteretic operation, the voltage ripple is required to be piecewise linear and noise free. With modern computational integrated circuits lower supply voltage with tight regulation requirements, the output voltage ripple is both small and noisy. The synthetic ripple modulator (SRM) allows proper hysteretic operation even with a small and corrupted output voltage ripple. This paper discusses the dynamic behavior of the SRM. Small-signal characteristics of the modulator are derived. An easy-to-use numerically efficient model has been developed to accurately predict the smalland large-signal behavior of the converter driven by the SRM. The model is able to predict the small-signal behavior of the SRM up to half the switching frequency with sufficient accuracy. It can predict the same large-signal responses as real-time simulation, but at two orders of magnitude less in computation time. Laboratory tests on a 1.8 V/20 A single-phase prototype shows good correlation between experimental results and theoretical predictions both in frequency and time domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]