Search

In order to increase the efficiency of modern microprocessor power supplies used in data centers, 380-V dc power distribution systems have been attracting attention due to their high efficiency and high reliability. This paper presents an innovative single-stage approach for 380-V voltage regulator modules (VRMs) based on a quasi-resonant multilevel topology constant on-time operation. The proposed topology inherently integrates the multiphase approach, providing fast phase shedding and flat high-efficiency curves even at light-load conditions. This is a unique advantage, which is not possible to establish in the two-stage approach, which is very important in server architectures, and where high efficiency is required even at light-load conditions. This paper analyzes the circuit topology and proposes a control architecture for fast transient response, including current-sharing capabilities. The digital controller has been implemented in 0.16- $\mu$ m lithography together with a digital pulsewidth modulation with a 195-ps resolution and a 40-MS/s 7-bit analog-to-digital converter. Experimental results show an efficiency of 93% for a 120-A 380–1.8-V VRM power supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the high power density bidirectional dc–dc converter with interleaving, soft-switching, and near critical conduction mode (near-CRM) operation. Systematic design and control methods are proposed to enhance the effectiveness of passive currents balancing between multiple interleaved phases without using individual phase current feedbacks. This paper first analyzes the zero voltage turn-on operation, including the turn-off energy diversion by the added snubber capacitor and the turn-off resonance models. Second, the intrinsic inverse co-relation between the phase current deviation and the resulting effective duty cycles variation is quantitatively formulated and modeled as a closed-loop mechanism that balances the currents passively. Then, the design constraints of the system parameters including the snubber capacitance, dead time, and valley currents of the near-CRM mode are formulated to guarantee the effectiveness of counteracting the current unbalance. Finally, a variable switching frequency control is proposed to actively control the valley current and maintain the current balancing effectiveness throughout the operating range. An IGBT-based 20-kW three-phase interleaved prototype with the maximum efficiency of 99.1% is constructed to verify the proposed design and control methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated, zero-voltage-switching dc–dc converter topologies represent attractive solutions in the continuous run toward higher switching frequencies, allowing more compact power supplies. Among them, the asymmetrical half-bridge flyback converter represents an interesting option, featuring simple duty-cycle control at constant switching frequency, as opposed to the popular LLC converter. The majority of papers dealing with this topology consider an approximated voltage gain similar to that of an isolated buck converter operating in continuous conduction mode, i.e., proportional to the duty cycle and, practically, load independent. On the contrary, the true voltage gain is nonmonotonic at high duty-cycle values. Anytime the converter is designed for a resonant operation, as is advisable to eliminate any reverse recovery problem of the rectifier diode, the voltage gain not only increases, but also becomes a function of the switching frequency. This article investigates the converter's voltage gain in detail, deriving a theoretical framework capable of capturing its real behavior and dependencies. The proposed analytical model has been verified through simulations as well as experimental measurements taken on a 160-W prototype working at 400 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soft-switching solid-state transformer (S4T) employs only 12 main active devices and an auxiliary resonant circuit to implement a bidirectional solid-state transformer, with an attractive feature of achieving a full range of zero-voltage-switching conditions for all the main devices. This paper covers detailed design of the power stage, auxiliary resonant circuit, and control of the S4T. The high-frequency transformer is an essential element for the S4T, and it has a unique feature of dc-biased flux. Design of such a high-frequency transformer is also discussed in detail in this paper. Soft startup, shutdown, and fast dynamic response under load transients are also attractive behaviors because of the low inertia of the S4T. Experimental results from a 208-V/10-kV·A S4T unit are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces a non-isolated high step-up dc–dc converter with dual coupled inductors suitable for distributed generation applications. By implementing an input parallel connection, the proposed dc–dc structure inherits shared input current with low ripple, which also requires small capacitive filter at its input. Moreover, this topology can reach high voltage gain by using dual coupled inductors in series connection at the output stage. The proposed converter uses active clamp circuits with a shared clamp capacitor for the main switches. In addition to the active clamp circuit, the leakage energy is recycled to the output by using an integrated regenerative snubber. Indeed, these circuits allow soft-switching conditions, i.e., zero voltage switching and zero current switching for active and passive switching devices, respectively. The mentioned features along with a common ground connection of the input and output make the proposed topology a proper candidate for transformer-less grid-connected photovoltaic systems. The operating performance, analysis and mathematical derivations of the proposed dc–dc converter have been demonstrated in the paper. Moreover, the main features of the proposed converter have been verified through experimental results of a 1-kW laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel soft-switching interleaved coupled-inductor boost converter is proposed in this paper. Only a single active soft-switching module is needed to simultaneously achieve the soft-switching property of the two switches in the interleaved coupled-inductor boost converter. The better efficiency is achieved with the less components and cost. The two main switches can achieve the ZVT turn-on and smaller-current turn-off simultaneously when the single active soft-switching module is active. Due to the coupling characteristic of the inductors, the voltages across the two inductors are changed at the same time; therefore, the equivalent circuit is equal to the parasitic capacitors of the two main switches in parallel to resonate with the auxiliary inductor. By coupling two input inductors, the volume and cost of the circuit can be reduced. The interleaved coupled-inductor topology can also reduce the input and output current ripples and share the input and output currents. The operating modes, analysis, and design of the proposed circuit have been discussed in this paper. Simulation and experiments are finally conducted to verify the validity of the proposed circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In general, misalignment in a wireless power transfer system is inevitable, which decreases the efficiency of the system. In this paper, a full-bridge dual resonant tank (FBDRT) topology is proposed to improve the system efficiency under the lateral-misalignment condition of a wireless power transfer system. The topology with two transmitters connected with two separate half bridges is employed to deliver power to the load. Operating principle, efficiency, current, power, and soft-switching region of the proposed method are analyzed in detail, and a comparison is drawn in with the traditional series–series topology. Theoretical analysis shows that the equivalent impedance of the transmitters can be adjusted, utilizing the phase-shift modulation. The proposed method holds a higher efficiency and a wider soft-switching region when the phase is selected reasonably. A 100 W prototype is built to validate the feasibility of the proposed topology. The efficiency of FBDRT is always higher than 88.3% with an improvement of 6.8%, compared with that of the traditional SS topology when the lateral misalignment increases from 0 to 200 mm (0%–50% of maximum coil size). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic (PV) systems having rechargeable batteries are prone to be complex and costly because multiple converters are necessary to individually regulate a load, PV panel, and battery. This paper proposes novel nonisolated multiport converters (MPCs) integrating a bidirectional pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converter and phase-shift-switched capacitor converter (PS-SCC) for standalone PV systems. A PWM converter and PS-SCC are integrated by reducing the total switch count, realizing the simplified system and circuit. In the proposed MPCs, two control freedoms of duty cycle and phase shift angle are manipulated to individually regulate the load, PV panel, and/or battery. The detailed operation analysis was performed to mathematically derive gain characteristics and zero voltage switching operation boundaries. For the battery discharging mode, in which the PV panel is not available and the MPC behaves as a single-input–single-output converter with two control freedoms available, the optimized control scheme achieving the lowest rms current is also proposed to maximize power conversion efficiencies. Various kinds of experimental verification tests using a 200-W prototype were performed to verify the theoretical analysis and to demonstrate the performance of the proposed MPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boost-based converters are used in a variety of non-isolated step-up applications, such as power factor correctors, because of their simplicity. The power density of these converters can be increased in higher switching frequencies, which reduces the size of the magnetic elements. This increases the switching losses, but that can be solved by soft-switching techniques. This paper proposes a resonant bridgeless power factor correction converter that provides soft switching for all of the semiconductors. The proposed structure can provide zero voltage switching for the switches and zero current switching for the diodes. In the proposed structure, the input current is inherently sinusoidal with low total harmonic distortion, even with small inductances. Therefore, a high input power factor is achieved without requiring a current control loop in the circuit. This reduces the complexity of the control circuit. An experimental prototype has been constructed to investigate the validity of the claims. Experimental results show near-unity power factor, as well as $\text{2}\%$ efficiency improvement at full load when compared to a conventional interleaved boost converter with the same components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new low-voltage ringing zero voltage transition (ZVT) cell is proposed for a family of non-isolated dc–dc converters. In the proposed converter, all semiconductor devices operate under soft-switching condition at both turning on and off. The proposed ZVT cell resolves the issues appeared in the previous works: no online calculation required to achieve ZVS turn-on of the main switch; no extra voltage stress imposed on the main or snubber components; no floating gate driver required for the main and snubber switches; low component count of the ZVT cell; operation principles and design guideline of the boost converter with the proposed ZVT cell are presented. Also, three different positions of a snubber diode considering its junction capacitor are analyzed to clarify the advantage of the proposed ZVT cell. A 2-kW laboratory prototype of the boost converter with the proposed ZVT cell operating at 100 kHz is built and tested to verify the theoretical analysis. Finally, a comparative analysis is given to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel PWM full bridge (FB) dc–dc converter for large power industrial applications is proposed in this paper. The soft switching mode of the primary switches can be varied under different input and output conditions to achieve optimum system efficiency. In the zero-voltage and zero-current switching (ZVZCS) mode, the turn-on and turn-off switching loss can be optimized because the soft switching conditions of the turn-on and turn-off instants are well decoupled. In the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) mode, the turn-off switching loss can also be optimized because there is no requirement for light load operation in this mode. Four mosfets with ultra-low on-state resistance are used, thus, the added conduction loss is small. The auxiliary mosfets with high switching frequency are turned on with zero-current and off with zero-voltage, hence, the added switching loss can also be neglected. Furthermore, some drawbacks of the conventional ZVS and ZVZCS converters, e.g., narrow ZVS load range, high primary circulating current, incomplete reset of the primary current, and unreasonable VA rating of the added components, have been well solved. The operation principles and soft switching characteristics are discussed. Experimental results from an 18-kW prototype are provided to verify the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high step-down dc–dc converter with voltage demultiplier cell is proposed in this paper, which is widely used in the high step-down applications such as electric vehicle and digital circuits. The combination of switched-capacitor and coupled-inductor is employed to build extended voltage demultiplier in the proposed converter, which makes a quite higher voltage conversion ratio than that of the existing counterparts. Thus, the proposed converter can achieve extremely low output voltage with an appropriate duty ratio, and the extreme duty cycle is avoided. Accordingly, voltage stress on power switches is greatly reduced. Then, mosfets with low conduction resistance could be utilized to reduce conduction loss. Importantly, zero-voltage switching could be achieved for the main switch, which promotes the conversion efficiency further. In addition, the coupled inductor operates not only as a filter inductor, but also as a transformer when the main switch is in the off state, which reduces the volume of the magnetic core and improves the power density of the converter. The operation principle, performance analysis, design considerations of the proposed converter and performance comparison with recent counterparts are discussed in detail, and finally, an experimental prototype is built to verify the theoretical analysis and performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a voltage-source parallel resonant Class E inverter. The proposed circuit has a shunt capacitor including parasitic capacitance of a switching device and achieves zero-voltage switching and zero-voltage derivative switching at turning-on like a classical Class E inverter. Therefore, high power conversion efficiency is achieved under high operating frequency. Unlike the other Class E inverters, the proposed circuit has no choke inductor or dc blocking capacitor. Moreover, it has a parallel resonant tank unlike the classical Class E inverter. Thus, a circuit protection is not required in a wireless power transfer system. Circuit analysis, circuit simulations, and circuit experiments were carried out. The experimental circuit performed the desired operation and the power conversion efficiency was 93.2% with the output power 4.76 W at the operating frequency 1 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new class of dc–dc converter topologies based on capacitive link dc–dc converters—Ćuk, SEPIC, and Zeta converters—that operate under the critical conduction mode has been proposed. The proposed converters are the extensions of quasi-square-wave zero-current-switching converters, which use an auxiliary circuit to provide zero-current and zero-voltage switching for all semiconductor switches at both turn on and turn off transitions and eliminate voltage ringing across the output switch. Using the proposed auxiliary circuit, the value of dv/dt has been diminished; hence, the EMI of the proposed topology is significantly reduced compared to the conventional quasi-square-wave zero-current-switching converters. To verify the operation of the proposed converter and confirm its advantages, an experimental prototype has been implemented, and the experimental results and the efficiency of the proposed converter have been compared with the conventional quasi-square-wave zero-current-switching converters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multiphase-interleaved non-isolated high step-up dc/dc resonant converter for high-current applications with wide load range is proposed in this paper. The converter consists of an inverter stage with multiple resonant inverters in parallel interleaving operation that is cascaded to a common diode–capacitor rectifier stage. The topology of the inverter stage is a variation of class E inverter, which is designed for voltage boosting and of which the voltage gain is insensitive to load change. The rectifier stage comprises multiple pairs (correlated to the number of inverters in parallel) of diodes in parallel and a small output capacitor, which makes it simple to implement and of low cost. Together, the voltage gain variance of the converter can be confined within a small value and zero voltage switching operation can be maintained over a wide load range. A detailed mathematical analysis of the proposed converter is conducted for systematizing its design. A prototype of the proposed converter with an input voltage of 23.6 V, a rated output voltage of 190 V, and a rated output power of 80 W at 486 kHz is constructed for verification. A frequency controller is implemented to achieve fine regulation of the output voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high gain voltage conversion applications, the low-side switches usually suffer large current stress, resulting in dominate switching loss. In this paper, a general soft-switching method based on an advanced interleaved high-step-up converter, which features excellent performance but works in hard-switching, is presented to combat this issue by using a plug-play resonant circuit. Under this soft-switching method, the main switches reach zero-voltage switching (ZVS) turn-on and ZVS turn-off, and the soft-switching condition is derived. Meanwhile, the added auxiliary switches could be turned off under ZVS condition and turned on under zero-current switching condition as well. More importantly, due to its location out of the energy transferring path, the auxiliary circuit will never lead gain lost to the converter and maintain its other existing merits, such as current auto-balancing and diode inverse-recovery well. A 1-kW prototype is built and tested to verify the significant efficiency improvement and merits maintenance for the proposed converter considering active resonant soft switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new active-clamped zero-voltage switching (ZVS) push–pull converter is proposed in this paper. Compared with the conventional push–pull converter, one auxiliary switch $Q_{{3}} and a clamping capacitor Ca are added in the primary side of the transformer to recycle the energy stored in the leakage inductors and clamp the voltage spike. Owing to the proposed converter which maintains ZVS of all the three switches from full load to very light-load condition, switching losses are reduced significantly. The voltage across the switch can be clamped at the input voltage plus the clamping capacitor voltage, i.e., V\rm{in}{+}VCa, are much less than those of a conventional push–pull converter that enabling the use of low-voltage, low-performance, and low-cost devices. In addition, the proposed topology can eliminate the problems of flux imbalance existing in the conventional one. Detailed operation, analysis, design, comparative study, and experimental results for the proposed converter are presented in this paper. An 800 W prototype was developed in the laboratory to evaluate and demonstrate the validity of the converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft switching is required to attain high efficiency in high-frequency power converters. Piezoelectric-transformer-based converters can benefit from soft switching in terms of significantly diminished switching losses and stresses. Adequate dead time is needed in order to deliver sufficient energy to charge and discharge the input capacitance of piezoelectric transformers in order to achieve zero-voltage switching. This paper proposes a method for detecting the optimum dead time in piezoelectric transformer-based switch-mode power supplies. The provision of sufficient dead time in every cycle of the switching period results in the quick start-up of resonant current inside the transformer. The new method is implemented by dynamically detecting the optimum dead time for each resonant cycle and results in reduced energy loss and, consequently, increased efficiency in the converter during initialization time and steady-state operation. The theory of optimum dead time operation is also discussed in this paper. Experimental results and simulation are provided to show the implementation of the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a nonisolated two-channel light-emitting diode (LED) driver with automatic current balance and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is presented. In this LED driver, a dc-blocking capacitor is connected with one side of the coupled inductor. Therefore, based on the ampere–second balance, a current source is generated with the average value of the positive current identical to the absolute average value of the negative current. Accordingly, the LED currents can be balanced naturally without extra active components or current sharing transformer. Consequently, the circuit components can keep at a low count. In addition, the proposed LED driver can achieve ZVS turn-on. Thus, the switching loss can be decreased. Above all, the proposed two-channel LED driver can be extended to a multichannel LED driver. In this paper, detailed theoretical analyses and experimental results are provided to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed LED driver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge equalization for a series-connected battery string is necessary to enhance usage life and performance of cells. In this paper, an isolated bidirectional dc–dc converter with quasi-resonant zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is proposed for centralized charge equalization system. Through the quasi-resonant operation, the proposed converter can achieve ZVS operations in both boost and buck modes, which decreases switching losses and improves the efficiency. The energy in leakage inductance is released to output side in the boost mode and recycled to the input side in the buck mode, which eliminates the voltage spike. Moreover, the proposed converter has fewer components than existing converters used in the centralized charge equalization system. The operating principle and theoretical derivation of the proposed converter are presented. The ZVS implementations and conditions are analyzed and illustrated in detail. Finally, the experiments using a 7.2 Ah battery string of 13 cells are conducted. The results verify the validity of the proposed converter and show that the equalizer achieves good performance in terms of equalizing speed and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional interleaved half-bridge flyback converters can recycle the leakage energy stored in leakage inductance to clamp the voltage across the main power switches at a dc input voltage. However, such converters still suffer from high switching losses, especially turn-off losses. In this paper, a novel turn-off zero-current-transition (ZCT) circuit is proposed for reducing the turn-off switching losses. The proposed ZCT interleaved half-bridge flyback converter operates at a fixed frequency without increasing the voltage stresses of the main switches. To verify the design, a laboratory prototype is implemented with 100 kHz, an input voltage of 400 V, and an output voltage of 24 V/480 W. The experimental results reveal that the proposed converter at full load and 20% load has efficiencies of 93.05% and 89.06%, yielding efficiency improvements of 1.17% and 4.12%, respectively, compared with the conventional interleaved half-bridge flyback converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-phase universal-input ac–dc converters are needed in a wide range of applications. This paper presents a novel power factor correction (PFC) architecture that can achieve high-power density and high efficiency for grid-interface power electronics. The multitrack PFC architecture reduces the internal device voltage stress of the power converter subsystems, allowing PFC circuits to maintain zero-voltage-switching at high frequency (1 MHz–4 MHz) across universal input voltage range (85  $\rm V_{\text{ac}}$ –265  $\rm V_{\text{ac}}$). The high performance of the power converter is enabled by delivering power in multiple stacked voltage domains and reconfiguring the power processing paths depending on the input voltage. This multitrack concept can be used together with many other design techniques for PFC systems to create mutual advantages in many function blocks. A prototype 150 W, universal ac input, 12  $\rm V_{\text{dc}}$ output, isolated multitrack PFC system with a power density of 50 W/in $^3$ , and a peak end-to-end efficiency of 92% has been built and tested to verify the effectiveness of the multitrack PFC architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel single-stage, isolated, and single-phase dc–ac converter topology, suitable for low-medium power-scale solar photovoltaic and fuel-cell applications. The circuit employs two full-bridge cells with floating dc bus capacitors placed on either side of a high-frequency transformer and works on the dual-active-bridge principle. It has advantages of a single-stage power processing structure, low device count (uses eight switches), and the possibility of achieving zero-voltage-switching operation over the full ac line cycle. Moreover, by dynamic variation of phase-shift between the high-frequency primary and secondary voltages, twice-line-frequency energy buffering can be affected via the high-voltage side dc bus capacitor, which reduces decoupling capacitance requirement, enabling a film capacitor-based implementation. Basic operating principle, control strategy, and detailed design optimization guidelines of the circuit are described followed by simulation results to validate the approach. Practical evaluation of converter performance is done on a 250 W, 20–35 V input, and 110 V rms output prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-stage high-frequency resonant ac/ac converter converts the ac-line input voltage into the high-frequency sinusoidal output voltage, which consists of two power conversion units, i.e., a power factor correction (PFC) unit and a high-frequency resonant dc/ac unit, and it can be used to derive a modular multichannel constant current LED driver. By adopting a totem-pole bridgeless PFC boost rectifier to reduce conduction losses, a single-stage bridgeless high-frequency resonant ac/ac converter is proposed in this paper. The operating principle is described, and the performance analysis is presented in detail. Moreover, the quantitative parameter design method of the main circuit is presented, which is suitable for other single-stage ac input converters, such as a single-stage PFC rectifier. Finally, a 130-W prototype has been built and tested to verify the correction of related theoretical analysis and parameter design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a Class-DEMtuned power amplifier. The proposed amplifier achieves zero-voltage switching (ZVS), zero-voltage derivative switching (ZVDS), and zero-current switching (ZCS) at turning-on, and ZVS, ZVDS, ZCS, and zero-current derivative switching at turning-off. Therefore, the switching losses are extremely low, which is suitable for high-frequency operation. Moreover, the switch voltage stress is low, which is no more than its input voltage. A proposed amplifier was designed, built, and tested. The measured power conversion efficiency was 93.2% under the condition of the main input voltage of 46.8 V, the operating frequency of 1 MHz, and the output power of 4.87 W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeting at low-power high-density bus converter applications, a megahertz active-clamp resonant forward converter with whole-load-range zero-voltage switching and zero-current switching (ZVZCS) characteristics is proposed in this paper, which improves system efficiency performance. Compared with previous resonant forward converters, the proposed converter can effectively reduce the root-mean-square current and the conduction loss. To realize zero-voltage-switching turn on of switch over the entire input voltage range, a dead-time control is adopted to account for the nonlinear capacitors of switches. Besides, given fixed resonant parameters, the ZVZCS feature can be maintained at various combinations of operating frequency and duty cycle, which is a unique advantage over conventional resonant converters. Based on this concept, a load-adaptive on-time control that can significantly reduce core loss is proposed to improve the light-load efficiency. A 66-W 24-V-to-12-V prototype is built up to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter, which achieves 96% full-load efficiency and 93.5% 10%-load efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, the circuit structure of power converter for high-voltage applications would be simpler and more compact because the two-level-based topologies become applicable. This paper proposes a full-bridge (FB) T-type isolated dc/dc converter for the applications with high input voltage and wide input voltage range. The proposed converter is composed of four main power switches with high voltage stress (SiC mosfet) and four auxiliary power switches with low voltage stress (Si mosfet). Comparing with the conventional diode clamped FB three-level isolated dc/dc converters, the proposed FB T-type converter has simpler circuit structure and higher efficiency. A corresponding control strategy including two working patterns is proposed, which can not only realize the zero-voltage switching for the main and auxiliary power switches but also satisfy the wide input voltage range. More importantly, the proposed corresponding control strategy has the ability of balancing the currents among the power switches, which would balance the power losses, thermal stresses among the power switches, and thus improve the reliability of the converter. The characteristics and performances of the proposed converter with the corresponding control strategy are analyzed in detail and verified by the simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high step-up dc–dc converter with a coupled inductor and a switched capacitor is proposed in this paper, which is widely used in the renewable energy system as the front-end stage for low voltage sources. The combinational employment of the switched capacitor and the coupled inductor makes high voltage gain achievable without extreme duty cycle, resulting in reduced voltage stress on power switches. Hence, mosfets with low resistance $R_{{\rm{DS}}}{\rm{(ON)}}$ could be utilized as the main switch to reduce conduction loss. Meanwhile, due to the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor, the current falling rate becomes controllable, and the reverse-recovery problem of the output diode is alleviated. Importantly, by incorporating an active clamped-circuit, not only are voltage spikes caused by leakage inductance restrained, but also zero-voltage switching could be obtained for the main and auxiliary switches. Specially, the clamped circuit plays a role of energy transfer to boost the gain as well. Finally, a prototype with a power rating of 500 W is implemented to verify the performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a light-emitting diode (LED) driver for street-lighting applications that uses a resonant rectifier as a power-factor corrector (PFC). The PFC semistage is based on a zero-current and zero-derivative-switching (ZCDS) Class-E current-driven rectifier, and the LED driver semistage is based on a zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) Class-D LLC resonant converter that is integrated into a single-stage topology. To increase the conduction angle of the bridge-rectifier diodes current and to decrease the current harmonics that are injected in the utility line, the ZCDS Class-E rectifier is placed between the bridge-rectifier and a dc-link capacitor. The ZCDS Class-E rectifier is driven by a high-frequency current source, which is obtained from a square-wave output voltage of the ZVS Class-D LLC resonant converter using a matching network. Additionally, the proposed converter has a soft-switching characteristic that reduces switching losses and switching noise. A prototype for a 150-W LED street light has been developed and tested to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The proposed LED driver had a high efficiency (>91%), a high PF (>0.99), and a low total harmonic distortion (THD $_{i}$ < 8%) under variation of the utility-line input voltage from 180 to 250  ${{V}}_{{\rm{rms}}}$. These experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed LED scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an interleaved current-driven phase-shift full-bridge converter for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications. In the proposed converter, soft switching of the active switches can be realized for a wide range of operating conditions by using a simple auxiliary circuit. Due to the current-driven nature of secondary rectifiers, the proposed converter is able to eliminate the voltage spikes across the output diodes and provides smooth commutations for the secondary rectifiers. Thus, diodes with lower breakdown voltage rate and lower forward voltage drop can be used to further improve the efficiency. All the passive magnetic components are integrated into the main transformer. The numbers of the output diodes are minimized because of the voltage doubler rectifier configuration. The input filtering requirements, as well as the current stresses of the switch devices, are also significantly reduced owing to the interleaving approach. Therefore, the proposed converter would be a good candidate for PHEV applications. The steady-state operation and relevant analysis results of the proposed converter are presented. Experimental results obtained from a 2-kW prototype with a peak efficiency of 97.4% validate feasibility of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hybrid resonant zero-voltage zero-current switching three-level converter with capacitive output filter is proposed in this paper, which undergoes half of the input voltage for switches and is suitable for offshore wind farms in medium-voltage dc (MVDC) collection systems. The proposed converter, utilizing two transformers with very different power ratings, adopts insulated-gate bipolar transistors for all six power switches and operates in discontinuous current mode and can achieve zero-current switching for the four main switches and rectifier diodes over the whole load range. Meanwhile, the auxiliary switches with small current rating can realize zero-voltage switching naturally. Hence, the switching loss is reduced, which is vital in MVDC applications. By the trajectory formulas of the resonant current and voltage, the trajectory paths can be achieved, which is helpful to compare the peak and turn-off currents of switches. The design rules of main parameters can be deduced with the trajectory formulas and paths. The influence of the turns ratio of auxiliary transformer and the resonant capacitance on the peak and turn-off currents is discussed in detail. The operation principles of the proposed converter are analyzed and verified by the simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid three-level (TL) and half-bridge (HB) dc–dc converter is proposed in this paper. The TL dc–dc converter and HB converter have their own transformers, respectively. Compared with conventional TL dc–dc converters, the proposed one has no additional switch at the primary side of the transformer, where the TL converter shares the lagging switches with the HB converter. In order to reduce the circulating current in the primary side, a blocking capacitor is used to reset the primary winding current of the TL converter. Moreover, the rectifier stage is composed of four diodes in the center-tap rectification, forcing the circulating current at the primary side to stay zero during the freewheeling period. The magnetizing inductor of the HB transformer can extend the zero voltage switching operation range of the lagging switches even at light loads. Furthermore, the proposed converter can reduce the output filter inductance. Due to the advantages mentioned above, the efficiency of the converter is improved dramatically. The features and design guidelines of the proposed converter are given in the paper. Finally, the performance of the converter is verified by a 1-kW experimental prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a merged-two-stage circuit topology suitable for either wide-range dc input voltage or ac line voltage at low-to-moderate power levels (e.g., up to 30 W). This two-stage topology is based on a soft-charged switched-capacitor preregulator/transformation stage and a high-frequency magnetic regulator stage. Soft charging of the switched capacitor circuit, zero voltage switching of the high-frequency regulator circuit, and time-based indirect current control are used to maintain high efficiency, high power density, and high power factor. The proposed architecture is applied to an LED driver circuit, and two implementations are demonstrated: a wide input voltage range dc-dc converter and a line interfaced ac-dc converter. The dc-dc converter shows 88%-96% efficiency at 30-W power across 25-200-V input voltage range, and the ac-dc converter achieves 88% efficiency with 0.93 power factor at 8.4-W average power. Contributions of this paper include: 1) demonstrating the value of a merged two-stage architecture to provide substantial design benefits in high-input voltage, low-power step down conversion applications, including both wide-range-input dc-dc and line-input ac-dc systems; 2) introduction of a multimode soft-charged SC stage for the merged architecture that enables compression of an 8:1 input voltage range into a 2:1 intermediate range, along with its implementation, loss considerations, and driving methods; and 3) merging of this topology with an resonant transition discontinuous-mode inverted buck stage and pseudocurrent control to enable step-down power conversion (e.g., for LED lighting) operating at greatly increased frequencies and reduced magnetics size than with more conventional approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the applications for high-power dc/dc conversion, the power devices usually suffer high voltage and current stress in traditional single-phase dc/dc topologies such as forward, half-bridge, and full-bridge converters, which limits the power level of converter to reach higher. As a superior alternative solution, a three-phase three-level (TPTL) dc/dc converter was investigated in this paper, which has the advantages of lower voltage and current stress on switches, as well as fewer power devices. Adopting a symmetrical control strategy, the input current and output current frequency can be increased by a factor of six compared to the switching frequency, resulting in a reduced filter requirement. However, all the switches are hard-switching, leading to a considerable switching loss. In this paper, an asymmetrical duty cycle control strategy was proposed to the TPTL dc/dc converter. The modified converter remains all the advantages of original control strategy; meanwhile, soft-switching can be achieved using the energy stored in output filter inductance and leakage inductances of transformers (or resonant inductances). The theoretical analysis was presented in details, along with the characteristics and soft-switching condition of the converter. Experimental results from 540 to 600 V input and 48 V/20 A output were presented to verify the theoretical analysis and the performance of the modified converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the Class-E ZVS rectifier using a common-grounded multistep controlled Shunt Capacitor (CSC). The Class-E ZVS rectifier using a common-grounded multistep CSC can regulate the output voltage by changing the shunt capacitance. The voltage over the diode and shunt capacitor in the conventional Class-E ZVS rectifier is shared by the series connected capacitors. In this paper, the Class-E ZVS rectifier using a common-grounded multistep CSC is analyzed, simulated, and experimented. Especially, the power conversion efficiency is discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a single power-conversion ac-dc converter with high power factor and high efficiency. The proposed converter is derived by integrating a full-bridge diode rectifier and a series-resonant active-clamp dc-dc converter. To obtain a high power factor without a power factor correction circuit, this paper proposes a novel control algorithm. The proposed converter provides single power-conversion by using the novel control algorithm for both power factor correction and output control. Also, the active-clamp circuit clamps the surge voltage of switches and recycles the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer. Moreover, it provides zero-voltage turn-on switching of the switches. Also, a series-resonant circuit of the output-voltage doubler removes the reverse-recovery problem of the output diodes. The proposed converter provides maximum power factor 0.995 and maximum efficiency of 95.1% at the full load. The operation principle of the converter is analyzed and verified. Experimental results for a 400 W ac-dc converter at a constant switching frequency of 50 kHz are obtained to show the performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their remarkable merits, the soft-switching ac-link universal power converters have received noticeable attention during the last few years. These converters, which can be configured as dc-dc, dc-ac, ac-dc, or ac-ac, are compact, reliable, and offer longer life time compared to the other types of converters. However, they require more switches, which make the control process more complicated. This paper proposes a modified configuration for the dc-ac power conversion, which reduces the number of switches without changing the principles of operation. This converter, which is named sparse ac-link buck-boost inverter, reduces the number of switches from 20 to 18. Despite reducing the number of switches, the partial resonant time, during which no power is transferred, is as short as the original configuration. An important feature of this inverter is that it can be fabricated by IGBT modules, which are more compact and more cost-effective compared to the discrete devices. This paper presents the principles of the operation of this configuration, and compares the efficiency, the failure rate, and the current rating of the switches in the proposed and original inverters. It is shown that the failure rates of the sparse configuration are lower than the original configuration. Therefore, they have longer lifetime. The efficiency of the sparse configuration is slightly lower than that of the original configuration. However, by using reverse blocking IGBTs in the sparse configuration, the efficiency of the proposed inverter will be improved significantly. This paper evaluates the performance of the proposed inverter through simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft switching pulse-width modulation (PWM) dc–dc full-bridge converter with controlled rectifier on the secondary side of the high-frequency power transformer is presented in this paper. An active secondary switch, including new nondissipative passive energy recovery turn-off snubber on the secondary side and modified PWM control algorithm, provide conditions for zero-voltage and zero-current turn-on and zero-current turn-off of IGBT transistors on the primary side of the high-frequency dc–dc converter. The simple passive energy recovery snubber ensures also zero-voltage turn-off of the transistor on the secondary side of the power transformer. The principle of operation is explained and analyzed and consequently verified on a 2 kW, 50 kHz laboratory model of the converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces a new two-phase interleaved flying-capacitor LLC converter topology with high output current applications. Compared to a conventional two-phase LLC converter, the new converter adds a single capacitor that contributes to lower voltage stress on the primary side's switches, automatically balances the current distribution between the phases, and enhances the power processing capabilities. All the attractive features of LLC converters are preserved, such as zero-voltage switching on the primary side's mosfets, zero-current switching on the secondary side's power devices, narrow switching frequency range, and simple design. Full principle of operation and analysis of the converter are described, as well as the converter's primary characteristics and the impact of nonideal components on the current sharing behavior. A 600 W, 400 V-to-12 V experimental prototype is used as a showcase of the attractive features of the new converter, demonstrating excellent current sharing, simple implementation, and high efficiency of up to 97.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high-conversion-ratio bidirectional dc–dc converter with coupled inductor is proposed in this paper. Compared with the bidirectional converters based on coupled inductor, this new topology can realize a higher step-up voltage gain and lower step-down voltage gain with a lower turn ratio in an appropriate duty cycle. In proposed converter, the windings of the coupled inductor are reversely connected to transfer energy from high voltage source or low voltage source. Then, a clamp capacitor is applied to reduce voltage stress on main switch; therefore, the conduction loss of the main switches can be reduced by using a low resistance switch, and the clamp capacitor can also recycle the energy of the leakage inductor in coupled inductor. Besides, the soft-switching technique is used to achieve zero voltage switching, so the efficiency can be further improved. The main circuit and its steady-state operating principle are analyzed in detail. Finally, a 25–200 V 200 W bidirectional dc–dc converter is implemented to verify its performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) bidirectional dc/dc converter for energy storage system is proposed in this paper. The primary side is the improved push–pull topology adding one switch to achieve ZVS and the secondary side is a full-bridge topology. Compared with the conventional dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc/dc converter, the proposed converter applies a three-switch topology substituting for the full-bridge structure in the low-voltage side of transformer with seven switches in all. With minimum switch, the cost of the driving circuit can also be saved and the stability of the whole system can be better guaranteed. Most of all, the proposed converter can realize the advantages of DAB, such as bidirectional power transmission and ZVS. Besides, it has no increase in power losses and transformer volume reaching relatively the same effect of the DAB. The operation principles, comparative analysis, design, and control strategy are presented in detail. A 500-W laboratory prototype is built to verify the theoretical analysis and demonstrate the validity of the converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a hybrid current mode between triangular current mode (TCM) and discontinuous current mode (DCM) in order to improve a wide-load-range efficiency for a high-frequency SiC-based boost converter. At rated load, TCM, where the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is achieved, is used in order to increase the switching frequency and minimize the boost converter. At light load, the hybrid discontinuous current mode (HDCM), where the TCM current is flown during the zero-current interval of DCM, is applied in order to achieve both ZVS and a reduction of a current ripple. This maintains a high efficiency over a wide load range. A 1-kW prototype is realized to compare HDCM over continuous current mode (CCM), DCM, and TCM. Compared to TCM, the root-mean-square current is reduced up to 56.6% with HDCM. Consequently, the efficiency of HDCM at light load of 0.1 p.u. is improved by 3.1%. Compared to DCM, the average-current ripple in HDCM is reduced by 82.3%, whereas the efficiency of HDCM at light load of 0.1 p.u. is improved by 1.5%. Finally, when the current ripple of CCM is designed to be half of TCM, the efficiency of HDCM at rated load is improved by 0.9% compared to CCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a multistage nonisolated high voltage conversion ratio (VCR) bidirectional dc–dc converter is proposed. The VCR is n times of the conventional buck/boost converter using only n+ \text2 switches. All the switches can achieve full-range zero voltage switching (ZVS) despite the power flow direction. The operating principle, ZVS condition, and design considerations of a four-stage topology are analyzed in detail. In addition, an improved dynamic switching frequency modulation is proposed to reduce the power loss. Analyses and comparisons between the conventional constant frequency and variable frequency control are made to show the effectiveness. A 500-W experimental prototype interfacing 20–30 V with 270 V is fabricated to verify the performance of the proposed converter and control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a family of resonant two-switch boosting switched-capacitor converters (RTBSCs) with ZVS operation and a wide line regulation range is proposed. Based on our previously proposed two-switch boosting switched-capacitor converters (TBSCs), only a small resonant inductor is added, while two bulky capacitor banks are replaced by two much smaller resonant capacitors. Furthermore, by operating RTBSC above the resonant frequency, the transistors are ZVS turned on and diodes are Zero-current-switching (ZCS) turned on/off. This eliminates the hard-switched phenomenon of TBSC, leading to reduced component size by increasing the operating frequency without sacrificing the overall efficiency. In addition, the voltage-gain range of the RTBSCs is largely expanded and hence the input-voltage range is increased remarkably for regulated output voltage applications. Meantime, the voltage stress on transistors and diodes remains low, equal to the input voltage. A 3X RTBSC prototype with maximum output voltage 150 V, maximum output power 140 W, and a peak efficiency of 98.3% was built. The analysis is verified by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current imbalance among the two input capacitors is one of the important issues of the half-bridge three-level (HBTL) dc/dc converter, which would affect system performance and reliability. In this paper, a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) pulse-wide modulation (PWM) strategy including two operation modes is proposed. Based on the proposed ZVS PWM strategy, a capacitor current-balancing control is proposed for the HBTL dc/dc converter, where the currents on the two input capacitors can be kept balanced by alternating the two operation modes of the proposed ZVS PWM strategy. Therefore, the proposed control strategy can improve the performance and reliability of the converter in the aspect of balancing the thermal stresses and lifetimes among the two input capacitors. Finally, simulation and experimental studies are conducted and results verify the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Z-source inverter provides a competitive single-stage dc–ac power conversion with the capability of both buck and boost voltage regulation. In order to maximize voltage gain and to increase efficiency, this paper proposes an improved pulse-width modulation (PWM) strategy. By adjusting the shoot-through duty ratio of one-phase leg, it regulates the average value of intermediate dc-link voltage, which is the same as the instantaneous maximum of three-phase line voltage in one switching time period (Ts) . And the other two-phase legs maintain the fixed switching states. Thus, the equivalent switching frequency of power devices in the inverter bridge is reduced to 1/ 3fs (fs is the frequency corresponding to Ts). The operating principles and closed-loop controller design are analyzed and verified by simulation and experiments. Compared with the existing PWM strategies, the improved PWM (IPWM) strategy demonstrates higher efficiency under full operation range of low voltage gain (1.27-2) application. However, with the IPWM strategy, the inductor current and capacitor voltage contain six-time-line-frequency ripples, which consequently require large size of the passive components when the output frequency is very low. Thus, it is also suitable for 400–800-Hz medium frequency aircraft and vessel power supply system due to a relatively high output line frequency. Furthermore, the idea of IPWM strategy can be extended to other kinds of three-phase impedance network-based inverters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Isolated modular multilevel dc–dc converter (IMMDCC), which consists of two modular multilevel converters and a medium-frequency transformer, is attractive for medium-voltage applications because of the following features: the modular structure can handle higher voltage, and synthesizing square-wave voltages toward the alternating current (ac) link increases the dc voltage utilization ratio and achieves the zero-voltage switching operation. However, the asymmetry of arm impedance in practice inevitably leads to power imbalance and divergence of total capacitor voltages in the upper and lower arms of IMMDCC, thereby inducing large ripples in the common-mode arm current and adding a dc bias to the synthesized ac voltage. To compensate for the power imbalance and maintain the stable operation, the interarm phase-shift modulation (IAPSM) scheme and arm voltage-balancing control strategy based on this scheme are presented in this paper. Combining the IAPSM scheme with the intersubmodule phase-shift modulation scheme, deep rising and falling edges of the synthesized square-wave voltage in each phase leg are modified into staircase waveforms with 2N + 1 steps, dv/dt in the ac-link is thus significantly reduced. Simulation and experimental results validate the theoretical analysis and control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a soft-switched interleaved boost converter with minimal conduction loss increment and removed reverse-recovery problem. The soft-switching operation is enabled by a soft-switching cell composed of passive components in which an auxiliary coupled inductor and a dc-link capacitor are connected between the switch legs of the interleaved boost modules and output stage. Every MOSFET switch of the proposed boost converter operates with zero-voltage switching turn-on using the coupled inductor current. Consequently, the switching loss of the proposed interleaved boost converter is greatly reduced. In addition, the reduced circulating current in the auxiliary circuit minimizes the increment of the conduction loss. The proposed soft-switched interleaved boost converter operation is verified with 500-W experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new soft-switching pulse-width-modulated (PWM) full-bridge converter is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter has zero voltage switching (ZVS) in all its switches with fewer conduction losses than other ZVS-PWM full-bridge converters, due to a novel auxiliary circuit scheme. In this paper, the operation of the new converter is explained and analyzed, a design procedure is presented and demonstrated with an example, and experimental results that confirm the feasibility of the converter are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new single-phase dc/ac converter topology with soft-switching operation. The proposed converter achieves soft-switching by using DCM (discontinuous current mode) operation and a common turn-off snubber capacitor connected to the dc terminals of a full-bridge configuration. One additional semiconductor switch is used to disconnect the snubber capacitor from the dc side, and allows the snubber capacitor to be discharged. The DCM operation realizes zero-current turn-on and the snubber capacitor achieves zero-voltage turn-off. The proposed converter can be applied to a grid-connected converter for domestic renewable energy and energy storage, including Photovoltaic and battery energy storage devices. This paper describes operation principles, control and modulation techniques as a grid-connecting converter. Experimental verification including loss analysis with a 1-kW pilot device is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]