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A single-stage three-phase ac–ac converter benefiting from a high-frequency alternating link voltage is proposed in this paper. In this converter, a very small film capacitor can transfer the energy from the input to the output, owing to the high-frequency alternating voltage of the link. This eliminates the need for large electrolytic capacitors that are typically used in dc-link ac–ac converters. Moreover, a compact high-frequency transformer at the link can replace the bulky low-frequency transformers, in case isolation is required. These features increase the power density as well as reliability of the proposed converter in comparison with the conventional dc-link converters. The number of required switches in the proposed converter is 12, which is less than the number of switches needed in matrix converters, leading to lower switching and conduction losses. Despite being single-stage, the proposed ac–ac converter is capable of both stepping up and stepping down the voltage and also frequency transformation. This eliminates the need for using cascaded power converters. In this paper, the operation principles of the proposed ac–ac converter are investigated, and variable switching frequency and fixed switching frequency control methods for operating this converter are introduced. The performance of the converter is verified through simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]