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In this article, a power-split-based wireless charging system (WCS) with communication-free coordination control is proposed to combat wide load and coupling variations. By using a magnetic integrated inductor, two power delivery channels are created from a single receiver coil. Large portion of received energy is directly delivered to the load. Small amount of energy is converted by using a low-voltage low-power dc–dc converter to regulate the output voltage or current achieving constant voltage (CV) or constant current (CC) charging operation. This proposal achieves higher power conversion efficiency than the traditional two-stage cascaded converter WCS. Since the dc–dc converter only processes partial power of the WCS system, this proposal reduces the voltage stress of the devices and design difficulty. A communication-free coordination control is applied, which is established by sensing the input current drop caused by the burst operation of the partial-power dc–dc converter. Thus, the CC-CV charging is realized by PWM control at the receiver (Rx) side, and the inverter is regulated with subharmonics control scheme to maintain nearly constant Rx coil current. Simulation results for both high-voltage high-power scenarios and low-voltage low-power (LVLP) scenarios are provided to investigate the operation of the proposed WCS. Finally, experimental results are captured from a 250 W/60–84 V LVLP prototype to validate the feasibility and practicability of proposed concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) is usually utilized in a three-phase buck rectifier to obtain low total harmonic distortion (THD) and low switching losses. When the conventional SVPWM scheme is applied, the input currents of the three-phase buck rectifier are distorted during the transition from even sector to odd sector, which will deteriorate the harmonics of input currents. In this letter, an asymmetric modulation scheme is proposed to eliminate the distortion of input currents of the three-phase buck rectifier during the transition from even sector to odd sector. The proposed modulation scheme combines two kinds of traditional asymmetric modulations in different sectors. A 1.5 kW experimental prototype of the three-phase buck rectifier with an ac input voltage of 115 V/400 Hz is built for more electric aircraft applications. The experimental results show that the THD of 1.3% can be achieved for the three-phase buck rectifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategies, including continuous PWM (CPWM) and discontinuous PWM (DPWM), have been efficiently applied in the three-phase voltage source converters (VSCs). In the three-phase VSCs, dead-time distortion is inevitable. The characteristics of the dead-time distortion of three-phase VSCs with CPWM strategies have been studied extensively, whereas those of DPWM strategies have not been studied in detail. In this article, a comparative analysis of the dead-time distortion of CPWM strategies and DPWM strategies is conducted. Furthermore, the improvement of the PWM strategies to mitigate dead-time distortion is presented. The improved PWM strategies inject the compensation signals to the modulation signals to reconstruct the dead-time voltage error, which can significantly reduce the dead-time distortion of various PWM strategies. Experimental tests are conducted and the experimental results are provided to verify the analysis results of the dead-time distortion of DPWM strategies and the improved PWM strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the input current dead zones, the buck power factor correction converter has to set a fixed output voltage for a tradeoff between the total harmonic distortion (THD ${_\mathit{i}}$) and efficiency. Thus, many converter-cell integrated buck-type converters have been proposed to eliminate the dead zones, which unfortunately deteriorate efficiency due to the extra components.This article proposes a group of bridgeless buck-type integrated topologies. Then, a dead-zone-free bridgeless buck-type topology with a wide output voltage range is targeted for further study. The studied converter operates in the buck+flyback mode and can automatically change to flyback mode when the dead zones occur, which only requires a simple control. Moreover, an integrated transformer based on an E-E core is investigated to reduce cost and volume. The bridgeless operation modes are introduced, followed by the PF and THD ${_\mathit{i}}$ analysis to optimize its performance. Prototypes are built and tested, which confirm the effectiveness of the converter and the integrated magnetic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dead-time between the switches in the upper and the lower bridge of voltage source PWM converters produces input current distortion, called as dead-time distortion. The dead-time distortion can be compensated by trapezoidal voltage. The conventional trapezoidal voltage compensation method (TVCM) only controls the angle of the trapezoidal voltage. By the control of the angle and amplitude of the trapezoidal voltage simultaneously, an improved TVCM is proposed to further reduce the dead-time distortion. The experimental results are provided to verify the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the telecom base transceiver station (BTS) load mission profiles, a mixed conduction mode (MCM) control for a bridgeless boost PFC converter (IPOS boost) is proposed to mainly improve its power factor and reduce the input current total harmonic distortion (THD ${_{\mathit{i}}}$) in the light-load conditions. The principle of the MCM control and the efficiency analysis are introduced. Then, the experimental verification is performed to show the control effectiveness and performance improvements. Furthermore, a mission profile-based reliability assessment for the PFC converter is presented to analyze the IPOS boost under the classical average current (AVC) control and the proposed MCM control, along with its conventional boost counterpart under the AVC control. Considering the measured efficiency data and BTS typical mission profiles in a rural area, the analysis results indicate that given 20 years of operation, the accumulated failure of the IPOS boost under the AVC controls is 0.27%, and is further decreased to 0.24% by just the software update with the proposed MCM control. By contrast, the accumulated failure of the conventional boost counterpart under the AVC control is 2.06%, much higher than the IPOS boost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional boost power factor correction (PFC) converter is only suitable for two-stage power conversion system due to its high output voltage. Inherent step-up characteristic limits its applications in single-stage low voltage output. In this article, a boost-type single-stage step-down resonant PFC converter, which combines a boost PFC converter and a resonant switched capacitor network by using one active switch, is proposed and analyzed. Similar to conventional boost PFC converter, the proposed converter can achieve unity power factor and low input current ripple in universal-input applications. Moreover, the proposed converter can achieve step-down voltage conversion. Furthermore, high-efficiency is realized due to single-stage power conversion. The proposed converter is studied in terms of operation principle, voltage gain, power factor analysis, and key circuit parameters design. Finally, a 70-W prototype with 96.05% peak efficiency is built to verify the theoretical analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-stage power conversion of class-D amplifier with front-end switching mode power supply affects the power conversion efficiency of audio amplifier system. Single-stage inverter (SSI) developed from cycloconverter can be used as audio amplifier to improve efficiency. However, current commutation of cycloconverter switches challenges for high efficiency and low total harmonic distortion (THD). In this article, a bipolar phase shift modulation (BPSM) SSI is proposed for high efficiency low distortion audio amplification. Full bridge active clamp (FBAC) circuit is used to clamp the voltage across cycloconverter switches and recycle the energy of filter inductor and leakage inductance. By using active clamp, utilization of magnetizing inductance current and optimization of driving sequence of clamp switches, zero voltage switching of the proposed BPSM FBAC-SSI is achieved over wide range. With BPSM and voltage clamp across cycloconverter switches, low THD of output voltage is also achieved. A 200 kHz prototype with 250 W output power is presented to verify the analysis results of the proposed BPSM FBAC-SSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulse train (PT) control strategy for the boost power factor correction (PFC) converter operating in the continuous conduction mode (CCM) is proposed and studied in this article. Average current mode (ACM) control is usually utilized for the CCM boost PFC converter. The ACM-controlled PFC converter suffers from poor dynamic response, because its voltage control loop has to be designed with low bandwidth to minimize the effect of low-frequency output voltage ripple on the current control loop. Different from ACM control, the voltage control loop and current control loop of the PT-controlled PFC converter are decoupled, and thus the effect of low-frequency output voltage ripple on the current control loop is eliminated. Besides, PT modulation is utilized in the proposed controller to regulate the inductor current to follow the current reference. Thus, both high power factor and fast dynamic response can be achieved. The operation principle of the PT-controlled CCM boost PFC converter is analyzed, and a 300-W prototype is built to verify the analysis results. The experimental results show that power factor of the PT-controlled PFC converter is higher than 0.998 and the dynamic response is significantly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A flicker-free single switch multi-string LED driver with high power factor and current balancing is proposed and analyzed. It combines a pre-stage boost PFC converter and multiple second-stage buck dc–dc converters by a single active switch and multiple dc-link capacitors. With the proposed circuit configuration of multiple dc-link capacitors, the output current of each LED string can be balanced. Therefore, by controlling the output current of one LED string, the output currents of other LED strings can be controlled via current balancing of dc-link capacitors. The effect of the ripple of dc-link voltage on each output can be eliminated by fast voltage mode control loop. Therefore, flicker-free low ripple current for each LED string is achieved. With small voltage ripple across dc-link capacitors, the turn on time of active switch is almost constant in a half line cycle. Therefore, power factor correction can be achieved with inductor current of pre-stage operating in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Finally, prototypes of dual-string LED driver with 90–135 Vac input and 175–265 Vac input for 47 W output power are built to verify the studied results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MR16 lighting system with a high-frequency step-down electronic transformer is widely used in commercial lighting. In this paper, a single-switch quadratic boost light emitting diode (LED) driver compatible with electronic transformers for the MR16 lighting system is proposed and analyzed. It combines a prestage boost power factor correction (PFC) converter and a second-stage boost dc–dc converter with a single switch. The effect of the dc link voltage ripple of the prestage boost PFC converter on the output of the second-stage boost dc–dc converter is eliminated by a fast voltage mode control loop of a second-stage circuit. Therefore, flicker-free low ripple LED current is achieved. With a small dc link voltage ripple of prestage, the turn-on time of the active switch is almost constant in a half-line cycle. Therefore, PFC can be achieved with inductor current of prestage operating in a discontinuous conduction mode. With small input capacitance, the proposed LED driver presents a good compatibility performance with different kinds of electronic transformers. Furthermore, the proposed LED driver needs only one active switch and one control loop, which makes circuit volume small and low cost. Finally, a 4 W LED driver for a small-size MR16 lighting system is provided to verify the studied results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-stage ac–dc converter with high power factor (PF) usually suffers from a significant output voltage ripple at double line frequency. In order to suppress such low-frequency output voltage ripple and maintain high PF, a series compensation circuit (SCC), which generates the same magnitude but 180° phase shifted low-frequency voltage ripple, is connected in series with the output of a power factor correction (PFC) converter. In this paper, an output impedance model of the SCC is established and the relationship between the output impedance of the SCC and the low-frequency output voltage ripple of an ac–dc converter is analyzed. Based on the proposed output impedance model, a low-frequency output voltage ripple can be evaluated. To further reduce the low-frequency output voltage ripple, an output impedance shaping method with a virtual impedance is presented. The implementation of the virtual impedance of the SCC with average current mode control is studied. A flyback PFC converter with a buck SCC is implemented for the study of the suppression of the low-frequency output voltage ripple. A prototype is designed to verify the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a digital-based pulse train (PT) control technique for a boost power factor correction (PFC) converter operating in a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) is presented, which can achieve nearly unity power factor (PF) over a universal input voltage range. Different from traditional digital control techniques, which usually require complex arithmetic operations, the digital-based PT control technique only needs a simple operation. Besides, a DCM boost PFC converter with digital PT control can operate at a high switching frequency, which is less dependent on the processing speed of a digital controller. Thus, the proposed control strategy can be implemented with general purpose digital controllers, such as low-speed and low-cost microcontroller unit, for the DCM boost PFC converter where the cost is a focus. The operation principle of the digital PT controlled DCM boost PFC converter is analyzed. Experimental results are provided, which show that high PF and low input current total harmonic distortion can be maintained over a universal input voltage range of 90–264 V ac. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) dc–dc converter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM), load variation of one output will affect the voltage of the other output, i.e., there exists cross regulation between its two outputs. To suppress the cross regulation of the SIDO dc–dc converter operating in CCM, a novel ripple based control technique, called capacitor current ripple (CCR) control technique, is proposed in this paper. The operation principle of the SIDO CCM buck converter and the proposed CCR control technique are presented. The small signal model of the CCR-controlled SIDO CCM buck converter is established by the state space averaging method. Bode plots based on small signal model show that the proposed CCR-controlled SIDO CCM buck converter significantly reduces cross regulation and improves the transient performance compared with the peak current mode controlled SIDO CCM buck converter. In addition, the effect of the variation of loads on the stability of the proposed CCR-controlled SIDO CCM buck converter is analyzed by eigenvalues analysis. Finally, experimental results are provided to verify the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of a filter inductor on the steady-state performance of a parallel-type resonant converter is elaborated and analyzed in this paper. By steady-state operation analysis, it is shown that the ripple current of the filter inductor results in an inaccurate prediction of fundamental harmonic approximation (FHA), and such problem would become serious when the filter inductance is small. In order to portray such feature, an improved fundamental harmonic approximation (IFHA) is proposed. Unlike an FHA equivalent circuit, an equivalent inductor is added to the ac resistance parallelly in an IFHA equivalent circuit. Due to that, the equivalent inductor branch takes account of the ripple current of the filter inductor, and the IFHA is expected to own higher accuracy and can be used in a parameter design procedure. In this paper, the equivalent inductor expressions of full-bridge rectifier and current-doubler rectifier are derived as examples. In order to verify the theoretical analysis, a 500 W LCC resonant converter is built as a prototype. The close-loop experiment results show that small filter inductance would lead to the failure of output voltage regulation and hard-switching operation of power switches. And open-loop experiment results show the IFHA gives more accurate predictions than those of FHA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peak current mode (PCM) control has been widely used for the control of switching dc–dc converters due to its excellent transient performance. With the development of single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) dc–dc converters, PCM control technique is introduced to the control of SIDO dc–dc converters. Conventional PCM buck converter has only one reference current, with two inductor current borderlines are used to divide the operation modes of inductor current. However, PCM SIDO buck converter has more inductor current borderlines as it has one more reference current than that of PCM buck converter. In this paper, inductor current borderlines of PCM SIDO buck converter are investigated, and unified discrete iterative model of PCM SIDO buck converter is established. The effect of the difference of reference currents, initial inductor current and input voltage on the stability of PCM SIDO buck converter has been discussed by using bifurcation diagrams. The study results show that the stability of PCM SIDO buck converter is sensitive to the difference of reference currents, initial inductor current and input voltage. The stability boundary of the difference of reference currents, stability region of initial inductor current, and stability boundary of input voltage are derived. Lyapunov exponent and experimental results are carried out to verify the theoretical analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel high-efficiency resonant light emitting diode (LED) backlight driver with passive current balancing and dimming is proposed and analyzed in this paper. The proposed LED driver achieves uniform brightness of each LED string by the charge balance of the resonant capacitor, which benefits from high efficiency. By controlling the output current of one LED string, the output currents of other LED strings can be controlled via current balancing of resonant capacitors, which makes its control simple. The proposed LED driver uses only one active switch, which decreases circuit volume and simplifies the control. Furthermore, a wide load range can be achieved by controlling the turn-on duty ratio of the single power switch of the LED driver with a fixed frequency. Finally, a prototype of a high-dimming-ratio small-size three-string LED driver is provided to verify the studied results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A resonant single-stage single-switch four-output LED driver with high power factor and passive current balancing is proposed. By controlling one output current, the other output currents of four-output LED driver can be controlled via passive current balancing, which makes its control simple. When magnetizing inductor current operates in critical conduction mode, unity power factor is achieved. The proposed LED driver uses only one active switch and one magnetic component, thus it benefits from low cost, small volume, and light weight. Moreover, high-efficiency performance is achieved due to single-stage power conversion and soft-switching characteristics. The characteristics of the proposed LED driver are studied in this paper and experimental results of two 110-W four-output isolated LED drivers are provided to verify the studied results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with constant duty cycle-controlled discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) boost power factor (PF) correction (PFC) converter, constant duty cycle-controlled quadratic DCM–DCM boost PFC converter features with much lower second-order line frequency output voltage ripple, and however, it suffers from low PF. To increase PF of quadratic DCM–DCM boost PFC converter, a variable duty cycle control technique for quadratic DCM–DCM boost PFC converter is presented in this paper. An approximation equivalent for the variable duty cycle is employed to simplify the implementation circuit. The corresponding expressions of PF and output voltage ripple are analyzed. For input voltage range of 100–240 Vac, quadratic DCM–DCM boost PFC converter with variable duty cycle control benefits with very high PF, and tradeoff between PF and output voltage ripple of this converter is analyzed. Experimental results from 100-W prototypes are given to verify the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is known that the ripple-based control of a switching dc–dc converter benefits from a faster transient response than a conventional pulse width modulation (PWM) control switching dc–dc converter. However, ripple-based control switching dc–dc converters may suffer from fast-scale oscillation. In order to achieve fast transient response and ensure the stable operation of a switching dc–dc converter over a wide load range, based on a conventional pulse train (PT) control technique, a peak capacitor current PT (PCC-PT) control technique is proposed in this paper. With a buck converter as an example, the operating modes, steady-state performance, and transient respond performance of a PCC-PT controlled buck converter are presented and assessed. To eliminate fast-scale oscillation, circuit and control parameter design considerations are given. An accurate discrete iteration model of a PCC-PT controlled buck converter is established, based on which the effects of circuit parameters on the stability of the converter operating in a discontinuous current mode (DCM), mixed DCM-continuous conduction mode (CCM), and CCM are studied. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) buck–boost power factor correction (PFC) converter operating in critical conduction mode is proposed in this paper. By multiplexing a single inductor, each output of the SIDO buck–boost converter can be regulated independently. Compared with a conventional two-stage multiple-output converter, the SIDO buck–boost PFC converter benefits from significant overall cost saving, small size, and light weight. Moreover, the efficiency of the SIDO buck–boost PFC converter can be improved due to single-stage power conversion. The control strategy and characteristics of the proposed converter are analyzed. The efficiency, power factor, total harmonic distortion, and output accuracy are verified using the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The pulse-train (PT) control technique for switching dc–dc converters is simple to design and benefits from excellent control performance. Up to now, almost all of the works on PT control are focused on switching dc–dc converters operating in discontinuous conduction mode, with few works reported on PT control of switching dc–dc converters operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). In this paper, a PT-controlled CCM buck converter is studied and a unique low-frequency oscillation phenomenon is revealed, which results in large undesired inductor-current and output-voltage variations. The effect of equivalent series resistance (ESR) output-capacitor on the low-frequency oscillation is examined. The results indicate that such oscillation occurs when the ESR output-capacitor is relatively small and disappears when it is relatively large. However, a larger ESR will result in a large output-voltage ripple. In order to avoid the low-frequency oscillation and, at the same time, to ensure a small output-voltage ripple, the ICRIF circuit is applied. In this way, a small ESR output-capacitor can be used to decrease the output-voltage ripple. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Equivalent series resistance (ESR) of output capacitor has a significant effect on the control performance of constant on-time (COT) controlled switching dc-dc converters. In this paper, a discrete-time model of COT-controlled buck converter, with variable sampling frequency, is established. Based upon which, the dynamical effects of the ESR of output capacitor on COT-controlled buck converter are revealed and analyzed. The time-domain numerical simulations of the exact switched state equations, the bifurcation diagrams, and maximal Lyapunov exponents of the discrete-time model are obtained. These results verified by experimental circuit indicate that the ESR of output capacitor is a critical factor for COT-controlled buck converter, which can eliminate the unique pulse bursting phenomenon and shift operation mode from discontinuous conduction mode to continuous conduction mode, as well as control stability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the effect of equivalent series resistance (ESR) of an output capacitor on the performance of a constant-on-time (COT)-controlled buck converter is studied, and a pulse bursting phenomenon is revealed. It indicates that the ESR of the output capacitor is one of the key factors causing pulse bursting phenomenon in COT-controlled buck converters, and the critical ESR is derived via time-domain analysis and stability analysis in the s-domain. It is pointed out that, when the ESR of the output capacitor is smaller than the critical ESR, pulse bursting phenomenon occurs; otherwise, it disappears. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the theoretical analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel pseudo-continuous conduction mode (PCCM) boost power-factor-correction (PFC) converter and its corresponding control strategy are proposed in this paper. Connecting a power switch in parallel with the inductor makes the boost converter operate in PCCM, which provides an additional degree of control freedom to realize PFC control. Therefore, a simple and fast voltage control loop of the PCCM boost PFC converter can be designed to realize output-voltage regulation. The additional degree of control freedom introduced by inductor current freewheeling operation of the PCCM boost PFC converter has been exploited through the dead-zone control technique, which can be dynamically adjusted in accordance with the output-voltage ripple. Compared with continuous conduction mode (CCM) boost PFC converter, the controller of the proposed PCCM boost PFC converter is much simpler. Moreover, the PCCM boost PFC converter benefits with reduced inductor-current ripple and improved power factor compared with boost PFC converter operating in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Analysis, simulation, and a 400-W prototype of the PCCM boost PFC converter have been presented and compared with those of boost PFC converters operating in conventional CCM and DCM. The results show that the dynamic response of the PCCM boost PFC converter is significantly faster than the existing boost PFC converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the variation of circuit parameters, the operation-state regions of current-mode-controlled switching dc–dc converters can shift among stable period region, robust chaos region in continuous conduction mode, and intermittent chaos region in discontinuous conduction mode. This paper presents a unified approach to the operation-states analysis of switching dc–dc converters with ramp compensation. The piecewise map model of the converters is first derived. With the bifurcation analyses, two boundary classification equations of the orbit state shifting are then obtained. Finally, the operation-state regions are well classified. To verify the theoretical analysis results, 2-D bifurcation diagrams are simulated and experimentations with current-mode-controlled buck converter are conducted. It is revealed that regular and irregular (chaotic or intermittent) operation states can be generated depending on circuit parameters or control of ramp-compensation current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two‐channel single‐stage switching amplifier (SSA) based on high‐frequency link inverter is proposed. The audio input signals are modulated by phase shift between primary‐side switches and secondary‐side switches, thus independent amplifications of two channels can be obtained. Benefiting from multiplexing of primary‐side power switches for two channels, only a half bridge inverter is utilised at primary side. Clamp circuits at the secondary side of transformer eliminate spike voltages across the secondary‐side switches during the current commutation of the cycloconverters. Zero voltage switching of primary‐side switches and clamp switches are achieved by utilising magnetising inductor current. A 320 V/250W prototype is presented to verify the analysis results of the proposed two‐channel SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel soft‐switching step‐up/down DC–DC converter is proposed, which generates symmetric bipolar outputs while maintaining the grounded capability. The proposed converter consists of a zeta converter cell and a buck–boost converter cell, sharing an inductor and a power switch. High efficiency is achieved by zero voltage switching for all switches. Meanwhile, by connecting one load between positive and negative output terminals, high voltage gain can be achieved. Experimental results of a 3.7 V battery input and ±10 VDC/10 W outputs prototype are presented to verify the analysis results of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high efficiency single‐stage switching amplifier based on high‐frequency link inverter is proposed. Bipolar phase shift modulation is adopted in the proposed switching amplifier. Auxiliary circuits including freewheeling diodes, clamp capacitors and active clamp bridge (ACB) are added to provide a current flowing path for the inductor current during the dead time of the bidirectional switches. The ACB is synchronised with primary‐side switches to absorb the leakage inductor energy and clamp the secondary‐side transformer voltages. With single‐stage conversion and leakage inductor energy recycle, high efficiency of the proposed switching amplifier is achieved. A 5 V/25 W prototype is presented to verify the analysis results of the proposed switching amplifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]