Multiple Input-Terminal Voltage Multiplier Circuit

Voltage multipliers (VMs) are widely used in applications with the high-voltage-gain rectifiers and dc/dc converters with the capability of increasing voltage conversion ratio. Currently, all the existing VM circuits are designed with two input terminals, while the optimal design on the voltage conversion ratio and voltage stress on the semiconductor devices of the converters with VMs can be achieved by varying the number of basic VM units. However, as the number of its input terminals is fixed and, thus, the current stress on the semiconductor devices are not adjustable at the design stage, such circuits have limited applications in today's high-power energy conversion systems. In order to address such drawbacks of the conventional VMs, a multiple input-terminal VM (MIVM) circuit is proposed in this article. The analysis of the operation principles and the performance characteristics of the proposed MIVM circuit are presented in detail. As an example, the application of the MIVM with the traditional boost converters is presented and discussed, and the efficacy of the theoretical analysis is validated experimentally.