• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.702-713
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• 2018

Power loss reduction and total harmonic distortion(THD) minimization are two important goals of improving three-level inverters. In this paper, an optimized pulse width modulation (PWM) strategy that can reduce switching losses and balance the neutral point with an optional THD of three-level neutral-point-clamped inverters is proposed. An analysis of the two-level discontinuous PWM (DPWM) strategy indicates that the optimal goal of the proposed PWM strategy is to reduce switching losses to a minimum without increasing the THD compared to that of traditional SVPWMs. Thus, the analysis of the two-level DPWM strategy is introduced. Through the rational allocation of the zero vector, only two-phase switching devices are active in each sector, and their switching losses can be reduced by one-third compared with those of traditional PWM strategies. A detailed analysis of the impact of small vectors, which correspond to different zero vectors, on the neutral-point potential is conducted, and a hysteresis control method is proposed to balance the neutral point. This method is simple, does not judge the direction of midpoint currents, and can adjust the switching times of devices and the fluctuation of the neutral-point potential by changing the hysteresis loop width. Simulation and experimental results prove the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed strategy.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.319-325
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• 2020

In this paper, a discontinuous-conduction mode (DCM) DC-DC buck converter is presented for mobile device applications. The buck converter consists of compensator for stable operations, pulse-width modulation (PWM) logic, and power switches. In order to achieve small hardware form-factor, the number of off-chip components should be kept to be minimum, which can be realized with simple and efficient frequency compensation and digital soft start-up circuits. Burst-mode operation is included for preventing the efficiency from degrading under very light load condition. The DCM DC-DC buck converter is fabricated with 0.18-um BCDMOS process. Programmable output with external resistors is typically set to be 1.8V for the input voltage between 2.8 and 5.0V. With a switching frequency of 1MHz, measured maximum efficiency is 92.6% for a load current of 100mA.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2012

This paper is studied on a new DCM-ZVS step up-down AC-DC converter of high performance, that is, high system efficiency and power factor correction (PFC). The switching devices in the proposed converter are operated by soft switching technique using a new quasi-resonant circuit, and are driven with discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) according to pulse width modulation (PWM). The quasi-resonant circuit uses a step up-down inductor and a loss-less snubber capacitor. The proposed converter with DCM also simplifies the requirement of control circuits and reduces the number of control components. The input AC current waveform in the proposed converter becomes a quasi-sinusoidal waveform proportional to the magnitude of input AC voltage under constant switching frequency. As a result, the proposed converter obtains low switching power loss and high efficiency, and its input power factor is nearly in unity. The validity of the analytical findings is confirmed by some computer simulation results and experimental results.