IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4. NO. I .

J ANUARY 1989 101

I
I
Analysis and Design of Optimum-Amplitude Nine-
I
I SWITCH MATRIX
Switch Direct AC-AC Converters
ALBERT0 ALESINA AND MARC0 G. B. VENTURINI, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE
Abstruct-The maximum input-output transformer ratio, or output
voltage ability, of direct ac-ac pulsewidth modulated converters is ex-
plored. An intrinsic limit, independent of the control algorithm, is
found at u8 =( &/2) U$ . A suitable novel converter control algorithm
is discussed which achieves such maximum output amplitude ability
and displays some interesting new features. Finally, the opportunity to
implement ac-ac converter control with the use of feedback techniques
is considered, and a feedback-based control algorithm for the new con-
verter is proposed.
I . INTRODUCTION
N RECENT years, the progress of power device tech-
I nology and the development of large power integrated
circuits have sparked renewed interest in direct ac-ac
power conversion, as an elegant silicon-intensive and ef-
ficient way to convert electric power for motor drives,
unintermptible power-supply, variable-frequency gener-
ators, and reactive energy control. In general, the desir-
able characteristics of ac to ac converters are
sinusoidal input and output waveforms, with mini-
mal higher order harmonics and no subharmonics;
bidirectional energy flow capability;
minimal energy storage requirements (minimal size
reactive components);
controllable power factor.
The pulsewidth modulation (PWM) type direct converter,
which was first described in [ 11, [2] and whose block dia-
INPUT
I I ~
OUTPUT
Fig. 1. General block diagram of PWM-type direct ac-ac converter. Ca-
pacitive, voltage-fed side filter FI and inductive, current-fed side filter
FO are both represented. These filters are intrinsically necessary al-
though their size is inversely proportional to PWM carrier frequency.
FO is usually omitted with inductive loads. Clamp circuit is practical
addition necessary to prevent output voltage spikes caused by small
switch timing inaccuracies, as well as to protect switch matrix frominput
surge voltages.
additionally, the open-loop implementation of the
control law described in [2] results in high sensitivity
to both timing inaccuracies in the control circuit as
well as to distortions in the input/output waveforms.
gram is =presented in Fig. 9 is endowed with these To such limitations, a number of different con-
features; however, such conversion technique did not find
wide utilization because of a number of practical imple-
mentation problems, related to bidirectional switch reali-
zation, synchronization and protection, as well as some
intrinsic theoretical limitations. The latter are
version algorithms have been proposed in ,31, ,41 which
improve the output amplitude capability either at the ex-
pense of the inverter cost and complexity (namely, the
number of switching devices), or of the input current
waveform.
In this paper, the maximum amplitude limitation of all
fundamental direct ac to ac, three-phase to three-phase
converters, consisting of nine switches only, is explored.
An intrinsic limit, valid for any control law implementa-
tion, is found at v8 =( &/2) ug, for sinusoidal input and
output waveforms.
the output amplitude u8 cannot exceed 0.5 times the
input amplitude ug, thus resulting in poor semicon-
ductor utilization;
the input power factor cannot be lower than the out-
put power factor;
The general n-input m-output phase case is also consid-
Manuscript received May 25, 1988; revised September 12, 1988. This
paper is based on one presented at the 1988 IEEE Power Electronics Spe-
ered. A conversion is then proposed which at-
cialists Conference. Kvoto. J auan. A d 11-14.
tains such a maximum amplitude capability [9].
, . . .
A. Alesina is with- the Dipartimento di Matematica F. Enriques,
IEEE Log Number 8825280.
Finally, some practical realization issues are discussed.
tion error sensitivity typical of all open-loop systems, a
Universita di Milano, via Saldini 50, 20133 Milano, Italy.
M. G. B. Venturini is at via S. Scorza 15/21, 16136 Genova, Italy.
To Overcome the synchronization^and Omputa-
0885-8993/89/0100-0101$01 .OO O 1989 IEEE
102 I EEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4, NO. I. JANUARY 1989
feedback-based implementation of the algorithm is intro-
duced; some bidirectional switch commutation and pro-
tection techniques are reviewed.
11. OUTPUT AMPLITUDE LIMITATION OF DIRECT
AC-AC CONVERTERS
In this discussion, only direct ac-ac converters which
do not generate any significant harmonics at frequencies
comparable or lower than both input and output frequen-
cies are considered. Further, the discussion will be re-
stricted to the generation of a set of three phase voltages
suitable for a three-terminal load. Actually, six terminal
three-phase converters [3] can be regarded as a set of two
of the fundamental converters described here, variously
connected.
In the class of converters considered, which are sche-
matically represented in Fig. 1, each output waveform is
synthesized by sequential piecewise sampling of the input
waveforms; the sampling rate is set much higher than both
input and output frequencies, and the duration of each
sample is controlled in such a way that the average value
of the output waveform within each sample cycle tracks
the desired output waveform. In these conditions the re-
sulting synthesized waveform displays the same low-fre-
quency spectrum of the desired waveform; [ 11.
The converter is completed by filters FI and FO in Fig.
1, which are needed to filter the PWM carrier. In other
words, FI and FO keep the input voltage and the output
current from changing significantly during each PWM
cycle, in the real case of finite input and output imped-
ances; consequently, their size is inversely proportional
to the PWM carrier frequency adopted. In practice, if the
PWM carrier frequency is set at 20 kHz, the correct input
filter value, which limits the input voltage ripple to about
10 V rms even with infinite line inductance, is about 2
pF / kVA, considerably less than the 300-600 pF / kVA
normally used in classic ac-dc-ac systems. The output
filter can usually be omitted in motor drive applications.
For the sake of simplicity, consider now a n-input one-
output converter. If the converter input voltages are rep-
resented by the row vector
V dt) ={v, *( t ) } ; =,
and the duty cycles of the n switches connecting the inputs
to the output are represented by
M( t ) ={MJ(t)}Jn= 1
then an arbitrary output waveform V, ( t ) can be synthe-
sized if and only if, at any time t , it is possible to deter-
mine M( t ) such that
M( t ) V i ( t ) =V, ( t ) (1)
( VT is the transpose of the row matrix V ) . Since 0 <
M, ( t ) <1 and CJ, M, ( t ) =1 for every t , from (1):
i.e., the waveform to be synthesized must lie within the
input waveform range at all times.
Let us set some notations. For a set of n real functions
of time t ,
let
UBf(t) = max J ( r )
LBf(t) = min J ( t ) .
I ff consists of the n phases of a set of input or output
voltages (or currents) V, , V, , (Z4, Zo), then we shall write
I VUB(t) for input voltage upper bound instead of
UB, ( t ) , and IVLB ( t ) for input voltage lower bound in-
stead of LBV, ( t ) . The meaning of OVUB, OVLB, and so
on, is now clear. Within this notation, relation (2) be-
comes
J = l . . . n
. ,
J = l ... n
. .
I VLB(t) 5 V, ( t ) 5 I VUB(t).
( 3)
The implications of this limitation on three-phase to
three-phase conversion are now discussed. If the set of
input voltages is defined by
and the set of desired output voltages is defined by
then, if we consider the general case in which U, and wg
are not correlated, it must be
min I VUB(t) L max OVUB(t). ( 6)
0 5 Wg f I 2s 0 5 Wg f 5 2rr
This condition requires that
V , I 0 . 5 ~ 4 , (7)
as can be observed in Fig. 2.
This result does not depend on the conversion algorithm
adopted. However, the choice of the output waveforms
( 5) is arbitrary. Most loads are not referenced to the input
neutral. The more general output voltage set
I
in which the output voltages ride on a common mode (with
respect to the input neutral) voltagef,(t), is also charac-
terized by three balanced sinusoidal equidisplaced voltage
differences between phases and is therefore a suitable tar-
get output. The output neutral or reference voltage is now
simply not coincident with the input reference. This is
normally not a limitation and is typical of almost all in-
direct converters known [7].
depends The maximum attainable output voltage U ,
ALESINA AND VENTURINI: OPTIMUM-AMPLITUDE DIRECT AC-AC CONVERTERS
~
103
Fig. 2. Sinusoidal output voltage, referenced to input neutral, fitting into
input three-phase voltage system.
on the choice off,( t ) , which needs to be chosen to max-
imize vo while keeping both OVUB ( t ) and OVLB ( t )
within the range of the input voltages, i.e.,
(9)
Since f , ( t ) is a common-mode term, the difference be-
tween OVUB ( t ) and OVLB ( t ) does not contain f,( t ) .
The maximum output amplitude is therefore obtained
when such a difference, or output voltage range, coincides
with the minimum input voltage range, i.e.,
IVLB(t) I OVLB(t) 5 OVUB(t) 5 I VUB(t).
min (I VUB(~) - I VL B(~))
0 5 wgi 5 2s
- - max (OVUB ( t ) - OVLB ( t ) ) . ( 10)
0 5 w a i l 2s
If the actual waveforms are considered, (10) becomes
;vg =A V , . (11)
Consequently,
~g E 0. 866~9. (12)
A
VOmax =-
2
This value sets the intrinsic output voltage limitation of
all three-phase to three-phase direct ac-ac converters.
Once more, this result does not depend on the conversion
algorithm chosen. A special case can occur when wO is an
integer multiple of wg with the same phase. Since the de-
sign of the converter must continuously depend on the un-
correlated variables wo and wg, this singularity has limited
practical significance and will not be discussed.
Remark I: In the case of an n-phase input, m-phase
output system, ( n and m are odd integers), (10) becomes
2
n
v9 (1 +cos :) =2 (cos ; ) ug =2vo cos - (13)
2m
(cos
Remark 2: A six-terminal (three separate bipolar loads)
converter can be considered as consisting of two three-
terminal converters operated in 180" phase. Such a con-
verter has been occasionally considered to reach higher
output voltage ability. The intrinsic output voltage limi-
tation of such a device is 2( &/ 2) v g =h u g , which is
slightly higher than the 1 . 5 ~ ~ value proposed by [3].
111. SYNTHESIS OF MAXI MUM OUTPUT AMPLITUDE
CONVERTER
Our next task is to describe a direct ac-ac converter
control algorithm, with output ability equal to the maxi-
mum derived in the previous section. In this section an
fx( t ) is chosen which provides the desired output expan-
sion capability; in the next, a modulation function M( r )
is derived to synthesize the resulting waveform. Lastly,
some interesting properties of the new converter will be
examined. The optimum common mode voltage fx ( t ) can
be determined by inspection of the input voltage wave-
forms (Fig. 2).
Due to the odd number of phases, the minimum posi-
tive voltage
min I VUB(t)
0 _c WSt _c 2s
and the maximum negative voltage
max IVLB(t)
0 c W B i 5 2*
are reached at different times, i.e., the input voltage range
is not symmetric with respect to the horizontal axis, hence
not optimized to synthesize symmetric output waveforms.
The input voltage range can be maximized by adding a
common mode periodical term, to increase the positive
minima and lower the negative maxima. Such a term needs
to have a period equal to one-third of the input frequency
and amplitude equal to the input range offset at minima
and maxima. Its simplest form is, therefore,
f3&) =-avg cos 3ugt.
VO 5 a.9 =0.75~9.
Condition (6) implies
(151
Since the input voltage waveforms cannot be altered, we
can equivalently subtract hg from each desired output
waveform, still obtaining sinusoidal phase-to-phase dif-
ferences.
On the other hand, consider the set of output voltages
(5). Once more, maxima and minima are not contempo-
rary, and the resulting voltage range is not optimized. A
common mode termho can be added to lower the maxima
of OVUB and increase the minima of OVLB, thus allow-
ing for greater amplitude output phase-to-phase differ-
ences to fit into the input range.
This term should obviously be a third harmonic of the
output, i.e.,
f3,(t) =b COS 3wot,
and its amplitude b is to be chosen to minimize the max-
ima of
r(t) =vo cos wo t +b cos 3wot .
104 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4, NO. 1. JANUARY 1989
The coefficient b should be negative to lower the maxima
of OVUB. To determine its absolute value we can impose
the maxima of r (t) to be located where cos 3wo t is equal
to zero. The result is
1
6
max [vo cos wo t - - vo cos 3 wo t 1 =$ vo.
0 5 WOf 5 2*
The same output range optimization technique had been
proposed in the context of dc-ac converters in [5] and [6].
Relation (6) implies in this case:
- ~g I 0 . 5 ~ g , (16)
J 3
2
hence,
If we combine the input and output range optimizations,
(16) and (17) become
7
( %I;' Vce
%I
Fig. 3. Target output voltage waveforms, fitting in input voltage system,
with vo =0 . 8 6 6 ~ ~ and wo =4wg.
IV. ENHANCED AMPLITUDE CONVERTER DESIGN
The synthesis of an enhanced amplitude converter is
now discussed. The design problem can be stated as fol-
lows. Given a set of input sinusoidal voltages at input
frequency wg and a set of output currents at output fre-
quency WO,
( 18)
and a set of desired output voltages and input currents
3
- vo 5 - vg
4 3
2 4
v g 3 0.866,
Vomax =-
Vo( t ) =(Uo cos ( wot +( k - 1) g7r )
(19) 3
J 3
( 2 3 )
2
j k = l
+t u g cos 3wgt - ivo cos 3wot
thus reaching the theoretical optimum value derived in the
preceding section. 3
I , ( [ ) =( i s cos ( wg t +(h - 1 ) $n- +09))
(24)
The fact that this optimum is attained is an a posteriori h = l
proof that the choice made to get the value of b was the
best possible. The combination of hg andho results in the
following target output voltage waveforms:
wot +( k - 1 ) -
2n-) 3
1 1
4 6
+- zl g cos 3wgt - - Vg cos 3wot
represented in Fig. 3 alongside the input waveforms for
&
vo =2 v g
WO =4wg.
determine a control law Mk , h (t) for the nine switches s k h
connecting all input lines to all output lines (h, k =1, 2,
3) so that the synthesized output voltages and input cur-
rents have the same low frequency spectrum as the desired
waveforms up to some frequency wI much higher than both
wg and wo.
From a mathematical viewpoint [ 11, the problem re-
quires finding a matrix M( t) satisfying the condition
v;(t) =M( t ) V,' (t) (25)
l,'(t) =M y t ) * lo'(?) (26)
with the additional conditions:
(27)
Remark 3: In the n-phase input, m-phase output case
( n and m are odd), the common-mode term can be shown
to be
0 5 Mk, h( t ) 5 1
for k, h =1 , 2, 3 (natural limits of switch duty cycle) and
vo n- M( t ) * I T =IT (28)
cos nwgt - - sin - cos mwOt,
m 2m
(1 is the vector whose components are all equal to 1 ) to
while formula ( 1 8) becomes
ensure that each output line is always connected to one
and only one input line (the output is current fed). This
system can be solved only if
2
(20)
n-
vo cos - I (cos 2) vg,
J 3
2m
vo 5 2 v g ,
thus yielding the value of vomax expected from (14).
ALESINA AND VENTURINI: OPTIMUM-AMPLITUDE DIRECT AC-AC CONVERTERS 105
as previously shown, and if
v g ig cos t9g
vg io cos t90
(input power equal to output power).
- =--
Within these limitations a solution of the system of con-
ditions (25)-(28) is the following low-frequency modu-
lation matrix M( t ) . Let Zt(y) be a function of time de-
fined as
( ( Y w ~ +Pwg ) t +y '> (31)
3
1 1
6 6
- - Zi(xg) - - 2;1(xq)
( 32)
e =tan ( t9g)/tan ( 0, ) (33)
U = (34)
p =(2uo/vg - a ) / & (35)
where
al =a and a2 =0 if 8 <0
a2 =a and al =0 if 8 >0
(36)
al =a2 =0 if 8 =0,
+a1Zi(2(k +h ) - 4)6
( 37' )
the subscript 6 indicating that the argument in brackets is
to be computed modulo 6, as it stands for a multiple of
The natural limits of applicability of the previous so-
lution are now explored. Expressions (32)-(37) represent
the time-varying duty cycles of each converter switch as
a function of the set parameters vo/ vg and tan ( bg)/tan
(ao). A limitation on the respective values of these pa-
rameters, originated by condition (27), can be expressed
as
7r/3.
In fact, the expression in square brackets in (32) synthe-
sizes the wanted output with unity input power factor; the
two remaining terms al Z~( xl ) , a2Z; ' ( x 2) are added to
change the input phase displacement tYg according to (33)-
Now, if ag =0, i.e., 8 =0 and al =a2 =a =0,
function (32) is positive i f p <1, i.e., vo/zrg I &/ 2,
as expected from (29) and proven in the last section. If,
on the contrary, ag is different from zero, then either at
or a2 is also different from zero and limitation (38) must
be introduced to ensure the positivity of the Mk, h since the
pulsation of Z; and 2;' are not correlated to that of the
other terms in (32).
By substituting (34) and (35) in (38), the following set
of conditions is derived:
(36).
then
(37)
1
[ 4 4 , 4 3 0 , o,o, 0 ) "2, 2, 4, 294) m(2, 0 , 4 , 2, 4, 2)
m(O, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ) 4 2 , 4, 2, 4, 294) 4 4 , 294, 294, 2)
M( t ) = 4 2 , 2 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ) m( 4, 0, 2 , 4 , 2 , 4 ) m( O, 4, 4, 2 , 4 , 2 ) .
A detailed derivation of this solution is postponed to the
last section.
can also be written as
By (32) and (37), the entry Mk, h (t) of the matrix M( t)
where sgn (p) is intended to be 1 if p =0. The area in
the (tan ( ag)/tan ( ao), vo/vg)-plane delimited by this
condition is represented in Fig. 4.
The new conversion algorithm is therefore character-
ized by unlimited input power factor control; the ability
to control the input-to-output phase transformation, how-
ever, decreases with increasing output amplitude. The
amplitude control ability versus input phase displacement
Z1(2(k +h ) - 4)6
1
+Z;'(2(k - h ) ) 6 - -Z:(2(h 6 - l ) ) ,
1
6
- - Z,'(2( 1 - h) ) 6
106 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4, NO. I . JANUARY 1989
Fig. 4. Amplitude control ability versus input phasedisplacement control
ability of new converter (solid line) and of previous direct converter
(dashed line).
control ability of the previous direct converter [2] is also
plotted (dashed line) for comparison in Fig. 4.
Remark 4: For the n-input m-output case, see Remark
9 at the end of the last section.
Remark 5: In this paper, the input power factor is de-
fined as cos (9,) exclusively. This notation represents ac-
tual power factor only under the restrictive assumption of
sinusoidal input waveforms and zero residual input cur-
rent ripple. In applications with linear load, the input cur-
rent harmonic components outside the fundamental are
only a function of the PWM carrier frequency and of the
input filter capacitance; therefore, in principle the error in
the approximation adopted is lowered as the PWM fre-
quency is increased. For reference, in the simulation rep-
resented in Fig. 6, in which the frequency of the PWM
carrier is 100 times the input frequency, the rms compo-
nent of the input current ripple is about 0.06 times the
fundamental, thus lowering the actual input power factor
to about 0.996.
Remark 6: If the load consists of three separate single-
phase networks, two converters as described can be wired
together and synchronized at 180" phase displacement.
The resulting output ability for 18 switches is &ug,
which attains the theoretic limit for this type of converter.
Remark 7 (Unbalanced Loads): In the event of unbal-
anced load currents, power transfer to the load displays a
pulsating component at twice the output frequency. Since
the direct converter does not have any energy storage or
dissipation element in the input/output frequency range,
this pulsation must be transferred to the input in the form
of input current distortion. The actual input waveform can
be determined by (26).
Remark 8: A three-phase output with neutral can be
generated by adding another set of three switches to the
base circuit, in analogy to the traditional dc-ac convert-
ers.
V. PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION AND FEEDBACK-BASED
CONTROL OF DIRECT CONVERTERS
switches. While the first of these limitations will eventu-
ally be solved by advances in device technology and man-
ufacturing, this section is dedicated to the two latter is-
sues.
A. Feedback Control
The open-loop implementation of the conversion algo-
rithm (32)-(37) is fairly critical for the following reasons.
Nine updated duty cycles need to be computed in
every switch cycle.
The control waveforms need to be synchronized and
in phase with the input waveforms.
Any distortion in the input waveforms is reflected in
the output waveforms at different frequency; as a
consequence, subharmonics can be generated.
Timing inaccuracies can result in important output
waveform distortion.
In practice, open loop implementations are rarely ade-
quate for any algorithm; in this case, a variety of feed-
back-based techniques can and must be derived from the
base converter control law to ease its realization. An ex-
ample of direct converter implementation with output
voltage feedback is now discussed; with the same ap-
proach, output current control (current-fed control) could
also be obtained.
For all direct converters, either the output waveforms
or the input waveforms can be chosen as controlled vari-
ables. Since no energy can be stored in the converter (con-
dition (30)), both sets of variables cannot be controlled;
e.g., if an input voltage distortion exists at the input port,
and the output voltage waveform is controlled, the output
voltage is kept sinusoidal at the expense of some input
current distortion.
In general, output voltage or current control should be
adopted for motor control and frequency conversion tasks,
while input current control is essential for reactive power
generation.
For the sake of simplicity, the control of only one out-
put phase is represented in Fig. 5 . Moreover, we only
deal with the restrictive case of 8 =0 (input power factor
=I for all loads) and of maximum output voltage u0 =
( &/ 2 ) u9 (hence p =1 ). The desired output waveform
u0 cos uOt , as well as its third harmonic ( u0/ 6) cos 3wot
and the third harmonic of the input signal (v,/4) cos
3wgt , are generated by a low-frequency signal generator
or numerically computed with a look-up table.
An adder circuit AI is used to produce the target output
waveform signal
The practical application of direct PWM converters has
U0
=' 0 'Os uot - - 6
been so far very limited. The main reasons for their lim-
ited success are the cost and number of semiconductor
components needed to implement them (which is high be- The signal V,. is compared with the signal V, , which is
cause bilateral switches today must be assembled with a obtained by filtering the output phase signal, to produce
variety of discrete components), the challenge of synthe- an error signal V,,,. This signal is fed to three multipliers
sizing and managing a control law as complex as (321, MUI I , MUl2, MUl3, whose remaining inputs are con-
and the commutation and protection of the on-line nected directly on the three input lines, and whose pur-
3wot !! 4 'Os 3 u ~ t .
ALESINA AND VENTURI NI : OPTIMUM-AMPLITUDE DIRECT AC-AC CONVERTERS 107
ERROR AMPLIFIER
INPUT I LINE 1
13
1 1 A 1 1 LOW PASS FILTER
.
OUTPUT L I N E 1
INPUT LINE 3
.
I
sv
13
Fig. 5. Feedback-based control circuit for enhanced amplitude converter.
One output phase only is represented.
/
pose is to guarantee a balanced sinusoidal sharing of the
load and, consequently, a set of sinusoidal input currents.
The multiplied signals are then fed to the three duty cycle
controllers dswI I , dsw,,, dswI 3, which in turn drive the
three-phase switches SWI I , SW,,, SW13.
To be able to maximize the output amplitude without
distortion, it is necessary to add a feedforward compen-
sation to the duty cycle proportional signals; this is rep-
resented by Vinj ( 1 ), Vinj ( 2 ), Vinj ( 3 ), respectively. The
function of these additional terms is to keep the modula-
tion functions, or switch duty cycles, within the natural
0-1 range up to the maximum permissible amplitude; they
have no effect on the final output waveform because they
are within the control loop.
The values of the injected voltages which are needed to
result in optimum compensation are now derived from
( 37 ) . First, the expression of the switch duty cycles can
be factored applying the following formula:
Z!(y) +Z,B(yI) =22: ( y ; 7) z g ( y ) .
The modulation functions Mk,h ( t ) of the switches can thus
be rewritten as follows:
- [ l 1 +&ZA(2(h - l))[Z:(Z(k - 1))
3
- -Z!(O) 1 +-z:(o)] J 3
6 6
- - 1 [Z4,(2(h - 1 ) ) - Z@(1 - h ) ) ] ] . (40)
3
By inspection of (40), it is clear that each modulation
function Mk , h( t ) is made up of the product of the input
voltage V, and the desired output voltage V,, connected
to the controlled switch, plus the additional term
Vnj ( h) =-i [Zi (2(h - 1)) - Zi(2(1 - h ) ) ]
which is only function of the input voltage. Naturally, in
the analog implementation of Fig. 5 , the duty cycle con-
/
Fig. 6. Simulation of synthesis of output waveform, with input voltage
distortion, but without feedback control. Switching frequency is 10 kHz,
both input current and output voltage waveforms are filtered with first-
order low-pass filter with r =1 ms. Input frequency =100 Hz, output
frequency =150 Hz. Voltage transformation ratio =0.866, input power
factor =1 .
trollers need to be ring-connected to trigger the switch-on
times sequentially.
If the input waveform is altered, the output waveform
is maintained sinusoidal at the expense of some input cur-
rent waveform degradation. An extensive numerical sim-
ulation of the converter operation with and without input
perturbations has been carried out; the input and output
waveforms obtained with open-loop implementation are
represented with input harmonic distortions in Fig. 6. Fig.
7 , in turn, represents the same waveforms with closed-
loop control; the transfer of the artificially imposed wave-
form distortion from the output voltage to the input cur-
rent is evident.
B. Commutation and Protection
The switches used in a direct converter are not pro-
tected by the dc link capacitor typical of classical inverter
circuits and are therefore subject to the surges existing on
the ac line. This problem can be bypassed with a clamp
circuit (Fig. 1). More importantly, the timing of the switch
commutation is critical; overlap or dwell would result in
a current or voltage surge across the devices in commu-
tation and both options have limited attraction as they re-
quire complex and dissipative snubber networks. Tradi-
tional dc link converters do not suffer from this problem
because of the automatic timing action of freewheeling
diodes. A similar technique, which will be referred here
to as staggered commutation, can be applied to direct
converters (Fig. 81, provided that the bidirectional switch
is realized with two antiparallel devices (MCTs in Fig.
8). The switching sequence for the commutation of any
output line between two input lines can be schematized as
follows.
1) Determine whether the switch turning off is at lower
or higher voltage than that of the next switch turning on ~
108 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4. NO. I . JANUARY 1989
Fig. 7. Same simulation as in Fig. 6 , but with feedback-compensated con-
trol algorithm.
Incoming input line
1
Switched output
Voltage
during
commutation
Outgoing input line
Fig. 8. Staggered commutation. In this example, incoming line is at higher
voltage than outgoing line. In opposite case, freewheeling devices are
reversed.
(lower in Fig. 8); the two devices in the switches which
allow a current flow outward from the lower voltage
switch and inward to the higher voltage switch will be
termed as freewheeling devices.
2) Stagger the commutation by sequentially
a) turning on the freewheeling portion of the incoming
b) turning off the nonfreewheeling portion of the out-
c) turning on the nonfreewheeling portion of the in-
d) turning off the freewheeling portion of the outgoing
This type of commutation does not require snubbering
and, when a fixed delay is expected (e.g., transistor sat-
uration) phases a, b and c, d can be grouped together. The
dwell time must be greater than the maximum possible
delay in the circuitry and the devices to guarantee the de-
scribed sequence.
switch,
going switch,
going switch,
switch.
VI. PROOF OF THE MAIN RESULT
The main result can be briefly stated as follows: the
nine entries of the matrix M( t ) given in (32)-(37) are a
solution of the system of equations and disequations (25)-
(28) under restrictions (29), (30), and (38). However, the
system of nine linear equations (25), (26), (28) in the nine
variables Mk , h( t ) has in general, for fixed t , infinitely
many solutions [l]. What we want is a particular choice
among them, such that the resulting functions o f t are the
simplest and smoothest possible, namely trigonometric
polynomials, which are also to be nonnegative for all t
(27). First, an heuristic method to find the solution is de-
scribed. Secondly, a rigorous proof of the correctness of
this solution is provided.
A. Method
Assume that a solution exists in the form
Mk , h ( t ) =dk, h + Aol,P,k,hZ~(Ya,P,k.h). ( 41)
01, P
The exact values of the various coefficients will be deter-
mined through sequential steps; this will also show that
the solution is, under certain assumptions, unique.
Step 1: Relation (28) and symmetry suggest that the
constants dk, h , which represent the average value of
Mk, h( t ) in time, be equal to 1 /3 for every k and h. Again
(28) and the linear independence of sinusoidal functions
with different pulsations imply that if Au, P, k, h # 0 for
some a, p, k , h, then Aa, p, k, h- must also be different from
zero for some other h - different from h. More precisely,
a symmetry argument suggests that if A,,P,k,h #0, then
its value does not depend on k or h, and that the corre
sponding {yO1, P, k, h} i =l is a permutation of {0, 2, 4 )
possibly dependent on k.
The form of the solutions is thus restricted to
Mk,h(t) =3 + Aa,PZ!(Ya.P,k,h). (42
01, P
Step 2: We now determine which values are to be as-
sumed by the summation indexes a and p, i.e., the fre-
quencies of the solution components, together with their
amplitudes and phase angles. The following arguments
are based on Werners trigonometric formula, which is
useful to state using notation (31):
Z,(Y) * Z ! W )
=; [ z : : ! : ( y +y)6 +zE: p, : ( y - y,),]. (43)
The subscript 6 indicating that y f y r is to be computed
modulo 6, as y is an even integer which multiplies n/ 3.
Substitution in (25) of (42), (21), (23) and routine cal-
culations using (43) yield
( 44)
ALESI NA AND VENTURlNI : OPTI MUM-AMPLI TUDE DI RECT AC-AC CONVERTERS
-
109
To get the component Zy from the left-side sums, we need
a =1, P =1 or a =1, /3 =-1. Therefore,
3
[hz, [ A l , - l z?( ~l , - l , k, h +2(h - I )),
+Al,IZ:(Yl,l,k.h - 2(h - W6]]?
=voZ7(2(k - l )), (45)
provided that
3
z,2(Y l ,-l ,k,h - 2(h - 1))6 =O.
h=l
Now (45) implies
Y l , l , k , h =( 2 ( k +h, - 4)6
Y l , - l , k, h =(2(k - h) ) 6
3ug(Al,l +A , , - , ) =2~0. (47)
Notice that this choice of Y ~ , ~ , ~ , ~ and yl, -,,k,h satisfies also
(46) because, for every k =1, 2, 3,
3
{( Yl , l , kh +2(h - 1))6}h=1
is an odd permutation of {0, 2, 4}, while
3
{(Y I , - l , k, h - 2 ( h - 1))6)h=,
is an even permutation of the same set.
nents Zi and Zs in the right side of (44) yields
A similar argument applied to the remaining compo-
with
and
simplifications,
Applying trigonometric addition formulas, relation (30),
and standard arguments, the following values of A, , , and
A, , - 1 , consistent with (47), are obtained:
These two coefficients can be rewritten with reference to
the smallest of them:
and to the absolute value of their difference:
(54)
AI , , =P +A,
A, , - l =P + A ,
( 5 5 )
A l =A A 2 = 0 i f 0 <O
A 2 = A A I = O i f 0 >O
A , = A 2 = A = 0 i f 0=0.
Step 4: Only the coefficients A3, ,, A3, -,, A, , , , and Ao,4
remain to be found, and this will be done by considering
(27), i.e., imposing that the minimum of Mk, h be no less
than zero. Without loss of generality, as proven later, we
consider the case
J3
6 g =0 (i.e., 0 =0) v0 = vg, k =h =1.
From the previous steps, if q =A,,,, then
M1&, q ) =- 'i 1 +- PL zl +2,'
3
If we impose that A3, , =A3, -,, i.e., from (48)
Step 3: To find Al . l and A , . - , we substitute in (26)
relations ( SO) , (22), and (24), obtaining, after several
(57)
110 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4, NO. I . JANUARY 1989
then (56) can be written as and we finally have
cos wot - - cos 3wot
6
1
+-cos 2wgt +2 h q ( c o s 4w5t
h
- cos 2 wg r ) ] j .
We can limit our attention to the minimum of the function
in square brackets in (58); since the result must be inde-
pendent on we and wg, which are not correlated to each
other, and since
1 J 3
cos wet - -cos 3wot
6
we are only concerned with the minimum of the function
h y ( t , q ) =3 cos t +cos 2t + COS 4t - COS 2 t )
( 59)
on the interval [ ( ~ / 2 ) , ( 3 / 2 ) U ] where cos t is negative.
Since the condition uo =( &/ 2 ) u5 is an extreme one,
according to ( 12) , it is reasonable to conjecture that the
minimum, with respect to t , of MI , , ( ?) is nonnegative
when it takes its maximum value as a function of the pa-
rameter q. Hence we need the following lemma.
Lemma: Let H and G be real continuous functions of
the real variable t , and let
f k 9 ) =H( t ) +q G( t ) .
f ore =0, uo =( &/ 2 ) u g , andk =h =1 .
To dispense with these limitations, the values of the
coefficients A, , and AI , - I are to be set according to ( 55)
instead of to h / 6 , and the phase angles for the various
components are to be set according to (50).
Formulas ( 32) - ( 37 ) are therefore obtained, with
6
p = - P a = 3 A .
h
The coefficient p is set to multiply not only 2 ; and Z,
but also 24, Z; , 2& 2; so that it is easy to control the
maximum and minimum of the expression in square
brackets in ( 32) , hence the positivity of k ! k , h , through (38).
This would cause the third harmonic components of the
desired output to be multiplied by the same numerical fac-
tor (see next ( 23 ) ) , but this is inessential, as far as M k , h
is positive, hence the synthesis is possible.
Finally, the coefficient sgn ( p ) for components Z; and
2; is needed to ensure the positivity of h 4 k . h even for neg-
ative p , i.e., for 1 29, I >I bo 1, as will be clear from the
next proof. The effect on the output voltage is once again
of no interest for the same reason as before.
Thus we conclude the discussion for the heuristic
method. An a posteriori rigorous proof that ( 32) - ( 37 )
actually yield the solution of the problem is now pro-
vided.
B. Proof
Substitution of ( 32) - ( 37 ) and standard calculations
prove that ( 25) , ( 26) , ( 28) are satisfied with only the ines-
sential modification of ( 23) we just mentioned:
If G( ~o) =0 andf(t0, 40) =min,f(t, q o ) , thenf(to,qo)
=maxq min,f(t, q ) .
q> f ( ? o , 4) =H( t o ) =f ( b
401, hence mi ntf(t, 4 ) 5 f ( t o , 40) =mi ntf(t, q o ) , and
the claim follows immediately.
For
In view of the lemma, the correct value for q in (58)
will be given by that solution ( t o, qo) of the system
(cos 4t - cos 2t =0
1 i f ( t , q ) =- 3 sin t - 2 sin 2t
- 6q( 4 sin 4t - 2 sin 2t ) =0
(if any) which minimizes f( t , qo) with respect to t . It is
easy to find the solution to =( 2 / 3 ) x , qo =- 1 / 3 6 to
which corresponds the value f ( to, qo) =- 2 , which is,
by the way, less than bothf( 7r/2, qo) andf(3a/2, qo) .
Hence,
3
h
cos 3wqt - -pug cos 3wst
12 1 k = I
( 2 3 )
To prove ( 27) , it suffices to check positivity, which, to-
gether with ( 28) , implies M k , h (?) I 1 . We first limit our
attention to the maximum and minimum of the expression
in square brackets in ( 32) :
ALESINA AND VENTURI NI : OPTIMUM-AMPLITUDE DIRECT AC-AC CONVERTERS 111
case, formulas (47)-(50) reading as follows:
nvg(A1,1 +4 - 1 ) =2% (47')
2
or, with the same arguments as in step 4 and considering
real a, p, X, of
n
that if (a1 I A, then - A +0 I CY +0 I X +0 for 5 (Ao, n+l +A0, n- I) =(sin;) (49')
m
1
n
Mk, h(t ) =- + g h , p ( t ) =f h I Z I w - 1 ) ) I
- Z4,(2(h - l ) ) ] .
To consider all cases at one time, we write:
+b[7Z;(2( 1 - h ) )
- G( 2( h - NI]
wi tha =+ 1 , b =+ 1 , hencea2 =1, b2 =1.
The dependence of the maxima and minima of gh, o. b on
h can be eliminated, observing that the gh, a, b are trans-
lated of each other:
We can set wg =1 to get the functions
whose derivative can be easily proven to be
2 sin t
Y M ) =- ( 8b cos2 r - 4a cos t - 9b)
3 h
- t +$).
Thus we get the following result. I f p >0, i.e., b =1,
then
4
for every t ;
2
-- -= Y a , l ( 4 5 -
h - h
I f p <0, i.e., b =- 1 , then
4 2
-- -=ya, - l ( t ) 5 -
for every t.
A- di
Hence
Mk, h( t ) 2 0
for every t , k, h =1, 2, 3
provided that (38) holds, and the proof is complete.
Remark 9: All the arguments in steps 1 and 2 (also 3)
can be generalized to the n-input phase, m-output phase
where
C! ( y ) ( t ) =cos ( ( Q U O +0wg) t +7274.
However, the arguments in step 4 do not seem to be easily
extendable to this general case. In fact, a straightforward
application of such arguments to the five-input, five-out-
put phase case leads to a modulation coefficient Ml , l ( t )
with a negative minimum even if the condition (14) is
fulfilled. This suggests that the three-by-three case may
be somewhat peculiar.
VII. CONCLUSION
Due to the advance of power electronics and power
semiconductor devices, the application of direct fre-
quency converters is becoming increasingly attractive.
High-frequency PWM direct converters offer extremely
flexible performance at the expense of important com-
plexity and some limitations on output voltage ability and
consequent power device utilization.
A theoretical investigation was carried out on the in-
trinsic maximum output voltage ability of a direct, three-
phase to three-phase sinusoidal converter. Such an intrin-
sic limit was determined to be ( h / 2 ) ug, while the same
limit for uncommitted loads (three bipolar loads) is h v g
with twice the number of switches.
Further, a control algorithm was synthesized which al-
lows a direct PWM converter to reach the predicted in-
trinsic maximum output amplitude ability; the new con-
verter also allows unrestricted control of the input phase
displacement, within a limited range of voltage gain, with
respect to the output phase displacement.
Finally, a feedback-based implementation of the pro-
posed converter has been suggested. Such implementation
is characterized by low sensitivity to timing inaccuracies,
input synchronization, and waveform distortion errors.
112 I EEE
The practical realization of the resulting direct converter
is also quite simplified due to the reduced real-time com-
putation need.
REFERENCES
[ 11 A. Alesina and M. Venturini, Solid-state power conversion: a Fou-
rier analysis approach to generalized transformer synthesis, IEEE
Trans. Circuits Syst., vol. CAS-28, pp. 319-330, Apr. 1981.
[2] M. Venturini, A new sine wave in, sine wave out, conversion tech-
nique eliminates reactive elements, in Proc. Powercon 7, San Diego,
[3] X. Ma, High-performance PWM frequency changers, IEEE Trans.
Ind. Appl., vol. IA-22, pp. 267-280, Mar./Apr. 1986.
[4] P. D. Ziogas, S . I. Khan, and M. H. Rashid, Analysis and design
of forced commutated cycloconverter structures with improved trans-
fer characteristics, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. IE-33, pp. 271-
280, Aug. 1986.
[SI K. G. King, A three-phase transistor class-B inverter with sine-wave
output and high efficiency, in Power Electronics-Power Semicon-
ductors and their Applications. London: Inst. Elec. Eng., 1974, pp.
[6] H. L. Hodkinson and J . Mills, High power transistor inverters for
ac drives, in Power Electronics-Power Semiconductors and their
Applications.
[7] B. D. Bedford and R. G. Hoft, Principles of Inverter Circuits. New
York: Wiley, 1964.
[8] L. Gjugyi and B. Pelly, Static Power Frequency Changers. New
York: Wiley, 1976.
[9] M. Venturini and A. Alesina, Method and apparatus for the con-
version of a polyphase voltage system. U.S. Patent 4 628 425, Dec.
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TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 4, NO. I , J ANUARY 1989
Alberto Alesina was bom in Cannero, Italy, in
1949. He received the laurea in mathematics
from the University of Milan in 1972.
He visited the Mathematics Department of the
University of Califomia, Berkeley, in 1977- 1978
and was with the University of Sassari, Italy, in
1980-1983. He is presently an Associate Profes-
sor with the University of Milan. His areas of in-
terest are Fourier and abstract harmonic analysis,
signal analysis and applications to power electron-
ics.
Dr. Alesina is a member of the Unione Matematica Italiana.
Marco G. B. Venturini (M78-SM83) was bom
in Genoa, Italy. He received the laurea (with
honors) in nuclear engineering from the Politec-
nico di Milano, Italy, in 1977.
After a first visit to the Department of Electri-
cal Engineering and Computer Science of the Uni-
versity of Califomia, Berkeley (UCB), in 1976,
he altemated his professional activity in Italy with
research at UCB in the years 1977-1979. He was
then with Texas Instruments, UK, and later with
Polymotor Italiana, then part of the Philips Group,
where he was in charge of power electronics and specialty motor design.
He cofounded Phase S. r. l . , whose activities concern UPS, high-perfor-
mance motor drive, and electronic motor design. His fields of interest are
power electronics conversion, integrated electronic/electromechanical de-
sign, high response speed servo drives, very high speed and linear motors.
He holds patents in the power electronics and electromechanical design
fields.
Dr. Venturini is a Registered Professional Engineer in Italy and a mem-
ber of IAS and PES.