Continuous Space Vector Modulation For Symmetrical Six-Phase Drives

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2015.2456234, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 1, NO. 1, AUGUST 2014
Continuous Space Vector Modulation for

Symmetrical Six-Phase Drives
Daniel Glose, TUM,
Ralph Kennel, TUM, Senior Member, IEEE,
AbstractThe two common three-leg, two-level voltage source

inverters (VSIs) of a six-phase drive are able to produce 64
different switching states, representable as voltage space vectors
in two orthogonal subspaces. The discrete output voltage of the
inverter legs is usually controlled by means of a space vector
modulation (SVM) technique, the aim of which is to produce the
same volt-seconds as the continuous reference voltage vectors in
both subspaces within a certain time frame (switching cycle).
Using a simplified phase model of the machine consisting in each
subspace of a voltage source and a leakage inductance, the phase
currents are found to exhibit unwanted distortion harmonics. A
proper sequence of voltage vectors has to be applied in order to
reduce these harmonics.
By allowing each inverter leg to change its output twice during the
switching cycle (continuous modulation), 518400 different space
vector sequences can be generated. This paper demonstrates that,
among these sequences, only 11 need to be considered to modulate
the reference vectors. Further simulation shows that, for a certain
pair of reference vectors and leakage inductance ratio, only one
of them reduces the distortion to a minimum. Due to the high
computational effort, however, this optimization problem is not
solvable online.
To overcome this drawback four different modulation strategies,
the standard three-phase SVM, the fragmented sector mapping,
the optimal interleaved and the approximated interleaved SVM,
are derived from and compared with an offline optimization.
Each strategy is evaluated regarding the resulting current distortion and the influence of the reference vectors as well as
the inductance ratio. The harmonic current of these online
modulation strategies is calculated in simulation and validated by
experiments. Applying the proposed modulation techniques leads
to a great reduction in the machine losses caused by switching.
Index TermsSymmetrical, Six-Phase, Dual Three-Phase, Interleaved, Pulse Width Modulation, Space Vector Modulation,
Phase Shifted.
I. I NTRODUCTION
IX phase drives are usually made out of two common
voltage source inverters (VSI) and a modified three-phase
machine, as depicted in Fig. 1. Such a drive setup offers several
advantages over standard three-phase drives [1], [2], [3], [4],
i.e.
Current sharing among more phases, if the inverters are
connected in parallel,
Voltage sharing among more levels, if the inverters are
connected in series,
Full redundancy of inverter and machine, if the inverters
are connected in parallel.
The six-phase system is preferably used for high power and
safety critical applications, where the nominal machine current
or voltage is beyond the rating of the switching devices.
Compared to existing high power topologies such as multilevel

inverters [5], [6], [7], six-phase drives allow economic savings
since standardized three-phase equipment can be used [1].
Fig. 1. Six-phase drive setup, consisting of two three-phase, two-level VSI

and a high frequency model of a six-phase machine.
Six-phase machines can be classified into two types: symmetrical and asymmetrical [2]. In a symmetrical machine, the
three-phase sets are shifted by = j 3 (j N) (see Fig.
2). The asymmetrical machine is characterized by any other
shift angle. The case = 6 has been discussed extensively,
since it offers the advantage of eliminating the sixth order
torque harmonics. This intrinsic effect can be explained by
decomposing the torque producing and the fifth and seventh
order machine states and mapping them onto two independent
subspaces [8]. This machine type, however, suffers from its
low leakage inductance in the non-torque producing subspace
[9], which leads to increased current distortion resulting from
switching behavior of the inverters.
The symmetrical six-phase arrangement of Fig. 2a with
a displacement angle of = offers the lowest magnetic
coupling between the three-phase sets and leads to a favorable
high ratio of the leakage inductances. In comparison to the
asymmetrical counterpart this characteristic is expected to
decrease current distortions if a proper switching sequence is
applied
As shown in Fig. 1, either the upper (+Ud /2) or the lower
(Ud /2) DC-Bus voltage level is available at the output
of the inverter half-bridges. In order to generate a certain
output voltage, the reference value has to be modulated by
sequentially applying the upper and lower voltage level. Within
one switching cycle, the resulting output voltage exhibits
the same mean volt-seconds as the reference value but with
additional voltage distortions. Assuming a highly inductive
RL-load, they lead to current harmonics, which results in extra
and unwanted machine losses.
There are a variety of articles proposing methods to pre-
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SS = 2Ud / and the modulation

level, the maximum value is U
index M :
U
(1)
M=
SS
U
(a) Symmetrical six-phase

machine with a displacement of = .
(b) Asymmetrical six-phase

machine with an arbitrary
displacement (0 < < /3).
Fig. 2. Possible phase arrangements of the machine and classification based

on the angle between the two three-phase sets.
dict and reduce machine losses caused by switching [10],

[11], [12], [13]. In this case, for the widely used symmetric
and continuous space vector modulation (SVM) scheme, an
optimal sequence as well as optimal duty cycles leading to
minimal current distortions can be derived mathematically
[14]. Methods for reducing distortions in asymmetrical sixphase drives have also been published. They deal with either
carrier based PWM [15], SVM [8], [16], [9], [17], [18], [19]
or optimal machine design parameters [20]. However, only a
few SVM schemes are known for symmetrical six-phase drives
[21], [22], [23], [24]. No systematic analysis has studied the
change in losses cause by switching sequences and machine
design parameters (i.e. the inductance ratio). For carrier-based
modulation techniques, a relationship between the inductance
ratio and an optimal phase shift angle was established in [25]
and deeply elaborated in [26]. This carrier-based theory is
further developed in the present paper focusing on symmetrical
and continuous SVM schemes.
In Section II, the possible switching states of the inverters
are mapped onto two orthogonal subspaces resulting in 64
different voltage space vectors for each subspace. Allowing
each half bridge to change its output twice per switching cycle
leads to 518400 sequences of voltage vectors for modulation.
However, Section III demonstrates that only 11 symmetrical
sequences with a zero vector at the beginning and the end
of a half cycle should be considered. The increased number
of vectors leads to more degrees of freedom for optimizing
the duty cycles and reducing the current distortions. An
offline optimization in Section IV shows the performance
can be significantly increased compared to common threephase drives using standard SVM. Based on the optimization,
four different modulation schemes are derived in Section
V reducing distortions but with less computational effort.
The theoretical considerations are validated with experimental
results in Section VI.
II. VOLTAGE S PACE V ECTORS
The concept of modulation index turns out to be particularly
useful in the following considerations. It represents the applied
fundamental component voltage amplitude of the line to neu in relation to the maximal fundamental
tral output voltage U
magnitude, i.e. in six-step mode. For the given DC bus voltage
Over one fundamental cycle the applied machine voltages

or inverter switching states can be decomposed into fundamental and additional harmonic order content. There are
transformations known in literature called Generalized TwoPhase Real Component Transformation [27] and Vector
Space Decomposition [8]. The corresponding transformation
matrix, Tpp , is given in the appendix and maps the machine
states onto two independent subspaces. The first one spans
the (1 1 ) plane, onto which the states of the odd harmonic
order (1, 5, 7, ...) are mapped. States corresponding to even
harmonic numbers (2, 10, 14, ...) are mapped onto the second
subspace or (2 2 ) plane.
Depending on its design (e.g. the winding distribution),
the machine can be operated in either of the two subspaces,
meaning that the torque producing current and flux waves
can be of order one or two. This results in a pole-changing
machine type, [28], [29]. In this paper, however, a machine
with a one-layer standard winding is used as described in
[25] and operated in the design-intended subspace two only,
i.e. the harmonic content of the order two is named here as
fundamental. The following methods and results are derived
for this type of configuration. But, for symmetry reasons, the
conclusions can also be assigned to symmetrical six-phase
machines naming its first order content as fundamental.
The image of the inverter output voltages (Uan Uzn )
of Fig. 1 is a set of 26 = 64 voltage vectors in the space
(1 , 1 , 2 , 2 ). The following relation holds:

v 1
v 1
= 1 Tpp [Uan Ubn Ucn Uxn Uyn Uzn ]T (2)
v2 U
SS
v 2
Note that in equation (2), the six dimensional inverter voltage is mapped onto a four dimensional space. The remaining
two dimensions correspond to the zero sequence voltages and
are not considered here, because the two neutral points are
isolated the neutral current is always zero.
In the subspaces (1 , 1 ) and (2 , 2 ) the active voltage
vectors can be classified into long, medium, and small sized
vectors with the magnitude 3 , 2

, and 6 respectively. The
3
long vectors span out regular hexagons with six sectors in both
subspaces, as in the case of three-phase drives with the Clarke
transformation [30].
Fig. 3b shows selected voltage vectors of the first sector
mapped onto the (2 , 2 ) plane including the zero vector ~v0 ,
the small-sized vectors ~v1 and ~v5 , the medium vector ~v3 , and
the large vectors ~v2 and ~v4 . Comparing with Fig. 3a, only the
large-sized and zero vectors of the (2 , 2 ) plane have zero
components in the (1 , 1 ) plane. All small- and mediumsized vectors of the (2 , 2 ) subspace however represent active
vectors in the (1 , 1 ) subspace.
The vectors are selected in such a way that they reduce
the current distortions in the (1 , 1 ) subspace, i.e. only
remaining sequences start with ~v0 = |000111| and end with

~v0 = |111000| or vice versa. Including the aforementioned
limitations, all possible sequences of the first type are depicted
in figure 4a and the ones of the second type in figure 4b.
(a) Small sized and zero vectors pro- (b) Vectors of a certain sector projected onto the (1 , 1 ) plane.
jected onto the (2 , 2 ) plane.
Fig. 3. Selected voltage space vectors and its projection onto the first and
second plane.
small-sized and zero vectors of the first plane are considered.

The vectors ~v1 , ~v3 , and ~v5 of the (2 , 2 ) subspace can be
represented in two different forms in the (1 , 1 ) subspace (a
and b), depending on the switching states, as shown in Table
I.
Voltage Vector
Switching State
000000
000111
111000
111111
100000
~v1a
100111
000100
~v1b
111100
100100
100101
~v3a
~v3b
101100
101101
000101
~v5a
111101
101000
~v5b
101111
TABLE I
~v0
~v1
~v2
~v3
~v4
~v5
VOLTAGE SPACE VECTORS AND SWITCHING STATES
III. S PACE V ECTOR S EQUENCES

The main objective of a modulation strategy is to apply
a sequence of space vectors such that the integral over a
switching period Ts offers the same volt-seconds as the
reference voltage ~v . For both subspaces this means:
X
~vk tk = ~v Ts ,
(3)
k
where tk is the active time of the voltage vector ~vk .

Assuming that within Ts , each inverter half bridge is allowed to change its output state twice, i.e. + U2d U2d
+ U2d or U2d + U2d U2d , there are 6!2 = 518400
different space vector sequences applicable for the six-phase
drive. This number can be greatly reduced if only the vectors
given in Table I are considered.
Further simplification can be achieved if only symmetrical
sequences towards Ts /2 are taken into account. Restricting
the scope to a half-cycle, vector sequences can be classified
into two groups: the ones starting with the vector ~v0 =
|000000| and ending with ~v0 = |111111| or vice versa. The
(a) Sequences of the first kind, starting with ~v0 = |000000| and ending
with ~v0 = |111111|. Alternative
vectors in brackets.
(b) Sequences of the second kind,

starting with ~v0 = |000111| and
ending with ~v0 = |111000|.
Fig. 4. Flow chart of feasible continuous switching sequences within a half

cycle of the switching period.
Following the vectors of figure 4a and comparing all possible paths with figure 3b five different pulse patterns become
visible in the subspace (2 , 2 ). Considering native paths only
(i.e. excluding vectors on brackets), one also achieves five
different pulse patterns in the (1 , 1 ) plane. Following the
same paths but with the alternative vectors where applicable
(alternative paths), one again achieves the same patterns but
rotated by . Following a native path within the positive halfcycle and the corresponding alternative path in the opposite
direction within the negative half-cycle results in an extra
degree of freedom, enabling some optimization as will be
discussed in section IV. Table II summarizes the native vector
sequences of the first type within the positive half-cycle from
No. 1 to 5.
The second sequence type offers no alternative vectors but
a higher amount of branches, which increases the number of
possible sequences to 14. However, a reference vector ~v =
[0, 0] is assumed for the (1 , 1 ) plane, reducing the number
of relevant sequences to 6, as summarized in table II (No. 6 to
11) for the positive half-cycle. The sequence of the negative
half-cycle is identical but in the reverse order.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Voltage
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
Vector Sequences
~v1a ~v2
~v3b ~v4
~v1a ~v2
~v3b ~v1b
~v1a ~v5b
~v3b ~v4
~v1a ~v5b
~v3b ~v1b
~v1a ~v5b
~v0
~v1b
~v1a ~v5b
~v4
~v5a
~v1a ~v3a ~v4
~v3b
~v1a ~v3a ~v2
~v3b
~v5a ~v3a ~v4
~v3b
~v5a ~v3a ~v2
~v3b
~v5a ~v1b
~v2
~v1a
TABLE II
VOLTAGE V ECTOR S EQUENCES
~v5a
~v5a
~v5a
~v5a
~v5a
~v1b
~v1b
~v1b
~v5b
~v5b
~v5b
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
~v0
IV. O PTIMIZATION
To comply with the constraint given by equation (3), the
on-times tk of the seven vectors ~vk applied within only one
half-cycle need to be evaluated for the symmetrical sequences
previously examined. Introducing the duty cycle dk as the
relative on-time of vector k over the half-cycle (dk = 2tk /Ts ),
the following relation holds:
7
X
~vk dk = ~v
(4)
k=1
In this section, an optimization is set up for each sequence

including equation (4) as a constraint as well as additional
bound constraints for the duty cycle. The objective is to find a
valid solution for the seven duty cycles which minimizes the
overall current distortion.
Comparing equation (6) with (7) and (10), the linear equation system with seven variables has to fulfill five conditions.
Thus, there are two degrees of freedom left for optimization
if the second type sequences are applied. Using the first type,
however, increases the possibilities. Taking a native path for
one half-cycle and the corresponding alternative path for the
other half-cycle, as explained in section III, leads to zero voltseconds in the first subspace, independent of the duty cycles.
Taking sequence 1 of table II, for example, results in an
optimization problem with four degrees of freedom and the
following equation parameters:
0
0 6 3
4
6
12
(11)
Aeq = 0 0 0 43 23 43 0
1 1 1
1
1
1
1

~beq = v , v , 1 T
(12)
2
A. Constraints
The optimization process has to take the bound condition
of the duty cycles into account:
0 dk 1
(5)
Aeq d~ = ~beq ,
(6)
Additionally, the optimization result has to satisfy equation

(4), which can be expressed in the form:
where d~ is the vector of duty cycles d~ = [d1 , , d7 ]T , Aeq

is the matrix of the linear equalities to be fulfilled, and ~beq is
a vector including the sum of all duty cycles and the reference
voltage for both subspaces, if applicable.
Aeq and ~beq depend on the applied vector sequence. Applying the sequences of the second type, as illustrated in Fig.
4b, ~beq corresponds to the form:

~beq = v , v , v , v , 1 T ,
(7)
1 1 2 2
where v 1 , , v2 are the voltage reference vector components. Since the torque and flux generating currents only exist
in the subspace (2 , 2 ), the 1 , 1 reference elements are set
to zero:
v 1 = v1 = 0
(8)
The unity factor in equation (7) can be derived from the

definition of the duty cycle, since the sum of the on-times
within a half-cycle must be equal Ts /2:
7
X
dk = 1
(9)
k=1
The matrix Aeq includes the coordinates of the voltage

vectors applied within the time frame decomposed in the , coordinates and, additionally, a unity row to satisfy equation
(9). For example, applying sequence 6 of table II results in:
0
12
6 0
0 6
12
0 0
0
0
0
4 3
4 3
0
(10)
Aeq = 0 6
12
6
12
6
0 0
0
0
4 3
2 3
4 3
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
B. Optimization Function
Assuming high switching frequencies, i.e. a switching over
fundamental frequency ratio of fs /f0 > 20, and a predominantly inductive load with a very small resistance, one
can apply the harmonic flux calculation in order to estimate
the current distortion,
as explained in [31].

T The harmonic
flux vector ~h = h1 , h1 , h2 , h2
is calculated by
integrating the applied voltage vectors ~vk with respect to the
time d:
Z 1
~h (M, ) =
~vk ~v dd,
(13)
0
where the reference voltage vector ~v can be assumed constant

during a switching cycle.
The following vector of the harmonic flux rms is expressed
as:
Z 1h
i h
i
~rms (M, ) =
~h ~avg ~h ~avg dd, (14)
0
where ~avg is the average flux vector over one switching

cycle. Due to symmetry reasons, the average flux values in
the (2 , 2 ) directions must be zero. This rule also applies
to the average flux in the subspace (1 , 1 ) if sequences of
the second type (No. 6-11 of table II) are under consideration.
For sequences No. 1-5, however, the average flux (1 , 1 )
components are nonzero and it can be written: ~avg =

T
avg1 , avg1 , 0, 0 .
In order to estimate a value for the overall losses, different
leakage inductances have to be considered for the equivalent
circuits according to both subspaces, as explained in [26].
Since the inductance belonging to the (1 , 1 ) circuit, L1 ,
is not necessarily equal to the one belonging to the (2 , 2 )
circuit, L2 , it is proposed to refer the harmonic flux of the
first subspace to the second one by the inverse inductance ratio
vector ~:
T

1 1
1
1
,
(15)
~ =
2 2
where =
L1
L2
An expression for the overall distortion can then be found

with:
2rms (M, ) = ~Trms ~
(16)
C. Optimization Results
Minimizing the overall distortion as explained in section
IV-B within the constraints of section IV-A leads to harmonic
flux trajectories according to equation (13) in both subspaces.
The trajectories vary with the reference vector, expressed by
M and , as well as with the voltage vector sequence applied.
The harmonic flux trajectories of two different vector sequences of table II are depicted in Fig. 5. Additionally, the
trajectory of a standard three-phase SVM technique is illustrated there. As seen in Fig. 5b, the standard technique leads to
a harmonic flux only in the subspace (2 , 2 ). The trajectory
describes two equal triangles rotated by , each circumscribed
within one half cycle. The trajectory of sequence 2 and 10 also
forms two triangles but with smaller side lengths. The triangles
of sequence 2 are circumscribed one time within a cycle and
those of sequence 10 two times. This leads to smaller harmonic
flux values for both sequences in that subspace compared to
the standard SVM technique.
Focusing on the trajectories of subspace (1 , 1 ), however,
both latter sequences lead to extra distortion due to active
vectors applied (see Fig. 5a). Within one cycle, the trajectory
of sequences 2 and 10 starts and ends at zero and their form
is circumscribed one time per cycle. Since sequence 10 is of
the second type, its average values avg1 and avg1 are zero
as discussed in section IV-B. Sequence 2 is of first type and
thus, its average value is not necessarily zero.
h2
h1
0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.1
0.1
h1
(a) h -trajectories in first subspace.
-0.1
0.1
h2
(b) h -trajectories in second subspace.
Fig. 5. Harmonic flux trajectories for M = 0.8 and = 9 . Optimized

trajectories for = 23 with vector sequence numbers 2 (dashed line) and
10 (solid line). Standard space vector modulation trajectory as a reference
(dashed dotted line).
The result of the optimization is an overall distortion factor

2rms for any sequence of table II and any combination of M
and if the constraints can be fulfilled. The minimum overall
distortion values over are depicted in Fig. 6c for = 32 .
According to this figure, the minimum 2rms -values can be
achieved at = n 3 and the maximum values at = n 6
with n N.
The standard three-phase SVM shows the same characteristic but the overall distortion is increased over the whole range
of . Comparing Figs. 6a and 6b, one can conclude that its

overall distortion factor is composed of distortions appearing
in the subspace (2 , 2 ) only.
The optimized six-phase SVM results in very low distortions
in the second subspace but an increased value in the first one
(compare Figs. 6b with 6a). Presuming > 1 leads to an
improved overall 2rms -factor compared to the standard SVM.
The performance of the modulator is usually represented
by a per-fundamental cycle rms value of the harmonic flux
2f rms . Due to the sixfold symmetry of the 2rms function in
space, its value can be calculated by [31]:
Z
3 /3 2
rms d
(17)
2f rms =
0
The corresponding harmonic distortion function (HDF) is
defined as:
288
(18)
HDF = 2 2f rms
The HDF-characteristics of the standard SVM (as described

in Section V-A) and the optimized modulation scheme is
illustrated in the top row of Fig. 8 for several inductance ratios.
For a ratio of = 1 the difference between the functions is
negligible (see Fig. 8a). Increasing the ratio slightly results
in a significant performance improvement, as shown in Fig.
8b for = 32 . The case in Fig. 8c represents
the maximum performance gain achievable by the proposed
modulation scheme.
The selection of the optimal voltage vector sequence depends on the reference voltage vector of the subspace (2 , 2 )
as well as on . This relationship is depicted at the bottom of
Fig. 8. For = 1, there are six different sequences applicable
(see Fig. 8a) numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 in Table I. If the
ratio is = 32 , the sequences 8 and 9 have to be added for
high modulation index, as depicted in Fig. 8b. For very high
induction ratios the sequences 7 and 10 do not appear,
and the area of sequence 2 and 3 are very small. As seen in Fig.
8c, the majority of the first sector is determined by sequences
4, 5, 8 and 9.
V. O PERATION S TRATEGIES
Applying the optimization technique of section IV results
in minimal overall harmonic distortions but suffers from high
computational effort. Hence, it is not implementable on low
cost digital signal processors.
Several modulation techniques requiring low computational
effort have been presented in the literature [21], [23]. They all
divide the sector of Fig. 3b into smaller triangles and assign
a certain voltage vector sequence of Table I on each of those
triangles. As recognized from Fig. 6, this kind of approach
must offer lower performance than the optimal modulation
of section IV. Moreover, the results of [23] are applicable
to symmetrical six-phase loads with only one neutral point,
whereas in this work a topology with two neutral points is
considered.
Next, the already known as well as the novel modulation
schemes are presented which combine less calculation effort
and reasonable performance for a certain inductance ratio.
102
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
12
12
12
(a) Distortion in (1 , 1 ) subspace:

2rms1 = 2rms + 2rms
1
(b) Distortion in (2 , 2 ) subspace:

2rms2 = 2rms + 2rms
2
(c) Overall distortion:

2rms = 2rms2 +
2
rms
2
Fig. 6. Overall and decomposed distortion characteristics for several modulation techniques: the standard three-phase SVM (dashed-dotted line), the optimal
six-phase modulation (dotted line), the fragmented sector mapping (dashed line), the optimal interleaved (gray solid line) and the approximated interleaved
approach (black solid line).
A. Standard Three-Phase SVM
Due to the symmetrical design of the machine, any modulation technique known from the three-phase case is also
applicable to the six-phase drive. Here, the standard threephase SVM of [32], [33], which consists of a sequence
including the zero vector ~v0 and the active vectors ~v2 and
~v4 of Fig. 3 is examined. According to Table I, this strategy
can only be achieved by applying sequence 1, excluding the
small and medium vectors. Doing so, the three remaining duty
cycles can be calculated as follows:

d2
3
d4 = 0
2d0
1
2 3
1
0
v2
0 v2
1
1
(19)
Since this modulation technique does not apply any active

vector in the first subspace, the overall distortion depends on
the second subspace only (compare Fig. 3 with 6). Therefore,
this strategy is independent of the inductance ratio and, consequently, yields the same HDF-characteristics as known for
three-phase drives (see Fig. 8).
B. Fragmented Sector Mapping
Another approach for reducing the complexity is to divide
the first sector of the second subspace into smaller equilateral
triangles (fragments) with a length of 6 . Each of the four
fragments is related to a certain voltage vector sequence, which
is capable of modulating a reference vector pointing to the
fragments area. This approach is similar to the modulation
scheme for three-level inverters [32] and first applied for sixphase drives in [21].
In Fig. 7, the sequences 4, 5, 8 and 9 according to Table I
are chosen on the basis of the optimization results for high
inductance ratios (compare with Fig. 8c). The seven duty
cycles are calculated according to equations (4) and (5) with
the following restrictions:
The reference vector is modulated by the vectors pointing

to the edges of the fragment only. Any duty cycle
belonging to another vector is set to zero.
As an example, in Fig. 7 the sequence 4 is to be applied.
The first and the last element of the duty cycle vector
d~ = [d1 d7 ] can be set to zero, since the vector ~v0
at the beginning and the end of sequence 4 does not
contribute to the modulation.
Duty cycles belonging to identical vectors in the second
subspace are equal.
Recalling the example, the second and fifth as well as
the third and sixth vector of the sequence are redundant,
hence d2 = d5 and d3 = d6 .
Applying the aforementioned restrictions the remaining duty

cycles can be estimated by a 3x3 linear equation system,
similar to (6). For the aforementioned example, this results
in:

v2
2d2
6
12
4
v2 ,
2d
=
(20)
3
4 3
4 3
d
1
1
1
1
4
| {z }
|
{z
}
Aeq
~beq
where the first two lines of matrix Aeq corresponds to the

and values of the applied sequence in the second subspace,
whereas the last line reflects equation (9). The volt-seconds
of the first subspace are zero over one carrier cycle, if the
approach of section III for the first and second type sequences
is considered.
For the sequence allocation within the sector
is similar to the optimal SVM, which results in a HDFfunction very close to the optimum (compare Fig. 8c with
7). For = 32 , however, the overall distortions are increased
compared to the optimal modulation, especially for M > 0.5.
Nevertheless, over the whole modulation range the fragmented
sector mapping produces fewer distortions than the conventional three-phase SVM (see Fig. 8b). Reducing the inductance
ratio further to = 1 leads to increased HDF with values equal
2 3
9j
4 3
Straight Line
0
0
5j
12
~v2
4j
8j
Fig. 7. Fragmented sector mapping in the first sector of the second subspace.
The sector is divided into four fragments, where each is referred to a voltage
vector sequence, i.e. reference vector ~v2 points to a fragment related to
sequence 4.
to the standard SVM for M < 0.5 or even higher for any other
modulation index, as depicted in Fig. 8a.
For the fragmented sector mapping, the harmonic flux rms
in both subspaces is independent of , as illustrated in Fig.
6a and 6b. The distortions in the second subspace are close to
the minimum and the overall distortions mainly depend on the
rms flux of the first subspace and its contribution expressed
by the square of .
C. Optimal Interleaved Space Vector Modulation
Another way of controlling the output is to interleave the
switching signals. Therefore it is necessary to group three
phases together, i.e. phases a,b,c as set I and x,y,z as set II.
Both groups are operated as a common three-phase system and
its output is modulated by a standard continuous SVM-scheme,
as described in section V-A. Doing so, one can transform the
phase variables Xa Xz according to:

XI
Xa
XI
Xb

X0I
= TC
Xc ,
(21)
XII
Xx
0
T
C

XII
Xy
X0II
Xz
where TC is the Clarke matrix, defined in the appendix.
Combining equation (21) with (2), an expression between
the transformed three-phase sets and the subspaces defined in
Section II is achieved. Eliminating the zero-sequence entries
of the equation, the normalized voltages of the first and second
subspace can be converted to:

1 0 1 0
v I
v 1
v1 1 0 1
0 1
v I
=
(22)
v2 2 1 0
1
0
vII
0 1 0 1
vII
v 2
As seen in equation (22), the 1 , 1 -entries are achieved

from a subtraction of the II component from I , and the II
component from I . Whereas the 2 , 2 -entries are deduced
from the sum of the I and II components, as well as the
negative sum of the I and II components. If the same pulse
pattern is applied on set I and II during one switching cycle,

there will be zero volt-seconds in the first subspace, as desired.
In the second subspace, a voltage vector is modulated with the
same amplitude as in the (I,II) plane, but mirrored on the axis.
The interleaved modulation approach needs the same computation effort as the common SVM to estimate the duty cycles
from the reference vector ~v , i.e.:
vI,II
0
d2
3
6
d4 = 0
0 vI,II
(23)
2 3
2d0
1
1
1
1
Additionally, there is another degree of freedom for control:
The time shifting d between the pulse pattern of the two
sets. As explained in Fig. 9 (top), d leads to time lagging
switching states Sx , Sy , Sz of Set II compared to the one of Set
I Sa , Sb , Sc . This behavior results in an interleaved harmonic
flux characteristic of both three-phase sets, as depicted in Fig.
9 (bottom).
The overall distortion over a whole switching period is
calculated according equations (16) and (22):
Z
1
1 2 2
2
h1 + 2h
+ 2h2 + 2h dd
rms =
1
2
2 0
2
Z 2

2 1
2
1
hI hII + hI hII
=
8 0
2

2
2
+ hI + hII + hI + hII dd
(24)
R
R
2
1
With 12 0 2h, dd = 0 2h, dd the distortion of equaII
I
tion (24) can be rearranged as a sum of a d-dependent and
an independent term :
2rms
1
=
2
1
1+ 2
Z
2h + 2h dd+
I
I
{z
}
|
1
4

1
1
2
Z
6=f (d)
hI hII + hI hII dd
{z
}
|0
(25)
=f (d)
On the basis of (25), three different optimal operation

strategies can be derived in order to achieve minimal overall
distortion. The strategies depend on the inductance ratio .
1) < 1: If the inductance of the first subspace is smaller
than that of the second one, the d-dependent term of (25) is
to be maximized, which results in:
hI (d) = hII (d) and
hI (d) = hII (d) for any d.
This is achieved with:
(26)
d = 0
Applying (26) to (25) simplifies the overall distortion to:

Z 1
2
rms =
2h + 2h dd
(27)
0
As one can see from (27),

does not depend on and
the equation reflects the distortions of the second subspace
only. The flux harmonics of the first subspace are zero.
2rms
0.5
0.4
HDF
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
v 2
2 3
3j
4 3
5j
12
4j
7j
10j
2j
7j
3j
5j
12
v 2
7j
j
4j 10
2j
8j
j
10
v2
(a) = 1.
(b) =
9j
9j
5j
12
4j
3j
8j
2j
v2
(c) .
3
.
2
Fig. 8. Top: Harmonic distortion functions (HDF) depending on the modulation index for different inductance ratios and several modulation techniques: the
standard three-phase SVM (dashed-dotted line), the optimal six-phase modulation (dotted line), the fragmented sector mapping (dashed line), the optimal
interleaved (gray solid line) and the approximated interleaved approach (black solid line).
Bottom: Optimal voltage vector sequences depending on the voltage reference vector in the second subspace and the inductance ratio.
Sa
0
1
Sx
0
1
Sb
0
1
Sy
0
1
Sc
0
1
Sz
0
hI , hII
2) = 1: If the inductances of both subspaces are equal,

equation (25) simplifies to the same distortion formula as
equation (27), but with the difference that the distortions of
the first subspace do not have to be zero. In any case, adding
the rms harmonic flux of both subspaces together results in
an overall distortion factor, which is independent of d. The
HDF of the interleaved approach is presented in Fig. 8a for
= 1. As expected, there are no differences compared with
the common SVM.
3) > 1: If the inductance of the first subspace is greater
than that of the second one, the d-depended term of equation
(25) is to be minimized in order to find an optimal d-value:
Z 2
(28)
hI hII + hI hII dd Min.
0.1
0
-0.1
0.5
1
d
1.5
Fig. 9. Interleaved SVM approach. Top: switching states Sa Sz resulting

in the voltage vector sequence: ~v1b ~v2 ~v1a ~v2 ~v1b ~v2
~v1a ~v2 ~v1b . Bottom: harmonic flux of set I (black) and II (gray) in
-direction for M = 0.8 and = 0.
The optimal time shifting depending on is depicted in

Fig. 10 for several modulation indices. As seen there, the
characteristics are symmetrical with respect to = 6 and
the optimal value range is 0.5 d 1. At = 0, the
optimal value is d = 0.5 for any modulation index as well
as for low modulation indices (M < 0.5) at any angle. The
HDF of the so controlled six-phase system is given in Fig. 8
for several inductance ratios. For high ratios ( 3), the HDFcharacteristic shows slightly poorer performance compared to
the optimal SVM, especially in the higher modulation range
(see Fig. 8c). For lower ratios (1 < < 3), however, the
distortion function shows similar or even superior performance
compared to the optimized modulation scheme (see Fig. 8b).
As recognized from Fig. 6, the improved behavior is caused
by lower 2rms -values around = j 3 . Analyzing further
the voltage vector applied in this range as done in Fig. 9,
one recognizes a symmetrical and continuous vector sequence
in the (1 1 ) and (2 2 ) planes, but the sequence does
not include a zero voltage vector and is thus not under
consideration for optimization as explained in section III.
0.9
0.9
0.9
d
by the positive one of hII . The following approximation

can thus be stated for the three-phase Set I:
Z 1+d
vkI M cos () dd = 0, (31)
hI (1 + d) =
1
where vkI is the -element of the k-th voltage vector as

applied in (23) with k {0, 2, 4}. Equation (31) can be written
in the form:
Z d
Z d0 +d4
dd +
dd d M cos () = 0, (32)
6
d0 +d4 3
d0
which yields in an explicit solution for the time shifting:
(2d0 + d4 )
2 6M cos ()
1
3 M sin ()
= +
2
2 3M cos ()
d =
0.7
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.6
0.5
0.5
12
0.6
Fig. 10. Optimal (solid lines) and approximated (dashed line) d characteristics for different modulation indexes.
For the interleaved approach, equation (28) must be solved

numerically in order to achieve an optimal solution for d.
Comparing the computation effort with the optimization approach of chapter IV, one achieves an adequate result with
fewer calculation steps for two reasons:
1) There is only one sequence to be evaluated.
2) The optimization problem is of type scalar, not multidimensional.
For implementation reasons the optimal values of d might
be calculated offline and stored in a look-up table.
D. Approximated Interleaved Space Vector Modulation
For symmetry reasons, it is only necessary

to evaluate the
optimal d () in the range of 0, 6 (see Fig. 10).
Comparing the harmonic flux in and -direction, one can
assume for any d in this range:
hI = hII 0.
(29)
The optimization problem based on equation (28) can then

be simplified with the assumption (29):
Z 2
hI hII dd Min.
(30)
0
As an example, the optimal time-shifted hI and hII

trajectories are given in Fig. 9 for = 0. As seen there,
hII is shifted in such a way that its product hI hII is
negative for any d. The optimal time shifting thus corresponds
to a quarter wave or d = 0.5
In general, the optimal value for d is found in the area
where the negative quarter wave of hI for d > 1 is covered
(33)
The approximated d() characteristic is depicted in Fig.

10 for several values of M . The differences between the
approximated and the optimized values of d lead to small but
acceptable performance loss if the HDF-curve is under scope
(see figure 8). The approximation leads to lower 2rms values
around = 6 in the first subspace but to higher values in the
second one (compare Figs. 6a with 6b). This affect yields to
a slightly poorer overall performance in Fig. 6c.
VI. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
Experimental tests with a 15kW six-phase induction machine drive were carried out in order to validate the theoretical
considerations discussed previously. The experimental setup
shown in Fig. 11 was used. The rig consists of a diode-rectifier,
converting the AC grid voltage to a DC voltage. The two threephase inverters are connected in parallel to the DC bus.
The inverter-legs, a, b, c, x, y, and z, are connected either
directly to the six-phase machine, resulting in 1, or
via a three-phase transformer. The transformer features three
coils on the primary side and three on the secondary. The
inverter legs a, b and c are connected to the first terminal of
each primary coil, and the second terminal is linked with the
machine phases a, b and c respectively. The same is done with
the legs x, y and z and the phases x, y and z using the coils on
the secondary side. This leads to a strong coupling between
phase a and x, b and y, as well as c and z, and finally >> 1.
The mechanical part of the machine was driven by another
drive setup to assure constant speed and no load condition
for the six-phase drive. The fundamental frequency was set
to a fixed value during operation with f0 = 66Hz, such that
the current distortions can be estimated in dependency of the
modulation index M only.
Doing so, the current of a phase was measured and its
harmonic current Ih , defined as the rms of the high frequency
distorted current, was used as a figure of merit for evaluation.
The factor Ih can be expressed as a square sum of current
amplitudes If over several frequencies:
v
u fu
uX
Ih = t
If2 ,
(34)
f =fl
Fig. 11. Experimental setup featuring a diode-rectifier, two three-leg inverters,

and an optional transformer alongside a six-phase induction machine.
where the lower frequency was selected to be 8 times the

fundamental frequency, i.e. fl = 528Hz, and the upper
frequency was chosen as fu = 125kHz. During the tests,
the switching frequency was set to fs = 3kHz.
The results are depicted in Fig. 12 for both inductance ratios.
Comparing Figs. 8a with 12a in the simulation and in the
experiments, the distortion characteristics of the interleaved
operation strategies are equal and the differences to the standard SVM exist in reality, but are very small. The fragmented
sector mapping achieves only poor results for M > 0.5 during
the tests and simulations.
For high inductance ratios, however, the latter strategy
offers superior performance over nearly the whole modulation
range (see Fig. 12b). This corresponds well to the computed
results in Fig. 8c. The interleaved modulation schemes offer
comparable but slightly poorer performance, as expected for
. The standard SVM-scheme is indifferent of the
leakage inductance counting for the first subspace and thus
leads to the poorest performance over all strategies for high
inductance ratios.
Fig. 13 presents the current waveforms of three different
modulation strategies for a certain modulation index. Comparing Figs. 13a with 13b one recognizes a significant reduction
in the distortion factor if the interleaved approach or the
fragmented sector mapping is applied and the inductance ratio
is increased. The standard SVM, however, shows the same
performance for both cases.
VII. C ONCLUSION
The increased number of applicable voltage vectors in sixphase drives does not necessarily lead to reduced current
distortions on the machine side. In this paper, it could be
shown that the inductance ratio plays an important role in
the performance of the modulation scheme. For 1 the
standard SVM shows very good performance, although only
8 out of the 64 voltage vectors are involved.
For higher ratios (1 < 3), the interleaved SVM
technique is the proper solution. It applies standard SVMschemes on both three-phase sets but time shifted. The optimal
value for the time shift can be calculated offline or online using
an approximation. Both alternatives are explained in detail and
the solutions are given in the text. The interleaved technique
combines low computational effort with acceptable distortions.
For high inductance ratios ( > 3), fragmented sector
mapping offers the best performance over the aforementioned
ones. It divides a sector of the hexagon into small triangles
10
(fragments) and uses a certain space vector sequence for each

fragment. Based on an offline optimization, the best sequences
are determined. Experiments on a 15kW test bench prove
the validity of the proposed modulation techniques for two
different inductance ratios, 1 and >> 1.
Further research should focus on different modulation
schemes, e.g. asymmetrical and discontinuous ones. Here
some improvements are to be expected. Or the machine
design of the six-phase drive is to be investigated in order
to achieve higher values for the inductance ratio without
adding additional equipment, such as transformers. Another
interesting aspect would be to evaluate the performance under
lower switching frequencies, i.e. lower fs /f0 -ratios.
A PPENDIX
1
12
1
2
3
1 0
23
2
Tpp =
1
1
3 1 2
2
3
3
0 2
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
TC = 0
2
2
3 1
1
1
2
1
0
1
0
1
2
23
12
23
1
2
3
2
1
2
3
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank DFG (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft) for its financial support.
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11
0.4
Ih2 [A2 ]
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.2
0.4
M
(a) With =
18
19
0.6
0.8
0.2
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M
(b) With =
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>> 1
Ia [A]
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the optimal interleaved (gray solid line) and the approximated interleaved approach (black solid line).
10
Ih2SV M = 1.053 A2
0
-10
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Ih2SV M = 1.024 A2
0
-10
10
Ih2Intl = 1.005 A2
0
-10
10
Ih2Intl = 0.194 A2
0
-10
10
Ih2F rag = 1.036 A2
0
-10
10
Ih2F rag = 0.195 A2
0
-10
0.008
t [s]
(a) With =
18
19
0.016
0.008
t [s]
(b) With =
180
19
0.016
>> 1
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Daniel Glose received the Dipl.Ing degree from the

University of Applied Sciences in Kempten, Germany, in 2008 and the M.Sc.-degree in Mechanical
Engineering at the Technical University of Munich
(TUM), Germany, in 2010.
Since 2010, he has been a Research Associate at
the Institute for Electrical Drive Systems an Power
Electronics at TUM. His main research interests
include multiphase drives and multilevel converters.
Ralph Kennel Ralph M. Kennel (M89SM96)

received the Diploma degree and the Dr.-Ing. degree from the University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, in 1979 and 1985, respectively.
From 1983 to 1999, he held several positions with
Robert BOSCH GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany. From
1994 to 1999, he was appointed Visiting Professor
at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle
upon Tyne, U.K. From 1999 to 2008, he was a
Professor of electrical machines and drives with
Wuppertal University, Wuppertal, Germany. Since
2008, he has been a Professor of electrical drive systems and power electronics
with the Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. His current
research interests include sensorless control of ac drives, predictive control
of power electronics, and hardware-in-the-loop systems. Dr. Kennel is a
Chartered Engineer in the U.K. Within the IEEE, he is the Treasurer of the
Germany Section as well as the Vice President for Meetings of the IEEE
Power Electronics Society. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering
and Technology, U.K., and a member of the EPE Association and of the VDE.
12

Continuous Space Vector Modulation For Symmetrical Six-Phase Drives

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Continuous Space Vector Modulation For Symmetrical Six-Phase Drives

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

Continuous Space Vector Modulation for

AbstractThe two common three-leg, two-level voltage source

Compared to existing high power topologies such as multilevel

Fig. 1. Six-phase drive setup, consisting of two three-phase, two-level VSI

SS = 2Ud / and the modulation

(a) Symmetrical six-phase

(b) Asymmetrical six-phase

Fig. 2. Possible phase arrangements of the machine and classification based

dict and reduce machine losses caused by switching [10],

Over one fundamental cycle the applied machine voltages

vectors with the magnitude 3 , 2

remaining sequences start with ~v0 = |000111| and end with

small-sized and zero vectors of the first plane are considered.

VOLTAGE SPACE VECTORS AND SWITCHING STATES

III. S PACE V ECTOR S EQUENCES

where tk is the active time of the voltage vector ~vk .

(b) Sequences of the second kind,

Fig. 4. Flow chart of feasible continuous switching sequences within a half

In this section, an optimization is set up for each sequence

Additionally, the optimization result has to satisfy equation

where d~ is the vector of duty cycles d~ = [d1 , , d7 ]T , Aeq

The unity factor in equation (7) can be derived from the

The matrix Aeq includes the coordinates of the voltage

where the reference voltage vector ~v can be assumed constant

where ~avg is the average flux vector over one switching

An expression for the overall distortion can then be found

Fig. 5. Harmonic flux trajectories for M = 0.8 and = 9 . Optimized

The result of the optimization is an overall distortion factor

of . Comparing Figs. 6a and 6b, one can conclude that its

The HDF-characteristics of the standard SVM (as described

(a) Distortion in (1 , 1 ) subspace:

(b) Distortion in (2 , 2 ) subspace:

(c) Overall distortion:

A. Standard Three-Phase SVM

Since this modulation technique does not apply any active

The reference vector is modulated by the vectors pointing

Applying the aforementioned restrictions the remaining duty

where the first two lines of matrix Aeq corresponds to the

As seen in equation (22), the 1 , 1 -entries are achieved

pattern is applied on set I and II during one switching cycle,

On the basis of (25), three different optimal operation

Applying (26) to (25) simplifies the overall distortion to:

As one can see from (27),

2) = 1: If the inductances of both subspaces are equal,

Fig. 9. Interleaved SVM approach. Top: switching states Sa Sz resulting

The optimal time shifting depending on is depicted in

by the positive one of hII . The following approximation

where vkI is the -element of the k-th voltage vector as

For the interleaved approach, equation (28) must be solved

The optimization problem based on equation (28) can then

As an example, the optimal time-shifted hI and hII

The approximated d() characteristic is depicted in Fig.

Fig. 11. Experimental setup featuring a diode-rectifier, two three-leg inverters,

where the lower frequency was selected to be 8 times the

(fragments) and uses a certain space vector sequence for each

Ih2F rag = 1.036 A2

Ih2F rag = 0.195 A2

induction machines, in Industrial Electronics Society IECON, Nov

Daniel Glose received the Dipl.Ing degree from the

Ralph Kennel Ralph M. Kennel (M89SM96)

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