Cascaded multi-level H-bridge drive
First Claim
1. A cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter, comprising:
- a plurality of cascaded H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
wherein each of the plurality is provided with a different voltage input value; and
wherein the plurality of voltage input values are selected in order to increase the number of output levels provided by the cascaded H-bridge inverter;
thereby providing a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter providing a number of output levels greater than the number of output levels provided by a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter having uniform voltage input values.
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Abstract
An embodiment of the present invention comprises a multi-level PWM inverter that is constructed by cascading multi-level H-bridge inverters and providing different voltage inputs to the multi-level H-bridges. The values of the voltages, or the ratios of the voltages, are selected in order to provide an increased number of output levels. In the cascaded arrangement, at least one of the multi-level H-bridge inverters has more than three levels. Preferably, at least one of the multi-level H-bridge inverters is a 5-level inverter. According to one aspect of the invention, the cascaded arrangement may use a primary 5-level H-bridge with at least one 3-level H-bridge (referred to as a “5/3H” arrangement). This arrangement can provide up to fifteen output levels if regenerative voltage sources are used, and up to eleven output levels if a non-regenerative voltage sources are used.
106 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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a plurality of cascaded H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
wherein each of the plurality is provided with a different voltage input value; and
wherein the plurality of voltage input values are selected in order to increase the number of output levels provided by the cascaded H-bridge inverter;
thereby providing a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter providing a number of output levels greater than the number of output levels provided by a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter having uniform voltage input values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of constructing a cascaded H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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cascading a plurality of H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
selecting a voltage input value for each of the plurality, each of the voltage input values being different; and
wherein the plurality of voltage inputs are selected in order to increase the number of output levels provided by the cascaded H-bridge inverter;
thereby providing a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter providing a number of output levels greater than the number of output levels provided by a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter having uniform voltage input values. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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a plurality of cascaded H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
and wherein each of the plurality has a different voltage input; and
wherein the plurality is m, and wherein the voltage inputs for the plurality are selected according to the equation;
where ni is the number of voltage levels associated with the ith H-bridge cell;
x is the phase; and
m is the number of cells.- View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A cascaded H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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a plurality of cascaded H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
wherein the voltage inputs for the plurality are selected so that a net number of output levels at the output of the cascaded H-bridge inverter is maximized; and
wherein the plurality is m, and wherein the voltage inputs for the plurality are selected according to the equation;
where ni is the number of voltage levels associated with the ith H-bridge cell;
x is the phase; and
m is the number of cells.- View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of constructing a cascaded H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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cascading a plurality of H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
selecting a voltage input for each of the plurality, each of the voltage inputs being different; and
wherein the plurality is m, and wherein the voltage inputs for the plurality are selected according to the equation;
where ni is the number of voltage levels associated with the ith H-bridge cell;
x is the phase; and
m is the number of cells.- View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A cascaded H-bridge inverter, comprising:
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a plurality of cascaded H-bridge cells;
wherein each of the plurality has associated therewith a number of output levels;
wherein at least one of the cascaded H-bridge cells has a number of output levels greater than three;
wherein the voltage input values for the plurality are selected so that a net number of output levels at the output of the cascaded H-bridge inverter is maximized; and
wherein the plurality of voltage inputs are selected in order to increase the number of output levels provided by the cascaded H-bridge inverter. thereby providing a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter providing a number of output levels greater than the number of output levels provided by a cascaded multi-level H-bridge inverter having uniform voltage input values. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification