An Improved Space Vector PWM Control Algorithm for Multilevel Inverters

Sanmin Wei, . Bin Wu, Qianghua Wang*

Dept of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada M5B 2K3
* Chengda Lid Co., 8 Xitucheng Road Haidian District, Beiing, P.R.China 100088
w e s a n " @ieee.org b w u @ e e Cm m h oo.com

AbsRacl - The research on the multilevel inverter has been voltage andhigh power applications[2], [3].
receiving wide attention mainly due to i t s capability of his$ Among all the switching algorithms proposed in the
voltage operation withold switching devices connected in series literahre for multilevel converters [I]-[XI, space vector
In thls paper, a simple, detailed and general space veftor modulation (SVM) seems most promising since it offers a great
algorithm is given. To facilitate the dedgn and digital flexibility in optimizing switching pattern design and it is also
implementation of the space vector algorithm, all the space well suited for distal implementation [5]. The space vector
vectors are tramformed from the commonly used Cartedan modulation for more than three-level inverters is very complex
coordinate system to a 60° cmrdlnate system. At the Same time, due to the high number of space vectors and redundant
Two switching states selection algorithms are studied for s w i t c h states [5], [7], [8]. In [5], one general space vector
multilevel Inverters: large m a l l altemation (=A) method and method was proposed andnamed large small alternation @.SA)
all mean (AM) switching s h t e s method, in whlch the latter one method.
can give better performance In terms of the harmonics content on In this paper, the LSA method is improved by selecting the
the transformer primary side though it tns a higher device large s w i t c h states and smafl switching states alternatively
witching frequency than that of LSA. AM swiwllng states in both two consecutive space vectors and every vector when in
selection method makes the concept of space vector modulation two consecutive triangles. Based on this one, an all mean (AM)
(SVM) consistent in tw*kvel voltage source inverters and switchuy states selection method is proposed, which can
multilevel inverter; both output equivalent mean dtching sates output the desired waveforms for all three phases and has a
in every sampllng period. Both of these two methods also f a h u e s better performance in terms of harmonic content on the zig-zag
eng implementation and generalily and can be used in any transformer primary side current$ which are drawn from the
high-level cugadcdH-lridge inverters They are verifiedthrough power utility
computer simulations and experiments. The proposed SV algorithm including AM switching states
selections methcd has following feabxes,
Keywor&:Space vedor moaklmon (Sl'M); muliilmel; invmIm;
The algorithm is very simple and effective. The location
cascadedH-bridge; m'tching sram
of the reference voltage vector and the dwell times of the
I. INTRODUC~ON s p c e vectors can be calculated very easily;
The research on the multilevel inverter, especially based on The generated PWM waveforms to motor load contains
cascaded H-bridge topology, has been receiving wide attention minimal voltage harmonic content;
mainly due to its capability of high voltage operation without The currents drawn from the power utility have minimum
switchlng devices connected in series. In addition, with the
increase of voltage levels, the inverter output contains less
harmonics and will eventually approach a desired sinusoidal
- harmonic content
The proposed algorithm is general and can be used in any
high-level cascaded H-bridge inverters.
waveform [ I]-[5]. Therefore, the multilevel inverten have been The proposed methods are verified by simulation and
selected as a preferred power converter topology for high experimental results and discussed in detail in following parts.

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 fl. REFERENCE VECTOR LOCATION ANT) DWELL
TIME
v, =v,-vbt V , ) / 2
CALCULAION (2)
vy.= 86 (V* - V J 2
A typical 7-level cascaded H-bridge inverter is shown in
Fig. 1, where a separate dc power supply is used for each The coordinates of all the space vectors, assuming a unity
H-bridge. Its corresponding space voltage vector diagram & dc NPPlY voltage (i.e., Vdr = 1 per unit), can be shown in the
illustmted h Fig. 2, in which the vecmrs for the 3, 5, and figure as well. To reduce the voltage harmonic dstortion, the
9-level inverters are also illustrated. 'For the 7-level inverter, reference voltage @-canbe synthesized by its three nearest
there are 216 small trianglesand the of each triangle vectors. To simplify the calculation, the Cartesian coordinate
represents a space vector, which is defned by system can be -formed to a 60' coordinate system (shown

inFig. 3) by
v. = v c o s e - v s i n o i &
(3)
VB= 2V sin(B)/86

where V, and V, are the coordinates of a space vector in the

60' coordinate system, and V and 6 are its amplitude
(length) and phase angle, respectively. The benefits of such a
transformation will be demonstrated in the following sections.

A. Fast Detennination of Reference VectorLocation[S]

Assume that the reference vector p e i n Fig. 3 lies in
triangle AEFG . To determine the location of the reference
vector, the coordinates of the space vector V, Vk=int(Vx) and
V, =int(V;), will be used, where mt( ) is a lower rounded
Figure 1 . Topology of 7-Lvel cascaded H-bridgeinverter. integer function. The coordinates of YDindicate the reference
vector must lie in one of the two .triangles, ADEF and
IT AEFG. Based on Vn the coordinates of space vectors V , V,
and VGcan be calculated by

1 (VE > V a s )= (v, +I>VDB)

(v,,.v,B)=(V,.v,B +I)
(V,,. Vas) = (V, +1. VDP+I)

respectively. To further determine whether the reference

(4)

vector is inADEF orAEFG, the following criterion can be

-4 -
used
F'EADEF if(v:+v;)~(v,,+v,,)
(5)
-6 -
F* EAEFG if (v: +vi)> (vea+vpg)
V
B. Dwell Time Cakulotion[S]
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8
With the reference vector in AEFG, the following two
Figure 2. Voltage vcclars of 3.5.7 and 9-level voltage source invertem.
equations can be established according to the commonly used
in which Va,Vb and V, are the phase voltages of the inverter balanc'g principle.
The vectors can be divided into six major hiangular sectors (l
to VI). The coordinates of each vector in the commonly used
Cartesian coordinate system, V , and Vp can be calculated by I
T , = (VDp+ 1- Vp')Ts
T , = (VD=+ 1 - Vi)Ts
TG = T, - T, - T p

1125
 levels of the inverter, which is always an odd number for the
Similar[v. . _in ADEF, he dwell
~.with the refermce vector iVine,
cascaded H-bridge inverter. For a 7-level inverter, the
times of the space vectors, Fr, FE and vD,are given by relationship is given in table I. While the switching states in
other sectors (I1 to VI) can be obtained from Table 1 and the
(7) details are given in Table 11.
TABLE I. SWITCHWOSTATESSECTORI OFA 7~LWELWVEETEX

where T, TE,T, and T, are the dwell times' of the vectors

Figure 3 . Spacc v c d m in ulc 60' coordinslc ryrlem (sector I) .

m. GENERAL
RELAnONSHIP BETWEEN
SPACE VECTORS AND
SWITCHING STATES
In the multilevel inverters, a space voltage vector could be
represented by mor: than one switching state. For insance,
space vector (1,O) in Fig. 3 has six switching states composed IV. SELECTION OF SWITCHING STATES

of[-2-3,-31, [-1,-2,;21, .[0,-1,-1], [l,O,Ol, [2,1,1] and [3,521, In the multilevel inverter, the number of redundant
all of which produce an output voltage with the Same switching states increases with the voltage level. For example,
I"a5ibde and Phase with the increase in the the 5, 7, and 9-level inverters have the redmdant states of 4, 6
leveh there exist "e ~ d u n d a n tswitching states It is and 8, respectively for zero voltage vectors. In thii paper, the
desirable to find a general expression which describes the is to the harmonic
relationship between space vectors and their comespondmg &to,.tion,
switch% states for any cascade H-bridge multilevel inverters.
A. Definition ofMenn, Small andhrge Switching States[S]
The relationship a space vector ( ) and its Any space vectors (U, p ) in Fig. 3 can be classified into the
switching statcs [V, Vb, KI is obtained by a detailed study on following two ca%ories: cafezoT ,:even vector sum
all the possible states in a multilevel inverter[S], of its coordinates, a + p , is an even number; and Categoly 2:
V,=-m,-m+l,-m+2 ,..., m odd vector - the sum of its coordmates is an odd number.
Vb =V, - a (8) For all even vectors, the mean switching states are
v, v,
= -a -p

with m = (n - 1) /2, where n is the number of phase voltage

1126
 the same space vector (4,1), its small switchmg state is used.
v ~= {(a+
- p - ~m) + m~) / 2 =(a+
~ p ~) / 2
v ~= {(p_- m) +~(nt n)j/
-~ 2 =~(p- a) / 2 (9) This improved LSA can enhance the performance of SV by
v,-,,,, = {( - m) + (m -a- p)]/ 2 =-(a+ p)/2 reducing the device switching frequency and decreasing output
voltage harmonic content
which can be rewritten [(a+ p) /2, (p a ) / 2 , - ( a + p)/2]
-

. However, for an odd vector where a + p and a - p is an

odd number, its mean state cannot be implemented directly
since the inverter cannot produce half-level voltages. In this
case, a small or large switching state can be defmed
small state [(n+p- 1) / 2, (p- a- 1) / 2, (- a- p- 1)/ 21
and large state [(a+p+I) / 2, (p-a+l) 12, (-a- p+1) / 21

B.lmproved Large-Small Altemation method @A)

Figure 5 . Graphical representation ofthe impravedLSA method

For example, when the desired voltage locates in triangle of

(1.2). (21) and (2,2), the output voltage waveforms of v,, vb
and v, are given in Fig.6, in which (a) is for the old LSA and @)
is for improved LSA. From this figure, it is known that the
Figurc4. Graphical represenlation oftheoldLSAmcthod
improved LSA has better performance.
In [SI,the large and small alternation method was proposed
and is as shown in Fig.4, in which there is only one switching E G F F G E E F G G F E
state. large or mall switchmg state, for every space vector in
all adjacent triangles.
Fig.5 shows the improved LSA method, in which, only
. .: a ;. a
mean switching state is used for every space vector when it has
mean switching state; while for the others, for example, when
the output voltage moves along the trace in Fig.5, the large and
small switching states will be selected alternatively for two
vb

vc
-1

-2
j 4 j 1 j

... . . . ...
.. .. .. .. ..
1

.... .... ....

j 4 j-1

.i -2 .f -1 . -1 . -2 j. -2
.
1;;:y
-2
... ... ... ..
- i :4

. . .
,

. . . . .
j -2 j -2 j
.. ..
.

.,
-2
I
; 4

j
..
-2
:-1

j -2
..
consecutive space vectors At the Same time, in two ... ... ... ... ..
. . . . .. .. .
consecutive triangles, the space vector, which does not have L L f e L L Z L l e
2 z 2 2 2 i
mean switching states, will use its large and small switchmg
states altematively. For example, in triangle with three points (a) OldLSA (b) ImprovcdLSA

are (3,1), (3.2) and (4,l), large switching state, instead of small Figurc6. Switching sequence andinvcler oulput wavefomngencratcd by
one, of space vector (4,l) and small switching shte of (3,2) are ulc old LSA and impmvcd LSA in lrianglc of (IJ), (2.1) and (2.2).
used In triangle with three points of (4,0), (5,O) and (4,1), for

1127
C. All Mean (AM)Switching Stntes Method phase voltages of the inverter when the reference vector moves
In above-mentioned improved LSA method fixed large or m o s s sector I as shown in Fig. 4 can be calculated by

small switching state is selected for every space vector in e v e y

tiiangle.

In proposed All Mean (AM) method an equivalent mean

switching state will be used for evay space vector and No
concrete switchmg state is selected for every space vector. In
IE
V, =V'sin(0+60.)/&
Yb = V'sin(8-30')
V, = - V - s i n ( O t 6 v ) / &
F G E G G E G
o~e<60'

F E
(io)

aM, the average output voltages are calculated and then

. , .. ..
outpuned according to proper rules.
.. .
... .
.
.. ..
. .
.
Take reference voltage lylng in T1 as an example, when all ,
.
.
..
,
.
.
.. .. ..
. ,
.
.
.
three nearest vectors output mean switching states, there are -2 j -2 , -2 j _ I : -2 ~ _, .: 4 : . : - 2. : -2. :.-2 .t
. .
more than one voltage level transitions in one sampling period, . . . . .. .. . . .
.. .. .. .. . .
as shown in Fig.7 (a).
(a) All mean, large and small switching states are used
However, if the output equivalent output voltages m this F G E F E G F

cycle are calculated by ..

.. ..
. .. .
... .... .... .
0
' =rfo.m-E .TE +'a-m-.F .TF +va_m60n_D 'TD

' b ='b.mm.E 'TE+Vb_me+.F .TF + V b _ m n . D .TD (lo) "b

.. .. ..
.... .
vc = v c . w . , ~ T E + v c . - . , . T F +VC.M".D.TD

"c . . .
in which V n , V, V, are the three phases equivalent output .. .. . .. .
.. . . .
voltages. Based on these results, the output waveforms can be
(b) Ah4 switching states selection method.
designed as shown in Fig.7 (b), in which it is equivalent that all
Figure 7. Principle of all mean switching Sates method.
three space vectors ohput mean switching states.

Take reference voltage lying in triangle of (3,1), (3,2) and The voltage V, for a complete fundamental cycle can be
(4,l) as an example, when all three nearest vectors output mean reconstructed BS per Table I1 and is given in Fig.8 (a) and the
switching states (even switching state for even space vector; improved LSA outputs the'waveforms as shown in Fig.S@).
average of large and small switch% state for odd space vector), But all line-to-line voltages of the inverter in both methods do
the result is as shown in Fig.7 (a). While the outputs of AM for not contain tiiplex harmonics.
the same reference voltage are given in Fig.7@). By comparing
Fig.7(a) and (b). it can be found that the outputs of two
methods are equivalent and AM can reduce the device
switchmg frequency by adjusting the output switching states
dwelltimes and sequence.

This method makes the concept of SV consistent in all level

voltage source inverter. It is much easier to be implemented
than LSA and offer better phase voltage too. The harmonics of (a)V,prohecdbyAM @) V,pra&ced by LSA

transformer primary side is lower than that of LSA and will be Figure 8. Average oulputpahse voltages generated by AM and LSA mehod.
discussed in another paper.
Fig.9 gives the THD profile of three different modulation
D.Effect of Switching Stotes on Inverter Output Voltoge schemes: phase-shifted voltage-shifted and proposed space
With AMswitching states method, the average (equivalent) vector PWM (S"l-4). from which it is known that S V M

1128
(including LSA and AM) can achieve the best performance as methods offer better performance: lower switching frequency
voltage-shifted PWM. However, SVM is digital andlor lower harmonic contents and simpler for digital
implementation, it offers a great flexibility in optimizing implementation. The results are venfied through computer
switching pattern design and output voltage control. For LSA simulation; and experiments.
and AM, simulation results show that LSA has a larger current
harmonic content on the primary side of the zig-zag

.
transformer.

.......................... I .................. ..... ............. . , .................

I\.\
ID0 ~ , ~ i

' .-. . . . .
OD i..
...
......................

eok
~

.\$. ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . -., . . . .

, , ~~ ~ Pn.lE.jntll# PW*

.,.. . . . . . . I ................

s: 0' I@ IJP

Figure 9. THD profile of inverter linetwline voltages generaged by phase-,

voltagc-shifted and proposed space vcctor modulation s c h s .

V. E X P E R J M E ~
A three-phase DSP (TMS320F240) controlled 7-level
cascaded H-bridge multilevel field-oriented induction motor Figure 11. Experimental results ofVa and Vab with AM method

drive system prototype was built and tested. The induction

Reference:
machine was rated at 3kW, 380V, and 6.8A. When the
induction motor operates at 60Hz with LSA method, measured [I] L. Yiqiao, and C.O. Nwankpa, "A new Iype of STATCOM based on
cascading uoltage some inverten with phare-shifted Unipolar S P W
inverter V, and V, are shown in Fig.10. The average switching IEEE Tram. on Industry Applications, Vol.35, No.5, 1999,
frequency of devices is only around 450Hz.While when the pp1118-1123.
[2] M.L. Tolbelt. and F.Z. Peng, '"Multilevel Conveners for Large Electtic
AM method is used, the waveforms are shown in Fig.11. hives," IEEE Trans. On Industry Applications, Vo1.35, No.1, 1999,
pp36-44.
Compared with method proposed by other papers [2],[3],[5], p] D.W. Kang, Y.H. Lee, B.S. Suh, C.H choi, and D.S. Hyun, "A
canienuavc-based SWWM wing phase-voltage redundancies for
these two methods offer better performance. multilevel H-bridge invmer," International Conference on Industrial
Electronics, Control, and Lwwmcntatian(lECON), Vol.1, 1999,
VI. CONCLUSIONS pp324-329.
[4l N. CclanaVic, and D. Boroywich "A fast space vector modulation
A simple, detailed and general space vector algorithm is algorithm for multilevel three phvse ~onverteq"IEEE Trans on Industry
Applications, V01.37, No.2, 2001, pp637-641.
given, in which two switching state selection methods are [SI S.Wei, B. \Vu, F. Li, C. Liu, *A general space vector PWM control
alporithm for multilevel inverterr" Applied Power Electronics
studied: one is improved LSA and the other is all mean (AM) ConfRPnce and Exposition, 2003, Volume I, 2003, pp562-568
method. Both LSA and AM are general and can be used in any [6] B.S. Suh, and D.S. H y u ~"A New N-Level High Voltage Inversion
%stem" IEEE Trans. On Industrial Electronics, VoI.44, No.1, 1997,
multilevel inverter. LSA features low device switching pp107-115.
[?I R d i g u e G P. Correa, and L. Moran, "A vector cbntrol technique for
J.
frequency, but the output phase voltages are worse than that of medium voltage multilevel invenes," Applied Power Electronics
Conference andExposition(APEC), Vol.l.ZW1, pp173-178.
AM in terms of harmonic content. AM is much easier to be
IS] B.S. Suh, G.Sinhq MU. hhnjrekar, and T.A. Lipo, "Multilevel power
implemented and offer better performance in terms of zig-zag cowemion-an weniew of topologies and modulation strategies",
Mematioml ConTsrence an Optimization of Electtical a d Electronic
transformer primary side current too. Equipment (OPnM), Va1.2, 1998, ppADl1-AD24.

Compared with other methods being used now, these two

1129