System and method of commonly controlling power converters

1. A power system for controlling power transfers to an electric machine, comprising:

a power system electronic housing including three phase terminals for coupling to the electric machine;

an alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) power converter disposed within the power system electronic housing and operable to convert alternating current (AC) power received from the electric machine into direct current (DC) power when the electric machine is operating as a generator, and operable to convert received DC power from at least one DC power source into AC power when the electric machine is operating as a motor;

at least one direct current/direct current (DC/DC) power converter disposed within the power system electronic housing and operable to convert a low DC voltage to a high DC voltage;

a multi-converter system controller disposed within the power system electronic housing and operable to control the AC/DC power converter and the DC/DC power converter.

2. The power system of claim 1 wherein the DC/DC power converter comprises:

a bridge of transistor devices operable to convert the low DC voltage to the high DC voltage; and

a gate drive coupled to the bridge of transistor devices and the multi-converter system controller, and operable to provide a plurality of gate signals to the gate drive in accordance with at least one control signal received from the multi-converter system controller.

3. The power system of claim 1 wherein the AC/DC power converter comprises:

a bridge of transistor devices operable to convert the AC power into the DC power when the electric machine is operating in the generation mode, and operable to convert the DC power into the AC power when the electric machine is operating in the motor mode; and

a gate drive coupled to the bridge and the multi-converter system controller, and operable to provide a plurality of gate signals to the bridge of transistor devices in accordance with at least one control signal received from the multi-converter system controller.

4. The power system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second DC/DC power converter that is controlled by the multi-converter system controller.

5. The power system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a high voltage (HV) DC bus coupling the AC/DC power converter and the DC/DC power converter; and

a low voltage (LV) DC bus coupling the DC power source and the DC/DC power converter,

wherein the AC power received from the electric machine is transferred over the AC/DC power converter, the HVDC bus, the AC/DC power converter and the LVDC bus, and is stored in the DC power source; and wherein DC power received from the DC power source is transferred over the LVDC bus, the DC/DC power converter, the HVDC bus and the AC/DC power converter, and is provided to the electric machine.

6. The power system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a high voltage (HV) DC bus coupling the AC/DC power converter and the DC/DC power converter; and

a switchable discharge resistor coupled to the HVDC bus and operable to discharge the HVDC bus when actuated by the multi-converter system controller.

7. A method for controlling power converters, the method comprising:

coupling an electric machine to three phrase terminals supported within a power system electronics housing;

communicating at least one first control signal to an alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) power converter from a multi-converter system controller, the AC/DC power converter and the multi-converter system controller residing in the power system electronics housing;

communicating at least one second control signal to a direct current/direct current (DC/DC) power converter from the multi-converter system controller, the DC/DC power converter residing in the power system electronics housing;

converting alternating current (AC) power generated by the electric motorinto direct current (DC) power by the AC/DC power converter in accordance with the received first control signal;

transferring the DC power from the AC/DC power converter to the DC/DC power converter over a high voltage DC bus, where the high voltage DC bus is disposed within the power system electronics housing; and

converting received DC power from a high DC voltage to a low DC voltage in accordance with the received second control signal.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein converting the AC power into DC power further comprises receiving the AC power from the electric machine when the electric machine is operating as a generator.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

transferring the DC power converted to the low DC voltage to a DC power source; and

storing the received DC power in the DC power source.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein in response to communicating the first and second control signals, the method further comprising:

converting received DC power from a low DC voltage to a high DC voltage in accordance with the received second control signal;

transferring the DC power at the high DC voltage from the DC/DC power converter to the AC/DC power converter over a high voltage DC bus; and

converting alternating current (AC) power into DC power by the AC/DC power converter in accordance with the received first control signal.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein converting the DC power from the low DC voltage to the high DC voltage further comprises receiving the DC power at the low DC voltage from a DC power source.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transferring the AC power to the electric machine when the electric machine is operating as a motor.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein communicating the second control signal further comprises communicating from the multi-converter system controller a plurality of gating signals to a gate drive residing in the DC/DC power converter to cause a bridge of transistor devices to convert a low DC voltage to a high DC voltage.

14. The method of claim 7 wherein communicating the first control signal further comprises communicating from the multi-converter system controller a plurality of gating signals to a gate drive residing in the AC/DC power converter to cause a bridge of transistor devices to convert the AC power into the DC power when the electric machine is operating in a generation mode, and to convert the DC power into the AC power when the electric machine is operating in a motor mode.

15. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

installing the multi-converter system controller, the AC/DC power converter and the DC/DC power converter in the power system electronics housing.

16. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving information from at least one sensor; and

adjusting at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal based upon the information received from the sensor.

17. A processor-readable medium storing instructions for causing a processor to control power transfers by:

determining at least one first control signal that is communicated to an alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) power converter from a multi-converter system controller, the AC/DC power converter and the multi-converter system controller residing in a power system electronics housing;

determining at least one second control signal that is communicated to a direct current/direct current (DC/DC) power converter from the multi-converter system controller, the DC/DC power converter residing in the power system electronics housing; and

determining at least one third control signal that is communicated to a discharge resistor to control voltage across a high voltage DC bus within the power system electronics housing and coupled between the AC/DC power converter an the DC/DC power converter.

18. The processor-readable medium of claim 17 , further storing instructions for causing the processor to control power transfers by:

receiving information from at least one sensor; and

adjusting at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal based upon the received information from the sensor.

19. A modular power system that controls power transfers between an electric machine and at least one direct current (DC) power source, comprising:

a power system electronics housing;

an alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) power converter residing in the power system electronics housing, operable to convert alternating current (AC) power received from the electric machine into DC power when the electric machine is operating as a generator, and operable to convert received DC power from the DC power source into AC power when the electric machine is operating as a motor;

at least one direct current/direct current (DC/DC) power converter residing in the power system electronics housing, and operable to convert a low DC voltage to a high DC voltage;

a multi-converter system controller residing in the power system electronics housing, operable to control the AC/DC power converter by communicating at least one first control signal to the AC/DC power converter, and operable to control the DC/DC power converter by communicating at least one second control signal to the AC/DC power converter

a high voltage (HV) DC bus residing in the power system electronics housing, the HVDC bus coupling the AC/DC power converter and the DC/DC power converter; and

a switchable discharge resistor coupled to the HVDC bus and operable to discharge the HVDC bus when actuated by the multi-converter system controller.

20. The modular power system of claim 19 , further comprising:

a low voltage (LV) DC bus portion residing in the power system electronics housing, the LVDC bus coupling the DC power source and the DC/DC power converter,

wherein the AC power received from the electric machine is transferred over the AC/DC power converter, the HVDC bus, the DC/DC power converter and the LVDC bus portion, and is stored in the DC power source; and wherein DC power received from the DC power source is transferred over the LVDC bus portion, the DC/DC power converter, the HVDC bus and the AC/DC power converter, and is provided to the electric machine.

21. The modular power system of claim 19 wherein the DC/DC power converter comprises:

a bridge of transistor devices operable to convert the low DC voltage to the high DC voltage; and

a gate drive coupled to the bridge and the multi-converter system controller, and operable to provide a plurality of gate signals to the gate drive in accordance with the second control signal received from the multi-converter system controller.

22. The modular power system of claim 19 wherein the AC/DC power converter comprises:

a bridge of transistor devices operable to convert the AC power into the DC power when the electric machine is operating in the generation mode, and operable to convert the DC power into the AC power when the electric machine is operating in the motor mode; and

a gate drive coupled to the bridge of transistor devices and the multi-converter system controller, and operable to provide a plurality of gate signals to the bridge of transistor devices in accordance with the first control signal received from the multi-converter system controller.

23. The modular power system of claim 19 , further comprising a second DC/DC power converter residing in the power system electronics housing, and operable to convert a second low DC voltage to the high DC voltage.

24. The modular power system of claim 19 wherein the power system electronics housing is coupled to the electric machine.