Interleaved soft switching bridge power converter
An interleaved soft switching bridge power converter comprises switching poles operated in an interleaved manner so as to substantially reduce turn-on switching losses and diode reverse-recovery losses in the switching pole elements. Switching poles are arranged into bridge circuits that are operated so as to provide a desired voltage, current and/or power waveform to a load. By reducing switching turn on and diode reverse recovery losses, soft switching power converters of the invention may operate efficiently at higher switching frequencies. Soft switching power converters of the invention are well suited to high power and high voltage applications such as plasma processing, active rectifiers, distributed generation, motor drive inverters and class D power amplifiers.
1. A method of delivering power to a load comprising:
a) providing a switching circuit comprising a first switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by a voltage supply and a second switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by the voltage supply;
b) operating at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to deliver a current from the first switching pole circuit to a load; and
c) operating at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit so as to further deliver current from the second switching pole circuit to the load, the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit interleaved with the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to substantially reduce a diode reverse recovery current in the first switching pole circuit.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising operating at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to further deliver current from the switching circuit to a load, the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit interleaved with the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit so as to substantially reduce a diode reverse recovery current in the second switching pole circuit.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit is interleaved with the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to provide a controlled current slope that recovers a diode of the first switching pole circuit with substantially reduced diode reverse recovery losses.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the current slope is controlled by at least one inductor disposed in a current path between the first switching pole circuit and the second switching pole circuit.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second switching pole circuits are disposed in a full bridge topology.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second switching pole circuits are disposed as one leg of a multiphase power converter.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising regulating the operation of the first and second switching pole circuits so as to provide a direct current output to the load.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising regulating the operation of the first and second switching pole circuits so as to provide an alternating current output to the load.
9. A power converter comprising:
a) a first switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by a voltage supply and a second switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by the voltage supply;
b) at least one inductor disposed in a current path between the first switching pole circuit and the second switching pole circuit; and
c) control circuitry for operating at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to deliver a current from the first switching pole circuit to a load and for operating at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit so as to further deliver current from the second switching pole circuit to the load, the control circuitry interleaving the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit with the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to substantially reduce a diode reverse recovery current in the first switching pole circuit.
10. The power converter of claim 9 wherein the control circuitry interleaves the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit with the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit so as to substantially reduce a diode reverse recovery current in the second switching pole circuit.
11. The power converter of claim 9 wherein the at least one inductor is disposed to provide a controlled current slope that recovers a diode of the first switching pole circuit with substantially reduced diode reverse recovery losses.
12. The power converter of claim 9 wherein the first and second switching pole circuits are disposed in a full bridge topology.
13. The power converter of claim 9 wherein the control circuitry operates to provide a direct current output to the load.
14. The power converter of claim 9 wherein the control circuitry operates to provide an alternating current output to the load.
15. A multiphase power converter comprising a plurality of converter legs, at least one of the converter legs comprising:
a) a first switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by a voltage supply and a second switching pole circuit disposed across positive and negative voltages supplied by the voltage supply;
b) at least one inductor disposed in a current path between the first switching pole circuit and the second switching pole circuit; and
c) control circuitry for operating at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to deliver a current from the first switching pole circuit to a load and for operating at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit so as to further deliver current from the second switching pole circuit to a load, the control circuitry interleaving the operation of the at least one switch of the second switching pole circuit with the operation of the at least one switch of the first switching pole circuit so as to substantially reduce a diode reverse recovery current in the first switching pole circuit.