Method and apparatus for providing a power factor correction (PFC) compatible solution for nonsinusoidal uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

1. A method of controlling an output signal to be delivered to a load, the method comprising:

generating a nonsinusoidal signal waveform, to be delivered to the load, with a pulse width modulation (PWM) duty width;

sampling the nonsinusoidal signal waveform, on a cycle-to-cycle basis and at multiple instants within a given cycle, to collect output signal samples;

determining, based on the output signal samples, whether the load is demanding more or less power over time;

adjusting the duty width, in compensation for the load's demanding more or less power, to control the nonsinusoidal signal waveform as a function of the output signal samples in order to deliver a desired signal characteristic to the load.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output signal is an output voltage, the nonsinusoidal signal waveform is a nonsinusoidal voltage waveform, and output signal samples are output voltage samples.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired signal characteristic is a desired root mean square (RMS) signal level.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in a case of falling output signal samples, adjusting the duty width includes increasing the duty width, and further wherein, in a case of rising output voltage samples, adjusting the duty width includes decreasing the duty width, and optionally wherein decreasing the duty width matches the RMS signal level of output voltage samples to the desired RMS signal level.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

controlling an electromagnetic field in a transformer according to the PWM; and

controlling power switches configured to control power delivery to the load according to the PWM.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising delivering the nonsinusoidal signal waveform to a load including an active power factor correction (PFC) controller.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sampling includes sampling the nonsinusoidal signal waveform on a cycle-to-cycle basis, and wherein the determining whether the load is demanding more power over time is based on consecutive cycles, and wherein the adjusting includes increasing the duty width to compensate for the load's demanding more power.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein generating the nonsinusoidal signal waveform includes calculating the duty width, and wherein increasing the duty width comprises:

re-calculating the duty width to determine a re-calculated duty width, based on the output signal samples and further based on:

averaging the output signal samples from a given cycle and one or more cycles preceding the given cycle, in a case of the load being less than a threshold; and

using the output signal sample from the given cycle, in a case of the load not being less than the threshold; and

resetting the duty width to a value higher than the re-calculated duty width that yields a zero signal level for a nonzero time duration between each half-cycle of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform, the value optionally being 108% of the re-calculated duty width.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sampling includes sampling the nonsinusoidal signal waveform at multiple instants within a given cycle of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform, and wherein the determining whether the load is demanding less power over time is based on the sampling within the given cycle, and wherein the adjusting includes zeroing the nonsinusoidal signal waveform when or after a predetermined condition is satisfied.

10. An apparatus for controlling an output signal to be delivered to a load, the apparatus comprising:

a generator to generate a nonsinusoidal signal waveform, to be delivered to the load, with a pulse width modulation (PWM) duty width;

a sampling module to sample the nonsinusoidal signal waveform to collect output signal samples;

a demand module to determine, based on the output signal samples, whether the load is demanding more or less power over time; and

an adjustment module to adjust the duty width to control the nonsinusoidal signal waveform as a function of the output signal samples to deliver a desired signal characteristic to the load.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the output signal is an output voltage, the nonsinusoidal signal waveform is a nonsinusoidal voltage waveform, and output signal samples are output voltage samples.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the adjustment module adjusts the duty width to deliver a desired root mean square (RMS) signal level.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein, in a case of falling output signal samples, the adjustment module adjusts the duty width by increasing the duty width, and further wherein, in a case of rising output voltage samples, the adjustment module adjusts the duty width by decreasing the duty width.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the adjustment module decreases the duty width to match the RMS signal level of output voltage samples to the desired RMS signal level.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:

a field-controlling module to control an electromagnetic field in a transformer according to the PWM; and

a switch-controlling module to control power switches configured to control power delivery to the load according to the PWM.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a delivery module to deliver the nonsinusoidal signal waveform to a load including an active power factor correction (PFC) controller.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the sampling module is configured to sample the nonsinusoidal signal waveform on a cycle-to-cycle basis, and wherein the demand module determines whether consecutive cycles indicate the load is demanding more power over time, and wherein the adjustment module is configured to increase the duty width to compensate for the load's demanding more power.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the generator is configured to calculate the duty width, and wherein the generator is configured to increase the duty width by:

re-calculating the duty width to determine a re-calculated duty width, based on the output signal samples and further based on:

averaging the output signal samples from a given cycle and one or more cycles preceding the given cycle, in a case of the load being less than a threshold; and

using the output signal sample from the given cycle, in a case of the load not being less than the threshold; and

resetting the duty width to a value higher than the re-calculated duty width that yields a zero signal level for a nonzero time duration between each half-cycle of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform, the value optionally being 108% of the re-calculated duty width.

19. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the sampling module is configured to sample the nonsinusoidal signal waveform at multiple instants within a given cycle of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform, and wherein the demand module determines, based on the sampling within the given cycle, whether the load is demanding less power over time, and wherein the adjustment module is configured to zero the nonsinusoidal signal waveform when or after a predetermined condition is satisfied.

20. A system comprising:

a processor to perform computing functions;

an active power factor correction (PFC) controller;

and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to deliver a generated nonsinusoidal signal waveform with a desired signal characteristic to a load including the processor and the active PFC controller, the UPS configured to adjust a duty width of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform based on a determination that the load is demanding more or less power over time, the determination based on output signal samples of the nonsinusoidal signal waveform.