Generic SPWM technique for multilevel inverter

Multilevel inverters generate stepped AC signals and thus overcome many of the limitations with the classical inverter circuit. Multilevel inverters use many number of switches and generate staircase type output through controlled switching of various switches. The sequence of switching and the duration of each step are very vital in minimizing the THD. The methods of generating gating signals are not unique. Many methods that are proposed in literatures make use of SPWM technique. Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) is a popular control method widely used in power electronic inverter circuit. It has advantages like low switching losses, the output has fewer harmonic and method is easy to implement. The different SPWM methods are: (A) Phase Disposition PWM (PDPWM), (B) Phase Opposition Disposition PWM (PODPWM), (C) Alternative Opposition and Disposition PWM (APODPWM), (D) Phase Shift PWM (PSPWM), (E) Carrier Overlapping PWM (COPWM) and (F) Multi Carrier Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation with Variable Frequency (MCSPWMVF). All the above methods make use of many triangular signals, that are level shifted or phase shifted, and compare with a single sine wave to generate gating signals for the respective switches. The intersection of the sine signal with the various triangular signals will generate the gating signals for the respective switches. In the present investigation a generalized gating signal generation method is proposed using only one modulating and one carrier signal. The signal so generated is steered into various switches through pulse steering circuit developed in the present work.