US 12,444,946 B2
Modular power converter with DC correction
Amrit Iyer, St. Petersburg, FL (US); Mahsa Ghapandar Kashani, Redwood City, CA (US); and Muhammad Fahad Ijaz, Lahore (PK)
Assigned to Smart Wires Inc., Durham, NC (US)
Filed by Smart Wires Inc., Durham, NC (US)
Filed on Jul. 19, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/355,239.
Claims priority of application No. 466/2022 (PK), filed on Jul. 20, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2024/0030709 A1, Jan. 25, 2024
Int. Cl. H02J 3/18 (2006.01)
CPC H02J 3/1807 (2013.01) 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A modular power converter, operable to mitigate a direct current (DC) component of injection onto a power transmission line, the modular power converter comprising:
a pulse width modulation (PWM)-controlled generator comprising a plurality of drivers and a coupling capacitor, to store voltage on the coupling capacitor and inject a voltage of the converter, which includes the DC component of injection, onto the power transmission line;
a voltage emulator, to determine a DC measurement emulating the voltage of the converter, the DC measurement as a time-varying average value that is based on summing of generator driver-state weighted values of the voltage on the coupling capacitor; and
a control circuit to generate PWM pulses to operate the PWM-controlled generator and adjust timing of the PWM pulses, based at least on the DC measurement from the voltage emulator, to counter-balance the DC component of injection;
wherein the voltage emulator is to determine the DC measurement comprises:
the voltage emulator is to multiply weights of 1, −1, or 0, by the voltage on the coupling capacitor according to switching states of the drivers of the PWM-controlled generator to determine the generator driver-state weighted values of the voltage on the coupling capacitor, and sum results of the multiplying to determine the time-varying average value that is emulating the voltage of the converter, formed as the DC measurement; or
the voltage emulator, based on the summing of the generator driver-state weighted values of the voltage on the coupling capacitor, is to produce a predicted voltage waveform comprising waveform segments associated with a Boolean combination of the switching states of the drivers of the PWM-controlled generator, with the DC measurement comprising the time-varying average value of the predicted voltage waveform.