Abstract
Within a power converter, multiple currents are usually measured for control, protection, and/or monitoring. They are therefore important sources of information, which must unquestionably be measured accurately to maintain continuous and reliable operation of the power converter. Accurate current measurement has however become tougher with the introduction of wide band-gap (WBG) devices with switching frequency tending toward the megahertz (MHz) range. Because of that, the installed current sensors must have a significantly widened bandwidth. Moreover, they must be nonintrusive and compact, in order not to degrade fast switching characteristics and high power density of the WBG converter. Presently, these features are not collectively obtainable from existing commercial current sensors. Consequently, many new current sensing techniques have surfaced in the literature for usage with the more demanding MHz power converter. These new techniques, some classical techniques, and their hybrid integrations are now reviewed, after overviewing functionalities made possible by current sensors in a power converter. Last but importantly, some future developmental trends aimed at matching MHz current sensors with MHz power converters are described, before concluding the article.
Highlights
Power converters play a vital role in power generation and processing systems
Similar high-end current sensors must be used for the power cycle test shown in Fig. 3(b), which conventionally is performed for evaluating the reliability of the device under test (DUT) under different temperature stresses [59]-[63]
A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) Hall current sensor (HCS) already exists, but its output voltage has been constantly burdened by an offset voltage VOS due to manufacturing defects [92], [95]
Summary
Zhen Xin, Member, IEEE, He Li, Student Member, IEEE, Qing Liu, Member, IEEE, and Poh Chiang Loh. The installed current sensors must have a significantly widened bandwidth They must be nonintrusive and compact, in order not to degrade fast switching characteristics and high power density of the WBG converter. These features are not collectively obtainable from existing commercial current sensors. Many new current sensing techniques have surfaced in the literature for usage with the more demanding MHz power converter. These new techniques, some classical techniques, and their hybrid integrations are reviewed, after overviewing functionalities made possible by current sensors in a power converter.
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