Switching Turn Research Articles

A New Soft Switching Current fed DC-DC Converter for Medium Power Applications

In this paper a new zero voltage switching current fed half bridge converter with an auxiliary circuit is proposed. The auxiliary circuit not only absorbs the voltage surge across switches at turn off instance, but also provides zero voltage switching condition for all converter switches. Therefore in this converter the efficiency is higher than hard switching counterpart and also main switches voltage stresses decrease. Since the switches in auxiliary circuit operate under soft switching conditions, these switches don’t apply additional losses to proposed converter. Implementation of control circuit is very simple since the converter is PWM controlled and the auxiliary switches turn on are complementary with respect to main switches. In this paper the proposed converter operating modes are analyzed and simulation results are presented. To verify the converter operation a 100W laboratory prototype operating at 100kHz is implemented and the experimental results are presented.

Mitotic exit in two dimensions

Metaphase of mitosis is brought about in all eukaryotes by activation of cylin-dependent kinase (Cdk1), whereas exit from mitosis requires down-regulation of Cdk1 activity and dephosphorylation of its target proteins. In budding yeast, the completion of mitotic exit requires the release and activation of the Cdc14 protein-phosphatase, which is kept inactive in the nucleolus during most of the cell cycle. Activation of Cdc14 is controlled by two regulatory networks called FEAR (Cdc fourteen early anaphase release) and MEN (mitotic exit network). We have shown recently that the anaphase promoting protease (separase) is essential for Cdc14 activation, thereby it makes mitotic exit dependent on execution of anaphase. Based on this finding, we have proposed a new model for mitotic exit in budding yeast. Here we explain the essence of the model by phaseplane analysis, which reveals two underlying bistable switches in the regulatory network. One bistable switch is caused by mutual activation (positive feedback) between Cdc14 activating MEN and Cdc14 itself. The mitosis-inducing Cdk1 activity inhibits the activation of this positive feedback loop and thereby controlling this switch. The other irreversible switch is generated by a double-negative feedback (mutual antagonism) between mitosis inducing Cdk1 activity and its degradation machinery (APC Cdh1). The Cdc14 phosphatase helps turning this switch in favor of APC Cdh1 side. Both of these bistable switches have characteristic thresholds, the first one for Cdk1 activity, while the second for Cdc14 activity. We show that the physiological behaviors of certain cell cycle mutants are suggestive for those Cdk1 and Cdc14 thresholds. The two bistable switches turn on in a well-defined order. In this paper, we explain how the activation of Cdc20 (which causes the activation of separase and a decrease of Cdk1 kinase activity) provides an initial trigger for the activation of the MEN-Cdc14 positive feedback loops, which in turn, flips the second irreversible Cdk–APC Cdh1 switch on the APC Cdh1 side).

Low-voltage charge pump

A low-voltage charge pump, having a symmetrical structure, is proposed. In this charge pump, enhanced switches are used instead of diode-configured MOSTs. The switch-controlling voltage is mutually offered by the two symmetrical branches, which makes the enhanced switches turn on/off alternatively during the designated cycles. Consequently, the voltage drop due to the threshold voltage of MOSTs is eliminated, exhibiting gain in die area, rise time and maximum output voltage.

개선된 AC/DC PFC ZVT Boost 컨버터

본 논문에서는 보조 스위치의 하드 스위칭 문제를 개선한 AC/DC PFC(Power-Factor-Correction) ZVT(Zero-Voltage-Transition) Boost 컨버터에 관하여 논하였다. 기존의 AC/DC PFC ZVT Boost 컨버터는 주 스위치 턴온 시 보조 스위치를 함께 동작시켜 경부하시에도 강제적으로 영전압 스위칭이 가능하게 함으로써 전 부하범위에서 주 스위치 손실을 저감하였다. 그러나 보조 스위치에서의 손실이 크며 주 스위치의 턴온시 역방향 전류가 증가하는 문제점을 지닌다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 기존의 ZVT 컨버터에 단지 하나의 다이오드를 추가함으로써 보조 스위치의 전류 스트레스 및 주 스위치의 턴온시 역방향 전류를 감소시키게 되어 효율 향상을 기할 수 있었다. 본 논문에서는 MOSFET를 사용하여 640[W]급 시작품을 제작, 100[kHz]에서 실험하였다. This paper presents the improved AC/DC PFC(Power-Factor-Correction) ZVT(Zero-Voltage-Transition) Boost Converter. The conventional AC/DC PFC ZVT Boost Converter minimizes the switching loss of the main switch within all of the load range. That is because AC/DC PFC ZVT Boost converter makes the main switch and the auxiliary switch turn on simultaneously so that it makes ZVS (Zero-Voltage-Switching) possible at the light load. However, it has two problems that ale large loss of the auxiliary switch and the increasing of the reverse current of the main switch. Therefore this research presents high efficiency to reduce the current stress of the auxiliary switch and the reverse current of main switch by adding a diode to the conventional ZVT converter. The prototype of 640[W], 100[kHz] system using MOSFET is implemented for this experimental verification.

Series–parallel resonant converter for an EDM power supply

A new EDM impulse generator based on a HF-switched dc to dc series–parallel resonant converter is presented. The converter generates the necessary voltage, first to ionize the dielectric and then to maintain the discharge and, provided that it operates in constant current mode, the impulse generator has inherent short-circuit protection. As the switches turn on at zero voltage the converter presents minimum switching losses. The characteristics of this power electronic system are high speed control of the quality of each pulse, small size and light weight suitable for on-site machining. The EDM power supply has been validated to perform operations in a nuclear power plant application. The design and results are described in this paper.

Evolution of the coordinate regulation of glycolytic enzyme genes by hypoxia.

Two billion years of aerobic evolution have resulted in mammalian cells and tissues that are extremely oxygen-dependent. Exposure to oxygen tensions outside the relatively narrow physiological range results in cellular stress and toxicity. Consequently, hypoxia features prominently in many human diseases, particularly those associated with blood and vascular disorders, including all forms of anemia and ischemia. Bioenergetic enzymes have evolved both acute and chronic oxygen sensing mechanisms to buffer changes of oxygen tension; at normal P(O) oxidative phosphorylation is the principal energy supply for eukaryotic cells, but when the P(O) falls below a critical mark metabolic switches turn off mitochondrial electron transport and activate anaerobic glycolysis. Without this switch cells would suffer an immediate energy deficit and death at low P(O). An intriguing feature of the switching is that the same conditions that regulate energy metabolism also regulate bioenergetic genes, so that enzyme activity and transcription are regulated simultaneously, albeit with different time courses and signaling pathways. In this review we explore the pathways mediating hypoxia-regulated glycolytic enzyme gene expression, focusing on their atavistic traits and evolution.

Novel zero-current-switching (ZCS) PWM switch cell minimizing additional conduction loss

This paper proposes a new zero-current-switching (ZCS) pulsewidth modulation (PWM) switch cell that has no additional conduction loss of the main switch. In this cell, the main switch and the auxiliary switch turn on and turn off under zero-current condition. The diodes commutate softly and the reverse-recovery problems are alleviated. The conduction loss and the current stress of the main switch are minimized, since the resonating current for the soft switching does not flow through the main switch. Based on the proposed ZCS PWM switch cell, a new family of DC-to-DC PWM converters is derived. The new family of ZCS PWM converters is suitable for the high-power applications employing insulated gate bipolar transistors. Among the new family of DC-to-DC PWM converters, a boost converter was taken as an example and has been analyzed. Design guidelines with a design example are described and verified by experimental results from the 2.5 kW prototype boost converter operating at 40 kHz.

An improved self-resonant PWM forward converter

This paper presents a forward converter with a nondissipative cell which provides a soft switching converter operation. This approach is based on the principle of self-resonance, that is: an auxiliary voltage source feeds the resonant circuit, charging a capacitor which provides the condition for zero voltage switching (ZVS) turn on and turn off of the switches. The complete operating principle, relevant equations, simulation, and experimental results are presented.

A technique for reducing rectifier reverse-recovery-related losses in high-power boost converters

A circuit technique that reduces the boost power converter losses caused by the reverse-recovery current of the rectifier is described. The losses are reduced by inserting an inductor in the series path of the boost switch and a rectifier to control the di/dt rate of the rectifier during its turn off. The energy from the inductor after the boost switch turn off is returned to the input or delivered to the output via an active snubber.

A DC Triggered High-Speed High-Power Microwave Spark Gap Switch

Operation of a microwave spark gap switch triggered with a short high-voltage pulse is described. C-band power of 1 MW peak and 4/spl mu/s pulse width was switched in less than 10 ns at 100 pps with less than 0.3 dB arc loss in air at atmospheric pressure. Use in a cavity resonator to give an efficient pulse compression circuit is described. Switch recovery and turn off data are given.