Four-quadrant brushless ECM drive with integrated current regulation

The authors present a method of regulating the phase currents in a brushless electronically commutated motor (ECM) during four-quadrant operation. Current information is obtained from current sensors integrated into MOS-gated switches, and the current regulation for motoring and regeneration is performed independently in each phase by gate-drive high-voltage integrated circuits (HVICs). Two commutation schemes are also presented for regeneration without the need for additional switches. The current regulation scheme provides protection against dangerous fault currents not sensed by conventional bus-shunt configurations. Control features incorporated in the smart-power components make it possible to achieve a high level of drive integration combined with enhanced protection for operation with supply voltages up to 500 VDC