Transmission-line theory based distributed Z-source networks for power conversion

Power converters are switching faster and faster nowadays, making the parasitic and distributed inductance and capacitance along with passive components potentially a troublesome hardware design issue. Applications with integrated or distributed LC networks are intentionally utilizing the passive parasites. Moreover, less component count and higher power density make them very promising. This paper explores the conceptual study of power conversion applications incorporating distributed LC networks, or named distributed Z-source networks (DZSN), based on the transmission line theory. From the unique feature of periodicity exhibited by the transmission line impedance-frequency curve, switching harmonics can possibly be transformed by the DZSNs in desired manners, and thus power conversion purpose is achieved. Several new topologies are derived and corresponding control methods are proposed accordingly. A universal prototype was built and tested. Experimental results are presented to verify the performances.