A novel approach to paralleling of power converter units with true redundancy

The demand for power supplies with expansion capabilities has prompted interest in modular power converters with built-in features for connection in parallel with two or more other units. The authors describe a novel scheme which offers a given unit frequency and phase synchronization with any number of units operating in parallel. The scheme is based on a master/slave configuration using a rotating priority window which provides random selection of a new master and therefore results in true redundancy. Compared to conventional methods of paralleling, the scheme requires fewer interconnections between individual units and offers increased reliability. System operation and implementation are described in detail, and experimental results are given.<>