A new zero-voltage transition, three-phase PWM rectifier/inverter circuit

A switching rectifier/inverter technique that combines the conventional three-phase, six-stepped pulse-width modulated (PWM) rectifier/inverter with a simple commutation circuit to provide zero-voltage turn-on for the switches and soft turn-off for the diodes is presented. The commutation circuit is active only during a short period of the switching cycle, thus it consumes minimum power and does not impair the normal constant frequency PWM control. The addition of the commutation circuit does not result in increased component current and voltage stresses compared to the conventional PWM converter.