Analysis of switching power converter by using a switching matrix approach

Power electronics is a branch of electrical and electronic engineering concerned with the analysis, design, manufacture and application of switching power converters. Power converters are devices interposed between sources of electrical energy and loads which usually convert that energy to some other form, where efficiency has always been a cardinal consideration in their design and application. The energy conversion function can be implemented in four basic forms: AC/AC; AC/DC; DC/AC; and DC/DC. The most general case is polyphase AC to polyphase AC. Each conversion function corresponds to the appropriate power converter; one can deduce that if a converter topology is postulated to implement the most general function, a polyphase AC to polyphase AC, then power converter topologies capable of implementing all other functions can be derived therefrom. A topology postulated to fulfill the most general function is called the general switching matrix; all other power converter topologies can be derived from it by applying the appropriate functional restriction leading to topological simplifications.