Gate driving of high power IGBT

by wireless transmission
Stéphane Bréhaut, François Costa, member IEEE
SATIE UMR8029, ENS de Cachan. 61, Avenue du Président Wilson, 94235 Cachan France
stephane.brehaut@satie.ens-cachan.fr

Abstract— In high power high voltage conversion, the to reduce the propagation impedance of the conducted
technology of IGBT’s drivers is a very sensitive point due to Electromagnetic Interferences (EMI). At last, the energy
the need of a high reliability and a high degree of insulation supply system of the drivers must exhibit a high insulation
while being compact.
to transmit driving information and energy to the gate
driver. Many techniques exist that allow an insulated All these specifications have led us to pay a great
attention to wireless transmission. In fact, with this
transmission of the driving signal. Some, like the level-
technology, there isn’t any contact between the control
shifter or the optocoupler are commonly used in medium and the converter, the propagation paths of EMI are
voltage range but are totally unsuited to high voltage. In this greatly reduced with the distance between the power
last case, a classical solution leads to use, for each IGBT, a transistor and the low power drive. So, only the energy
DC supply with a high insulation transformer for energy system supply has to be highly insulated. This can be
transmission and an optic fiber for the transmission of obtained more easily than for the signal transmission,
information. This solution is reliable, fast, and not sensitive because these devices are more robust to EMI, as it will be
shown hereunder.
to disturbances. However, in the case of numerous switches
to drive, this solution becomes costly and bulky. Thus, in In Radio Frequency Transmissions (RFT), the delay
time depends of the band-pass of the transmitter/receiver.
this paper, we propose a driving system well suited to high
In order to avoid EMI disturbances [5], we must include a
voltage, which can be insensitive to high-level disturbances. coding strategy in the driving signal [6].
A wireless solution coupled to an energy supply loop is
This paper depicts this new high-voltage driver: firstly,
proposed, in order to reduce the cost and bulkiness of high we will present the diagram block of the system HVID
power converters. The advantage of this solution lies in a (100 kV).
very low propagation time, a strong immunity to noise if Secondly, we will propose a strategy of wireless
signal coding is well studied and a simplified supply system transmission.
to drivers.
II. PRESENTATION OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF A HVID
I. INTRODUCTION A. General presentation
In electrical locomotive, the use of power converters Many studies develop strategies of energy transmission
directly fed by the catenary discloses the problem of the between two distinct parts [7][8][9][10]. The suggested
insulation of the drivers stage [1]. Indeed, with a 25 kV structure must take into account all the constraints
catenary voltage, standard technologies are not matched previously detailed.
with usual insulation technologies, and new structures
Loop wire
have to be developed for the realization of High-Voltage
Insulated Drivers (HVID). The data an energy paths
throughout the drivers need to be insulated from the IGBT RF Receiver_1
2.45 GHz
and they must be reliable with respect to data transfer and
to secured energy transfer. These systems must be IGBT driver_1
compact because, in architectures of high-voltage RF transmitter
converters, the number of switches can become significant 2.45 GHz
as well as the quantity of connection’s wires [2]. Half bridge
The driving energy
for 6 IGBTs
So, the signal transmission through a barrier of inverter
insulation is a technical challenge in a great number of
applications [3]. The solutions generally adopted are the
optic fiber, the opto-coupler, as well as the pulse The loop wire can be carried RF Receiver_6
transformer [4]. to the ground to minimize the 2.45 GHz
transmission of the common
The requirements for a safe drive transmission are mode current’s IGBT driver_6
gathered in some points: firstly, the stage treating the
driving signal must be immunized against disturbances
(high dV/dt). Another significant point is that the signal
transmission must be reliable and fast. Moreover, the
Figure 1. Concept of the HVID
transmitter must have low parasitic capacitances in order

1-4244-0449-5/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE IPEMC 2006

 Fig. 1 shows the general working principle of our the stray capacitances. So, the transformer model can be
structure [11] [12]. At the low-voltage side of the represented as shown in fig. 4. If we compare the
driver, a half-bridge inverter induces a HF current in a simulation with the measurement in the 10 Hz-10 MHz
Litz wire loop while a 2.45 GHz RF transducer range, we can observe the same comportment on the
transmits the encoded driving signal to all receivers. At full range.
high-voltage side, the driving energy is absorbed on the
loop while a RF receiver and a decoder restore the
driving signal.
A high insulation degree is achieved with this
topology, while it enables to reduce the number of DC
supplies and the wiring of the converter. Moreover, it
offers an excellent galvanic insulation as well as an
excellent immunity against EMI. In order to minimize
the radiation of the HF loop, this one must be twisted.
B. Globlal model of the DGIT
The Double Galvanic Insulation Transformer (DGIT)
is a key factor in our system due to all the constraints
that it has to take into account. In order to have a better
Figure 4. Measurement and simulation of voltage gain of the
comprehension of the DGIT, we have decided to model
transformer connected to power supply, in the 10 Hz-10 MHz range
and to compare the simulation with the measurement.
The DGIT is constituted by two simple transformers Lf1 +m2.lf2=50 µH
connected together with a loop wire, fig. 2. Note that
the turn ratio’s product is equal to 1. R1+m2.R2=4 Ω m1=1/22

The magnetic material of

the core is nanocrystalline
VE LM =30 mH VS
Connection to Connection to one of the
the power IGBT driver
l
A 2 meters longer between
the two transformers
Figure 5. Final model of the transformer connected to power supply
V11 V31 V32 V12
Then, we have applied the same approach to the
second transformer. In the 4 MHz-10 MHz frequency
range, we found a –40 dB slope, as shown in fig. 6.
The
Theturns
turns number
number isis22
22for
for the
theprimary
primarywinding
windingof ofthe
thefirst
first
transformer
transformerand
andfor
forthethesecondary
secondaryof winding
the second
of thetransformer
second transformer Thus, the stray capacitance effect is not longer
negligible for this second transformer, so we have
Figure 2. Concept of the DGIT with two windings added it in the model as shown in fig. 7. The simulation
curve matches with the measurement one in the full
Each simple transformer can be represented by a frequency range, fig. 6.
typical model, as shown in fig. 3, [13]; however, it can
be simplified regarding the frequency range and the
design, as we will show hereunder.
C12

R1+m2.R2 Lf1+m2 .lf2

m1=1/N

VE C1 LM C2 Rch VS

Figure 3. Simple transformer model with three spray capacitances

This one is used to describe the transformer behavior,

where Lf1 is the primary leakage inductance, Lf2 is the Figure 6. Measurement and simulation of voltage gain of the
secondary leakage inductance, LM is the mutual transformer connected to the IGBT driver, in the 10 Hz-10 MHz
inductance. C1 and C2 are the primary and secondary range
winding capacitances. C12 represents the capacitance Lf1+m2 .lf2=0.1 µH
between primary and secondary winding. m is the
winding ratio. R1+m2 .R2 =0.04 Ω m1 =1/22

We have measured the voltage gain in the first VE LM=61 µH C2 =16 pF VS

transformer, on the 10 Hz-10 MHz range, as shown in
fig. 4. A network analyzer with high impedance ports
was used. We got a typical 1st order voltage gain curve
with a positive 20 dB slope from 10 Hz to 200 Hz. This Figure 7. Final model of the transformer connected to the IGBT
is due to the mutual inductance and to the winding driver
resistances. On the other hand, there is no influence of
 The next step is to connect the two transformers to C. The power supply efficiency
the loop wire. This one has stray elements composed by The converter, which generates the energy for the
a resistance, Rc, in series with an inductance, Lc. It can driver working is a half bridge inverter, as shown in
be added to the leakage inductances, Lf1 and Lf1’, and to fig. 12. It can deliver up to 30 Watts, the purpose being
the winding resistances, R1 and R1’, as shown in fig. 8. to supply up to 6 drivers with the same loop.
m2 .R1+R’1+RC/2 m2.R1 +R’ 1+RC/2
We have used Litz wire for the loop in order to
2
m .Lf1 +LC/2+L’f1 m1=1/22 m2 =22/1 m2.Lf1 +LC/2+L’ f1 reduce the losses due to skin effect. Fig. 11 shows the
VE Lµ2 /2 C2 VS
measurement setup of the power transferred across the
system. Because neither of the load terminals is
common to the converter’s ground, differential voltage
Winding capacitance responsable
probe are used to measure voltage at the output of the
of the resonance at 1MHz=16 pF half bridge and at the load terminals.
The power efficiency, µ , is defined as the ratio of the
Figure 8. Final model of the DGIT from the power point of view
output power to the input power (1). Thus we get,
The simulation and the measurement curves are
superimposed, in the full 10 Hz-10 MHz range, as Pout 30 Watts
exhibited in fig. 9. µ= ×100% = = 84 % (1)
Pin 35 Watts

The primary voltage Vp, secondary voltage Vs,

primary current Ip and secondary current Is, of the
transformer are shown in fig. 11. The rectified voltage
at the secondary winding is conditioned by the standard
specifications of drivers, typically 24 VDC.

(VP)

(IP )

Figure 9. Measurement and simulation of voltage gain of the DGIT

from the energy transfer point of view, in the 10 Hz-10 MHz range (VS)

Now, we have a reliable model. Among all the stray

capacitances, only the winding capacitance of the high (IS )
voltage side transformer determines the –40dB slope.
This is an important information in order to control the
usable frequency range to transmit the energy.
Figure 11. VP (20 V/div), IP (5 A/div), VS (50 V/div), and IS
(1 A/Div), commutation frequency 22 kHz
measurement
simulation Vin
Differential voltage
probe
Current probe

Iin
Differential
Vout voltage probe
IRF630
Vcc Vb Current probe
H0
RT
IC1 Vs
RLOAD

IR2153 Iout 24 VDC

IRF630
+12 VDC

CT L0
Com

Figure 12. Primary part of the energy supplier of the driver

III. TWO STRATEGIES OF RF TRANSMISSION

Figure 10. Measurement and simulation of the parasitic capacitance
in the 10kHz-10 MHz range
In order to verify the low capacitance between the
primary and the secondary winding of the DGIT, we
have measured its value as shown in fig. 10. The
parasitic capacitance is very low, around 1 pF, which is
efficient to limit the propagation of conducted EMI.
Two strategies can be exploited to send out the RF
driving signal. On one hand, we could directly transmit
the numerical value of the duty cycle on the other hand,
we could emit and encode the turning on/off order of
the gate driver, this last solution has been chosen due to
its simplest implementation. It can be considered as an
asynchronous communication.
 IV. THE ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION A. Choice of the band pass
We are interested in the 2.45 GHz band-width. There
A. Presentation are currently many techniques of wireless transmission
We consider this working as an asynchronous in this range. “WIFI” as well as “Blue Tooth” is
communication because the driver doesn’t need a currently in full expansion. The main problem with
synchronization clock. In fact, only the electronic power “WIFI” like with “Blue tooth” is the use of complex
switching orders are emitted, fig. 13. implementation protocols. These require a consequent
material and a considerable processing time.
a0
Start bit
We have chosen a RF video transmitter and receiver.
a1
Input signal
1
Serial/parallel
These transmitters have a band-width in the order of
converter Transmitter 5 MHz. Moreover, several bandwidths can be selected.
1 a2 As we dispose of 5 bandwidths device, we can save one
Coding of turning
bit and reduce the code on 4 bits.
Connection of the a3
driving signal 0-5 V on IGBT_1 We have tested the RF asynchronous communication
and turning off
a4
IGBT_2: 1 001 1
with the code presented in the previous section. The
Stop bit frequency of the transmitted signal is 2.5 kHz. We have
Input signal
common
selected a rate of 4 Mbytes/s. We have calculated the
delay time of the transmission as expressed by (2).
Figure 13. Reception of the electronic power switching orders, using
Number _ of _ command _ bits
5 bits Delay _ time = *2
Flow _ of _ bits
(2)
The driving signal is connected to the input terminal Delay _ time =
4 _ bits
* 2 = 2 µs
of the emitter. This is coded on 5 bits serial/parallel 4 MHz
converter and modulated by a transmitter. The choice of
the coding is treated by several logic gates. As an
example, table I shows how the driving of a 3 legs Emission of the
inverter can be operated by this method. command by the The processing time
including coding and
RF transmitter
decoding on 4 bits is 2 µs

TABLE I. Example of a driving code for a three phases

inverter
Reception of the
Coded value of the command by the
Address of the IGBTs RF receptor
IGBTs state
1 001 1 Set IGBT_1, Reset IGBT_2, arm_1
1 010 1 Set IGBT_3, Reset IGBT_4, arm_2
1 100 1 Set IGBT_5, Reset IGBT_6, arm_3
1 110 1 Reset IGBT_1, Set IGBT_2, arm_1
1 101 1 Reset IGBT_3, Set IGBT_4, arm_2
1 011 1 Reset IGBT_5, Set IGBT_6, arm_3 Figure 15. Delay time created by the 4 bits code

B. The RF reception Fig. 15 shows that the signal received at the IGBT
The receiver is made up very simply with just a side is quite in phase with the input signal. Also, the
decoder, a serial/parallel converter and a comparator, as effective delay time is very close to the calculated one.
depicted in fig. 14. Now, we can consider that the RF transmission concept
Comparator
5 bits
is possible.
n=5
code of turning on IGBT_1 : 1 001 1 A n=1
S VI. APPLICATION TO A LOW-VOLTAGE FIRST
B
n=1 n=5 n=1
PROTOTYPE
Demodulator Serial/parallel Comparator Isolated
Q
converter
5 bits output signal
In order to validate our concept, we have tested it in a
A n=1
R
The electronic power
switching orders
MOSFET chopper with a RL load as shown in fig. 16.
code of turning off IGBT_1 : 1 110 1
n=5
B
0-5 V
The gate driving of the MOSFET is transmitted by
Isolated
wireless communication.
output signal
Common Ubus

Figure 14. RF receptor for each switch

RF transmitter
The asynchronous communication is very simple to 2.45 GHz
achieve. Only 5 bits make it possible to control a three The distance between
phases inverter. the transmitter and the
driver is 2 meters

V. DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE
RF receiver Driver
We must have a low delay time between the input Half bridge inverter
signal and the output signal received by the gate driver. +
Double galvanic insulation
Thus, the data rate must be high in order to reduce the
delay time. Figure 16. RF transmission on a chopper
 The MOSFET has a max. reverse voltage of 200 V inverter, Power Electronics Specialists Conference, 2002. pesc
and a max. current of 50 A. The component’s values of 02. 2002 IEEE 33rd Annual Volume 4, 23-27 June 2002
Page(s):1907 – 1912
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We have treated in this article the gate driving of
high power IGBT by wireless transmission. We have
presented how to transmit the required energy thanks to
a DGIT. A 30 Watts inverter supplies the power
necessary for the drivers, with an efficiency higher than
80 %. For a first validation, we have driven a low-
voltage chopper with our wireless communication
system. The next step of our work will be to check it in
a HV inverter leg.

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