364

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40, NO. 3, JUNE 1993

Filter Design Method for a PWM Feedback

Inverter System
C. A. Karybakas and C. A. Kosmatopoulos
Abstract-A novel approach for filter design for a closed-loop
PWM dc-ac inverter system driving an RL load is investigated.
The system has a rectangular hysteresis in the forward path and
it is closed by current feedback When it is excited by sinusoidal
input reference, it provides square pulses that produce a nearly
sinusoidal current in the load. Using describing function technique, design equations of the filter are derived. The data
needed for the filter evaluation are the amplitude of current
ripple and the frequency of square pulses delivered by the power
bridge. System simulation and experimental results show that
the design of the filter can be based on the method proposed and
that the filter can provide a significant reduction of current
ripple, or otherwise a significant reduction of switching frequency.

I. INTRODUCTION

LOSED-loop PWM inverters are feedback control

systems that provide an output voltage or current
that approximately follows the input reference signal. The
main advantages over regular open-loop PWM inverters
are their simple structure and the ability to drive variable
loads with variable sinusoidal reference. Such performance characteristics are essential for ac motor control.
These inverters work satisfactorily when the number of
pulses for each input signal period is high.
Among the closed-loop PWM inverters one can distinguish the category of synchronous inverters and the category concerning the asynchronous ones. Inverters that are
based on the delta modulation principle [11-[3] are synchronous as they deliver to the load power pulses, which
are synchronized with clock pulses. The duration of these
pulses are multiple integer of the clock period. In asynchronous inverters [4]-[71 there is no clock frequency to
control the output pulses but the system can track the
input by the action of the controller, which is usually a
relay characteristic with hysteresis that can be easily constructed by a Schmitt trigger circuit. Asynchronous inverters with relay characteristic have a structural simplicity
and they give less pulses per input period than the corresponding synchronous do for a given maximum deviation.
Asynchronous modulation techniques have also been used
successfully in power tracking amplifiers 181, [9].
The main drawback of the PWM inverters is the generation of high harmonics that are troublesome for some
Manuscript received
The authors are with the Electronics Laboratory, Division of Electronics and Computers, Department of Physics, Aristotelian University of
Thessaloniki, Greece.
IEEE Log Number 9207944.

loads as that concerning ac motors. Harmonic suppression

can be obtained by using ordinary filters [lo] or applying
the special technique presented in [5],which suggests to
use a hysteresis with variable width for better filtering
action. However, not any theoretical procedure for calculation of a filter for a closed-loop inverter has been
reported in the literature. The current inverters that have
been investigated and analyzed mathematically concerned
with cases of one time constant, while the analysis carried
out in the time domain with a step-by-step procedure.
This approach is very difficult or practically impossible to
proceed in systems with more complex transfer functions
as in the case of a filter connected with an RL. load.
What is done in the present work is a theoretical study
for filter calculation for a closed-loop current inverter
with hysteresis. The RL. load, together with the LCR
filter, provide enough filtering action to the load current
so that the approximate method of describing function
can be applied. This technique leads to design equations
from which the filter parameters can be determined by
using desired values of the amplitude of current ripple
and the switching frequency of the inverter. Simulation
responses of the inverter and experimental results taken
are in good agreement with that predicted by theory.
11. THESYSTEM
A dc-ac inverter can be realized by a feedback control
system like that shown in Fig. l(a). With such a system the
load current can follow the input signal within some
approximation. The feedback voltage signal is compared
with the reference and the error acts on a hysteresis non
linearity giving two level-control voltages. That is, the
output voltage of the hysteresis is a train of square pulses
that excite the power dc-ac inverter, supplying to the
filter and load, voltage power pulses. Control action may
ascertain when the filter and load are such that for each
step input of amplitude equal to the magnitude of the
power pulses, the feedback signal I$ is able to reach the
reference signal V,. The pulses duration depends on
reference signal variation, hysteresis width b, and
filter-load dynamics.
111. LIMITCYCLEOSCILLATIONS

The maximum load current deviation from the reference is of paramount practical importance. If the load is a
series LR branch and no filter exists, the maximum cur-

0278-0046/93$03.00 0 1993 IEEE

365

KARYBAKAS AND KOSMATOPOULOS:FILTER DESIGN FOR A PWM FEEDBACK lNVERTER SYSTEM

TRIGGERING
CIRCUIT

POWER

BRIDGE -t-

FiLTEi,

(b)

Fig. 1. (a) Feedback dc-ac inverter. (b) Limit cycles in the system occur if intersection of Kf G ( j w ) and

rent deviation is determined only by b, since the maximum error between V , and vf is b. Consider now that the
filter-load have a transfer function G(s) and that the
power supply voltages of the bridge determine the upper
( E ) and lower ( - E ) levels of the rectangular hysteresis.
Suppose that the reference input to the system is at
constant level, and that oscillations exist in the loop due
to the presence of the nonlinear characteristic. It is supposed that the filter and load provide enough filtering
action to the train of pulses delivered by the nonlinear
element so that the input to the nonlinearity, due to
feedback signal, will be sinusoidal. These sinusoidal oscillations, which constitute the limit cycles of the system,
evidently have the same frequency as the power pulses of
the bridge. In such a case, the describing function (DF)
approximation technique can be applied. The DF of the

- l / N ( h ) exist.

rectangular hysteresis is

where h is the amplitude of the sinusoidal input to the

nonlinearity. The Nyquist critical locus for the system is
--=

N(h)

d h 2 - b2

4E

,nb
4E

-J-,

(2)

Limit cycle oscillations occur if the Nyquist plot k G ( j w )

intersects the critical locus - 1 / N ( h ) (Fig. l(bi). The
amplitude and frequency of the oscillations are determined by the point of intersection M for which the real
and imaginary parts of the functions -1/N(h) and

IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40,NO. 3, JUNE 1993

366

k f C ( j w )must be equal. That is,

and
Im[kf.G(jw)]

--__-_

nb
=

--

4E

(4)

L----

Fig. 2. Network of filter and load.

Equations (3) and (4) constitute the conditions for

existence of crossing point M and they can be used for
amplitude and frequency determination of limit cycles.
The amplitude and frequency of limit cycles do not depend on the dc voltage input level. This is a remarkable
fact that enables us to consider that for a slow varying
input signal that remains essentially constant within a
limit cycle period, the parameters of limit cycles remain
constant in every input voltage level and so they remain
constant during the whole input period. Therefore, when
the input to the system is a sinusoidal of low frequency
with respect to the frequency of limit cycles, the current
output will be a sinusoidal with the limit cycles superimposed on it.
Amplitude and frequency of the limit cycles are two
quantities that have practical significance since the amplitude indicates the maximum deviation from the reference
and the frequency determines the frequency of square
pulses which are produced by the power bridge. By fixing
these two quantities and taking into a consideration criteria that can be related to technical limitations of the
system and its components, the equations (3), ( 4 ) constitute the base for filter design.

form

Iv. THEFILTER
AND LOAD DESIGNEQUATIONS
We now consider the case of an RL load in cascade
with an LCR filter, shown in Fig. 2. Voltage across R can
be used as the feedback signal, since it is proportional to
the load current i,, although a current detector could
replace the role of R as a detector. The transfer function
of the network can be shown to be

From (17), by using (111, (121, and (6)-(9), and after

algebraic manipulations, one can arrive at the following
relation giving L , :

G(jw)

A
=

B
+j-

where

y[(y

y w [ 6( y

( y - a&)

+ 6( p - w ) w

ao2)

aw2)

- (p

+ (p

- w2)

- w2)202.

Using ( 3 ) and (4), and setting

A=one has
A

and
A

-B.
b

(18)

Also, from (151, by using (111, (131, and (6)-(9), it results

in

where

n b w ( C f O ? [ ( R+ R l ) 2+ L2w2] - 2LC,w2 + l ) . L :
+ ( T ~ ~ [ ~ L C , ~~ L( )R-; 2R2C1
C ,
+ 2L]
1

p=-+-

C,L

L,C,

+ -RRl

LL,

-4ER[R,C;w2(R + R , ) - LC,w2 + 11) L ,

(7)

+ rbw

Y=-

LLIC,

6 = R,C,

The transfer function ( 5 ) for s

(9)
=j w

can be reduced to the

R2
R?C:(L2w2+ R 2 ) + 7+ L2

4ERL(R:C:w

+ 1 ) = 0.

(19)

Equations (18) and (19) constitute the design equations

for the filter. Given the system parameters L , R , E , b,
and the desired values of h and w of the limit cycles, one

KARYBAKAS AND KOSMATOPOULOS: FILTkK DESIGN FOR A PWM FEEDBACK INVEKTER SYSTEM

1.0

1.5

2.5

2.0

3.0

3.5

4.0

h
Fig. 3. Diagram that resulted from the solution of (10) for L

can obtain an equation of the form

by substituting L , = f ( C , >from (18) to (19). The value of

R I for the filter can be arbitrarily chosen. Computer
solution of (20) gives the values of C , and then from (18)
the values of L , are obtained.
V. FILTER
CHARTS
Given the load and hysteresis parameters and the value
of R , of the filter, a useful chart like that shown in Fig. 3
can be derived using(l8) and (19). This chart is made by
using one group of solutions of these equations. For a pair
of h and f of the limit cycles, a pair of values for filter
parameters C, and L , is determined from the chart.
When the load resistance R is variable, as in the case of
an ac motor where the simplified equivalent circuit is that
of an inductance in series with a resistance, the value of
which varies with motor speed, the chart must include the
load parameter R as well. A chart of this kind for L , = 0.4
mH is shown in Fig. 4. It is seen that variation of R (C,
and L , remain constant) produces significant variation of
the amplitude of limit cycles and a small variation of
frequency. This means that there will be a significant
variation of the sinusoidal current envelope and a small
change in the frequency of square voltage pulses to the
load.
\I.

SYSTEM SIMULATION AND

RESULTS

In order to have some simulation results of the system,

the analoge model of Fig. 5 was used and was simulated
by a digital computer program. The following parameters

4.5

(v> 2.5 mH, R

1 CL, R ,

5.0

367

5.5

0.3 R, E

were used:
Load component values
Power supply voltage
Hysteresis width
Limit cycles amplitude
frequency
Filters

6.0

24 V, and b

L
E
b
h
f
R,

6.5

0.5 V.

2.5 mH, R
24 V
= 0.5 V
= 2 V,
= 270Hz
= 0.3 R
=

1R

The computer solution of (18) and (19) gives C, = 5,270

p F and L , = 0.728 mH. With the foregoing values of
parameters the response of the system to a sinusoidal
input signal of amplitude 12 V and frequency 20 Hz is
shown in Fig. 6(a). The systems response to the same
input without the filter is shown in Fig. 6(b). In order to
have nearly the same number of pulses per period, for
reasons of comparison, it was necessary to increase the
hysteresis width to b = 5.4 V. The action of the filter is
evident, as it reduces substantially the amplitude of the
current ripple of the load.
The spectrum amplitudes of the two waveforms of Fig.
6(a) and 6(b) were calculated by computer and are shown
in Fig. 7 . For the filter case, the only significant harmonic
is that which coincides to limit cycles frequency, whereas
the contents of other harmonics is very poor in comparison to the non filter case.
The chart in Fig. 3 was tested by choosing arbitrarily
the points A , B , and C, which correspond to the L , , C ,
pairs given in the figure. The use of the foregoing values
in the computer model gave the responses shown in Fig.
8(a). Limit cycles corresponding to these cases are shown
separately in Fig. Nb). The frequency f and amplitude h
taken from measurements on Fig. 8(b) and those taken
from the chart are also listed in the Table I.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40, NO. 3, JUNE 1993

1000

L1=.4 mH

'

c1=100

fl

800;
c1=200 /,F

6001
W

C1=300 /,F

LL
400 -

C1=400

fl

C1=600

fl

c1=1000

h ( v o l
Fig. 4. Diagram for f , h , R , and C, for L

fl

t)-=

2.5 mH and L ,

0.4 mH.

P
Fig. 5. Analog model of the inverter.

FREQUENCY AND

TABLE I
AMPLITUDE
TAKEN
FROM MEASUREMENTS
AND FROM THE
C H A R T O F FIG.3.
From the
chart

Response
measurements
Point

L , (mH)

A
B
C

2.5
0.5
0.7

Cl

(PF)

f (Hz)

h (VI

f (Hz)

h (V)

165
340
220

1.35
1.62
4.03

160
340
225

1.35
1.60
4.05

15.000
7.000
3.000

The values of these parameters are close enough for

the two cases showing the validity of the theory. It should
be noted that for a constant switching frequency the limit
cycles amplitude can be reduced by increasing the capacitance C,, as this can be deduced from this chart. However, values of C, are quickly increased so that the

reduction of amplitude comes to an end due to limitation

of the capacitor size.
VII. EXPERIMENTAL
SYSTEM
The low-power system shown in Fig. 9(a) was constructed for experimental tests. It incorporates a differen-

K A R Y B A W AND KOSMATOPOULOS: FILTER DESIGN FOR A PWM FEEDBACK INVERTER SYSTEM

2 0 , ~ ..........
~

..........I.......... .................................
...............,.
.............I ........... ,... ......l .............
II.........,,.,I.I ........................................ ........................1 ...............
I ...............
I..............
1 ..............I
""

""

12.00
4,00

-20,

1. . . . . . . .I

.............................................j ...........................................................................

...............
.....................................................................................................................................................

20

ia

5a

4a

30

TIME I N MS

............I..
.. .........,.

. . . . . I...............I... .........I.............I...............
I.. ...Y .... I.. ........ I ..........

. . .I
I

.,=

...I..

........I ...............................
........... . . . . . . ....... .....

"'

'I

18,00
6.w
-6, a0

-18 06
-313,601
I

10

26

TIME 1N MS

3a

40

50

(b)

Fig. 6. (a) Response of the inverter with the filter, (parameter: b = 0.5 V). (b) Without the filter, (parameter: b
sinusoidal input of amplitude 12 V and frequency 20 Hz. a = Input. b = Output. c = Bridge pulses.

Fig. 7. Harmonic amplitudes for the output waveforms: A for Fig. 6(a); B for Fig. 6(b).

5.4 V) to

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS. VOL. 40, NO. 3, JUNE l Y Y 3

370

12 I00
4,00
-4,00

-12

I 0 0

12 I00
4,00
-4,00

-12
U

I 0 0

12 I00

4,00
-4,00
-12.00

TIME IN MS
(b)

Fig 8

Input signal and output responie (d) and limit cycles (b) of the inverter for different value3 of filter components
corresponding to points A , B , and C In Fig 3

tial amplifier, where the input and feedback signals are

compared and a Schmitt trigger circuit having a rectangular hysteresis, which drives two complementary photocouplers connected to the two power MOSFET transistors.
The load consists of a coil with L = 2.36 mH and a
resistance R = 47 R. The coil resistance was considered
to be negligible compared to R. The value of the filter's
RI was put equal to 0.33 0 while b was fixed at 0.4 V and
E at f 12 V. If, for example, the desired frequency ripple
is f = 2.6 kHz and the amplitude of limit cycles is h = 0.6
V, it was found, using (18) and (191, that C, = 997 p F and
L , = 0.606 mH. In the experimental system the parameters obtained were near to theoretical ones that is L , =
0,55 mH and C1 = 1000 pF. The response of the system
to a sinusoidal reference of 100 Hz and amplitude 5 V is
as shown in Fig. 9(b). From oscilloscope measurements it
was found that the limit cycles have a frequency of 2.48
kHz and amplitude 0.58 V, which are close to theoretical
desired values.
VIII. EXTENSIONS
TO THREE-PHASE
PWM
INVERTERS
Most of the PWM single-phase techniques can be applied to three-phase loads. The single-phase current con-

trol circuit with the filter just described, can easily be

extended to a three-phase configuration as shown in Fig.
10. The neutral point N is connected to the midpoint 0
so that the three phases operate independently. The load
current in each phase is driven separately by the reference voltage, which is in the usual 120" phase displacement from the other phase voltages.
I x . CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
In the present work, a new approach for filter calculaU
tion for a closed-loop current inverter system with l
load was presented. Using the describing function of the
hysteresis and the transfer function of the load and the
filter, design equations were derived. These equations can
be used for evaluation of filter parameters after the
determination of limit cycles amplitude and frequency. It
was pointed out by simulation and by experiment that the
system's behavior is that predicted by theory and that the
use of the filter substantially reduces the current ripple or
the switching frequency. Also, it was shown that by using
the design equations, for a specific load, charts of the
filter can be derived, which give the designer the ability to
estimate the suitable region of component values.

KARYBAKAS AND KOSMATOPOULOS: FILTER DESIGN FOR A PWM FEEDBACK INVERTER SYSTEM
+30V

371

+lZV

2.36mH

2.9

-12v

-3OV

-12V

(b)

Fig. 9. The experimental system (a) and its response (b) to sinusoidal input: a

-i

Current feedback
Fig. 10. Extension to three-phase load

input, b

output, c

limit cycles.

The proposed method overcomes the inherent difficulty

in analyzing closed-loop systems with complex loads in a
step-by-step procedure. The describing function technique
was used, not to explain the existence of limit cycles
oscillations but to use their parameters for filter calculation. The presumption for the validity of using describing
function is ensured because the purpose of the filter is to
provide strong filtering action together with the load.
Therefore, the square power pulses delivered by the power
bridge are filtered and nearly sinusoidal oscillations having the same frequency as the switching pulses appear.
These high-frequency oscillations are superimposed on
the slow varying sinusoidal output current. It is evident
that the two parameters of the resulting limit cycles have
significant practical importance since their frequency coincides with the switching frequency of the bridge and
their amplitude indicates the sinusoidal approximation of
the load current. The fact that the filter can be designed

IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40, NO. 3, JUNE 1993

372

on the basis of the aforementioned quantities indicates

the value of the proposed method.

REFERENCES
[11 C. A. Karybakas, A dc to ac inverter based on the delta modulation principle, Int. J . Electron., vol. 49, no. I , pp. 59-66, 1980.
[21 P. D. Ziogas, The delta modulation technique in static PWM
inverters, IEEE Trans. Industry Applications, vol. IA-17, no. 2, pp.
199-204, Mar./Apr., 1981.
[31 C. F. Christiansen, M. I. Valla, and C. H. Rivetta, Spectral
analysis of a synchronized delta modulated PWM inverter, Int. J .
Electron., vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 409-418, 1987.
R. G. Palaniappan and J. Vithayathil, A control strategy for
reference wave adaptive current generation, IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron. and Contr. Instrum., vol. IECI-27, no. 2, pp. 92-96, May
1980.
A. Kawamura and R. Hoft, Instantaneous feedback controlled
PWM inverter with adaptive hysteresis, IEEE Trans. Industry
Applications, vol. IA-20, no. 4, pp. 769-775, July/Aug., 1984.
C. A. Kosmatopoulos and C. A. Karybakas, General aspects of an
asynchronous delta modulated inverter with RL loads, Int. J .
Electron., vol. 70, no. 6, pp. 1167-1183, 1991.
A. Tripathi and P. C. Sen, Comparative analysis of fixed and
sinusoidal band hysteresis current controllers for voltage source
inverters, IEEE Trans. lnd. Electron., vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 63-73,
Feb. 1992.
A. R. Daniels and D. Slatery, Class ABD amplifier, Electron.
Lett., vol. 10, no. 17, p. 364, 1974.
M. Emura, Y. Fukui, and Sh. Yoneda, Novel tracking amplifier
composed of switch and comparator, lnt. J . Electron., vol. 56, no.
3, pp. 379-385, 1984.
B. D. Belford and R. G. Hoft, Principles of Inoerter Circuits. New
York: Wiley, 1964.

C. A. Karybakas received the degree in physics

and the postgraduate certificate in radioelectrology from the University of Athens, Greece, in
1959 an 1962, the MSc. degree in electrical
engineering from the Manchester College of
Science and Technology, England, in 1965. In
1971 he received the Ph.D. degree from the
Physics Dept. of the University of Athens.
From 1961 to 1963 and I965 to 1977 he was
engaged in research and development projects
in the field of electronics and control systems at
the Electronics Department of the Nuclear Research Center, Democritos, Athen?, Greece, and he was head of that department from
1972 to 1977. Since 1977 he has been a Professor of Electronics, in the
Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He
has published papers in leading international journals on electronics and
control and has authored books (in Greek) concerning those fields. At
present, hi5 main rexarch interests are in the areas of current mode
electronic circuits, power electronics, and applied control systems.

C. A. Kosmatopoulos received the BSc. degree

in physics and the Ph.D. degree in electronics,
both from the Physics Dept. of the University of
Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1981 and 1991, respectively.
He has been a member of the academic staff
at the Electronics Laboratory, School of Physics,
University of Thessaloniki, Greece, since 1981.
His main research interests are in the areas of
electronic circuits and power electronics.