Criteria-based modulation for power inverters

Power inverters utilize switches for the construction of discrete-valued waveforms. The discrete nature is reflected in harmonic content which adversely affects the converter compatibility and adjacent equipment. In order to mitigate the harmonic disturbances, filters and/or modulation scheme could be used. The latter generally involves choosing of a proper modulation scheme, based on a given performance criteria. In this paper we address the mitigation of inverter-drive disturbances originating in the harmonic content of the output waveform. Given a set of performance criteria, a direct search is applied to find the optimal switching sequences of the inverter. Operating the inverter accordingly will ensure primacy of the operation in terms of the chosen criteria. The algorithm is performed offline, where at its end, a look-up table is constructed for integration with online pulse-width modulation controllers.