Space-vector pulse-width modulation algorithm for multilevel voltage source inverters based on matrix transformation and including operation in the over-modulation region

Multilevel voltage source inverters are most promising when employed in high-power and high-voltage applications. As the number of inverter levels increases, the algorithm of space-vector pulse-width modulation (SVPWM) becomes increasingly complex. Based on the intrinsic relationship between SVPWM algorithms for 2-level inverters and those for arbitrary-level inverters, here a novel SVPWM algorithm is proposed for an arbitrary-level inverter. Considering that the nearest three vectors are used to synthesise the reference vector, the on-time of the voltage vector for an arbitrary-level inverter can be acquired from that for a 2-level inverter via the use of a linear transformation. This algorithm is verified through simulation and experiments, with the latter proving that the proposed algorithm can meet the real-time requirements of multilevel inverters.