New magnetic structures for switching converters

In the past the majority of power processing applications have been centered around a very few standard switching converter topologies. Recently, a number of new converter topologies have been proposed in order to find the best possible electrical inter connection of power processing elements: switches, storage components, and transformers, that would yield the highest efficiency and best performance. However the equally important and complementary problem of their best magnetic interconnection has been completely overlooked. In some new converter structures, the nature of the switching process and existing waveforms allows integration of previously separate inductors and transformers into a single magnetic structure. Several such magnetic core structures are proposed and analyzed, which lead to further converter simplifications and performance improvements.