2 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.

1 FEBRUARY 2006
A New Topology for Multilevel Current
Source Converters
Ebrahim Babaei
1
,
Seyed Hossein Hosseini
2
, and Gevorg B. Gharehpetian
3
, Non-members
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a new topology for multilevel
current source converters. The new converter uses
parallel connections of full-bridge cells. Four dier-
ent methods have been presented for the calculation
of the levels in each bridge. These methods pro-
vide more exibility for designers and can generate
a large number of levels (odd and even). Also by
adding or removing the full-bridge cells, modularized
circuit layout and packaging is possible, where the
number of output current levels can also be easily
adjusted. Using enough levels, the multilevel current
converter generates approximately sinusoidal output
current with very low harmonic distortion. Based on
this converter a shunt active lter has been modeled.
The simulation results of the proposed shunt active
lter and the traditional shunt lters (which are based
on PWM convectors) show that the suggested lter is
better than the traditional lter in distribution sys-
tems.
Keywords: Multilevel Converter, Matrix Converter,
Shunt Active Power Filter, Power Quality
1. INTRODUCTION
Recently multilevel power conversion technology
has been a very rapidly growing area of power elec-
tronics with good potential for further developments.
The most attractive applications of this technology
are in the medium to high-voltage range [1]. Multi-
level converters work more like amplitude modulation
rather than pulse modulation, and as a result:
Each device in a multilevel converter has a much
lower dv/dt
The outputs of the converter have almost perfect
currents with very good voltage waveforms because
the undesirable harmonics can be removed easily,
The bridges of each converter work at a very low
switching frequency and low speed semiconductors
can be used and
Manuscript received on July 15, 2005 ; revised on November
1, 2005.
The authors are with
1,2
Faculty of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, IRAN
3
Electrical Engineering Department, Amirkbir University of
Technology, Tehran, IRAN
Email:e-babaei@tabrizu.ac.ir,hosseini@tabrizu.ac.ir and grp-
tian@aut.ac.ir
Switching losses are very low [2].
The general function of the multilevel converter
is to synthesize a desired output voltage from sev-
eral levels of DC voltages as inputs. The DC volt-
age sources are available from batteries, capacitors,
or fuel cells. There are three types of multilevel con-
verters:
Diode-Clamped Multilevel Converter
Flying-Capacitor Multilevel Converter
Cascaded-Converters with Separated DC Sources
The rst practical multilevel topology is the diode-
clamped multilevel converter topology and rst in-
troduced by Nabae in 1980 [3]. The converter uses
capacitors in series to divide the DC bus voltage
into a set of voltage levels. To produceN levels of
the phase voltage, an Nlevel diode-clamp converter
needs N 1 capacitors on the DC bus. The ying-
capacitor multilevel converter proposed by Meynard
and Foch in 1992 [4], [5]. The converter uses a ladder
structure of the DC side capacitors where the volt-
age on each capacitor diers from that of the next
capacitor. To generateNlevel staircase output volt-
age, N 1 capacitors in the DC bus are needed.
Each phase-leg has an identical structure. The size
of the voltage increment between two capacitors de-
termines the size of the voltage levels in the out-
put waveform. The last structure introduced in the
paper is a multilevel converter, which uses cascade
converters with separate DC sources and rst used
for plasma stabilization [6], it was then extended for
three-phase applications [7]. The multilevel converter
using cascaded-converter with separate DC sources
synthesizes a desired voltage from several indepen-
dent sources of DC voltage. A primary advantage
of this topology is that it provides the exibility to
increase the number of levels without introducing
complexity into the power stage. Also, this topol-
ogy requires the same number of primary switches
as the diode-clamped topology, but does not require
the clamping diode. However, this conguration uses
multiple dedicated DC-busses and often a compli-
cated and expensive line transformer, which makes
this a rather expensive solution. In addition, bi-
directional operation is somewhat dicult (although
not impossible) to achieve [8]. Modularized circuit
layout and packaging is possible because each level
has the same structure, and there are no extra clamp-
ing diodes or voltage balancing capacitor. The num-
A New Topology for Multilevel Current Source Converters 3
ber of output voltage levels can be adjusted by adding
or removing the full-bridge cells.
The converters that were focused upon were volt-
age source converters, with multilevel voltage wave-
forms. These converters divide the total input voltage
among a number switches, and allow a reduction of
the voltage harmonics. As mentioned, these are the
most commonly used and best-understood multilevel
converters. The most multilevel converters discussed
in the literature are multilevel voltage source con-
verters [9]. However, in many current applications,
such as shunt active lters, active power line con-
ditioners, VAR compensations etc., we need to use
multilevel current converters. This paper presents a
new multilevel current converter, and introduces four
dierent algorithms for obtaining the levels of cur-
rent sources in each bridges of the multilevel current
source. Then the proposed multilevel current source
converter is the core of a shunt active lter, which is
obtained based on this converter. The proposed new
multilevel current converter consists of a set of par-
allel single-phase full-bridge converter units. The AC
current output of each levels full-bridge converter is
connected in parallel such that the synthesized cur-
rent waveform is the sum of the converter outputs.
In other words, for high current applications, many
switches can be placed in parallel, with their current
summed by inductors.
2. DEFINITIONS
In this section, a denition of elements that are
required for constituting the multilevel is presented.
Any power electronic converter can be viewed as a
matrix of switches, which connects its input nodes to
its output nodes. These nodes may be either DC or
AC, and either inductive or capacitive; and the power
ow may be in either direction. Some basic laws of
electricity enforce two obvious restrictions:
If one set of nodes (input or output) is inductive,
the other set must be capacitive, so as not to create a
cut set of voltage or current sources when the switches
are closed.
The combination of open and closed switches
should never open circuit an inductor, or short cir-
cuit a capacitor.
The converters are generally broken into a number
of subsets. The term rectier is used when the power
ow is predominately from the AC port to the DC
port and the term inverter is used when power ow
is predominately from the DC port to the AC port.
The term converter is used either when there is no
predominant direction of power ow or as a general
term to encompass both rectiers and inverters. In
a voltage source converter, the DC port is the ca-
pacitive port and voltage sti (i.e. a large DC bus
capacitor). The voltages in such a converter are well
dened by this port and are generally considered in-
dependent of the converters operation. The value of
the AC side inductance is comparatively small and
modulation of the converter controls the AC side in-
ductor currents. The voltage source converter should
be responsible for the control of the DC bus capacitor
voltage, and then the voltage is indirectly controlled
by controlling the net current ow in the capacitor.
The switches in such a converter must block a unidi-
rectional voltage, but be able to conduct current in
either direction if bidirectional power ow is desired
(Fig. 1).

Fig.1: A Voltage Source Rectier-Inverter Cascade
In a current source converter, the DC port is in-
ductive and current sti. The current in this port is
well dened and slow to change. The voltage (partic-
ularly at the AC port) is considered the variable di-
rectly controlled by the converter modulation. Since
the AC port usually has signicant line or load in-
ductance, line to line capacitors must be placed on
the AC port. The switches must block either voltage
polarity, but are only required to conduct current in
one direction (Fig. 2).

Fig.2: A Current Source Rectier-Inverter Cascade
Some converters do not easily fall, or cannot be
placed into either category. The matrix or Venturini
converter [10] is one example (Fig. 3). Both input
and output ports are AC, and the denition of volt-
age sti or current sti (and hence voltage or current
source) becomes somewhat arbitrary. Both input and
output ports are AC, and neither port can be consid-
ered as a steady dc source, whether voltage or current.
The next renement is to dene the meaning of
multilevel. The following denition of a multilevel
converter is oered [9]:
A multilevel converter can switch either its input
or output nodes (or both) between multiple (more than
two) levels of voltage or current.
4 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.1 FEBRUARY 2006
Fig.3: The Matrix Converter, with One Possible
Implementation of the Bidirectional Switches
The term two-level will be used where it is nec-
essary to refer specically to a converter, which is
not multilevel. For example, the multi-phase ma-
trix converter (Fig. 3) is, strictly speaking, a multi-
level converter, according to this denition. Consider
the three-phase to three-phase matrix converter, with
voltage source inputs and an inductive load. Any sin-
gle output can be switched to one of three dierent
voltage levels (the voltages of the three input phases)
and similarly, any input can be switched to one of
four current levels (including zero). In this example,
both the input and the output nodes are AC periodic
varying quantities and so these levels can only be con-
sidered stationary for an interval much shorter than
their AC period. Both the voltage source and current
source converters can be derived from the general ma-
trix converter by setting one port to be either a two
terminal DC voltage sti or DC current sti port [11].
Note that now one of the ports has been made DC
and voltage or current sti, only one port will expe-
rience the multilevel stepped waveforms. The other
will still have a continuous waveform similar to that
of an equivalent two level converter.
The traditional understanding of what constitutes
a multilevel converter follows this more narrow def-
inition. One of the ports has multiple (more than
two) voltage or current sti DC nodes or terminals,
while the second port has a conventional single or
three phase set of terminals which are switched to
these multiple levels.
Most multilevel converters discussed in the liter-
ature step between multiple voltage levels. This is
usually the most useful conguration for a high power
converter, as reducing conduction losses in both con-
verter and machines will always favor increasing the
voltage rating rather than the current rating of the
converter. Also as power levels increase, the input
and output voltage levels presented to the converter
increase. The structure of these multilevel convert-
ers places the switches in series to share the duty of
blocking these higher voltages.
Equally, however, for high current applications,
many switches can be placed in parallel, with their
current summed by inductors. When switched sepa-
rately, multilevel current waveforms result. It is also
possible to create completely new converter topolo-
gies based on the concept of circuit duals. The ca-
pacitive port sees a multilevel current waveform. All
switches experience and must withstand the total
converter input voltage. If the capacitive port were
an AC port and the inductive port current sti and
DC, then this would be classied as a current source,
multilevel current converter. For example, the ying
capacitor converter (a multilevel voltage converter)
and its dual as a ying inductor converter (a multi-
level current converter) are shown in Figs. 4 and 5,
respectively.
Fig.4: The Flying Capacitor Converter- A Multi-
level Voltage Converter

Fig.5: A Dual Derived from the Circuit in Fig. 4,
the Flying Inductor Converter - A Multilevel Current
Converter
At the following, the paper presents a new multi-
level current converter.
3. THE PRPOSED MULTILEVEL CUR-
RENT CONVERTER
3. 1 The Proposed Topology
The full-bridge topology is used to synthesize
a three-level square-wave output current waveform.
The full-bridge conguration of the single-phase cur-
rent source converter is shown in Fig. 6.
In a single-phase full-bridge conguration, four
switches are needed. In full-bridge conguration, by
A New Topology for Multilevel Current Source Converters 5

Fig.6: A Dual Derived from the Circuit in Fig. 4,
the Flying Inductor Converter - A Multilevel Current
Converter
turning the switches S
1
and S
4
on and S
2
and S
3
o a
current of I
dc1
is available at output i
o1
, while revers-
ing the operation we get current of i
dc1
. To generate
zero level of a full-bridge converter, the switches S
1
and S
3
are turned on while S
2
and S
4
are turned o
or vice versa. The typical output waveform of full-
bridge of single-phase multilevel shown in Fig. 6, is
shown in Fig. 7.

Fig.7: Typical Output Waveform of Three-Level
Conguration
The three possible levels with respect to above dis-
cussion are shown in Table 1. Note that S
1
and S
2
should not be open at the same time, nor should S
3
and S
4
. Otherwise, an open circuit would exist across
the DC current source.
Table 1: Output Current with Corresponding Con-
ditions Switches
Modes Conducting Switches Output current (i
o1
)
1 S
1
, S
4
+I
dc1
2 S
2
, S
3
I
dc1
1 S
1
, S
3
or S
2
, S
4
+I
dc1
Fig. 8 shows the equivalent circuits of the pro-
posed topology at dierent modes. From Fig. 8, the
instantaneous switches voltages of each module are
given by:
Mode1 :

v
S1
= 0
v
S2
= v
o
(t)
v
S3
= v
o
(t)
v
S4
= 0
Mode2 :

v
S1
= v
o
(t)
v
S2
= 0
v
S3
= 0
v
S4
= v
o
(t)
(1)
Mode3 :

v
S1
= 0
v
S2
= v
o
(t)
v
S3
= 0
v
S4
= v
o
(t)
Fig.8: The Equivalent Circuits of the Proposed
Topology at Dierent Modes
Using parallel connections of many converters like
the one shown in Fig. 6, we can synthesize multi-
level current converter. The general function of this
multilevel current source converter is to synthesize
a desired current from several independent sources
of DC currents. Fig. 9 shows a single-phase struc-
ture of a parallel converter with a separate DC cur-
rent source. By dierent combinations of the four
switches, S
1
S
4
, each full-bridge converter can gener-
ate three dierent current outputs, +I
dc1
, I
dc1
and
zero current. The AC outputs of each of the dierent
level of full-bridge converters are connected in par-
allel such that the synthesized current waveform is
the sum of the converter outputs. An output phase
current waveform is obtained by summing the output
currents of the converter bridges:
i
o
(t) = i
o1
(t) +i
o2
(t) + +i
oN
(t) (2)
where N is the number of parallel bridges [12].
6 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.1 FEBRUARY 2006
In the followings, we propose new methods for de-
termining the levels of dierent DC current sources,
which are used in the proposed multilevel converter.

Fig.9: Single-Phase Parallel Multilevel Current
Source Converter
3. 2 Method 1
If all DC current sources in Fig. 9 are equal to I
dc
the converter is then known as symmetric multilevel
current source converter. With having a number of
full-bridge converter units, this technique results in
an output current of the converter that is almost si-
nusoidal. The maximum output current of the N par-
alleled multilevel current source converter is N I
dc
.
In this topology, the number of levels of overall out-
put current (S) is given by:
S = 1 + 2N (3)
For example, a 13-level multilevel current source
converter using the technique can be implemented as
shown in Fig. 10. In Fig. 10, i
o1
to i
o1
are DC current
supplies, which are from either regulated inductors or
separated DC sources.
Fig.10: The 13-Level Converter Based on the First
Proposed Method
3. 3 Method 2
In the proposed multilevel converter topology, the
number of power devices required depends on the out-
put current level needed. However, increasing the
number of power semiconductor switches increases
the size of the converter circuit, cost and causes con-
trol complexity. To provide a large number of output
levels without increasing the number of converters,
asymmetric multilevel converters can be used. If at
least one of the DC current sources is dierent from
the other ones, the multilevel converter shown in Fig.
9 can be called an asymmetric multilevel converter.
Another method for choosing the levels of the DC
current sources is in binary fashion, which gives an
exponential increase in the number of the overall out-
put levels. For N such paralleled converters, with DC
current levels varying in binary fashion, the number
of levels of overall output current (S) is calculated by:
S = 2
N+1
1 (4)
The maximum available output current is given by
the following equation:
Maximum Output current =
N(N + 1)
2
I
dc
(5)
For example, with only four bridges (N = 4), 31
dierent levels of current are obtained: 15 levels of
positive, 15 levels of negative values and zero. The
method is also capable to producing odd and even lev-
els. For example, a 13-level multilevel current source
converter with this using method can be implemented
as shown in Fig. 11.

Fig.11: The 13-Level Converter Based on the Sec-
ond Proposed Method
3. 4 Method 3
In this method, we choose the levels of DC current
sources in the asymmetric multilevel current source
as follows:
I
dc,1
= I
dc
(6)
I
dc,2
= 2I
dc
(7)
I
dc,j
= I
dc
+ 2
j1

k=1
I
dc,k
j = 3, 4, . . . , N (8)
The number of levels of the overall output current
waveform can be determined using the equation (9):
S = 1 + 2
N

k=1
I
dc,k
(9)
A New Topology for Multilevel Current Source Converters 7
and maximum available output current is given by:
Maximum Output current =
N

k=1
I
dc,k
(10)
For example, with only four bridges (N = 4), 63
dierent levels of current are obtained: 31 levels of
which are positive, 31 levels of which are negative
values and zero. A 13-level multilevel current source
converter using this method is shown in Fig. 12.

Fig.12: The 13-Level Converter Based on the Third
Proposed Method
3. 5 Method 4
In this method the DC current sources levels are
computed is as follows:
I
dc,i
= 3
i1
I
dc,1
i = 1, . . . , N (11)
For N such paralleled converters, the number of
levels of overall output current (S) is calculated by:
S = 3
N
(12)
and the maximum available output current is given
by:
Maximum Output current =
3
N
1
2
I
dc
(13)
Considering the equation (13), it can be seen that
this converter can generate a larger number of lev-
els (odd and even) with having the same number of
bridges with respect to the other multilevel convert-
ers. For example, with only four bridges (N = 4),
81 dierent levels of current are obtained: 40 levels
of positive, 40 levels of negative values and zero. A
13-level multilevel current source converter with this
method is also shown in Fig. 13.
3. 6 The Fourier Series of the Proposed Con-
verters
The output current of all proposed converters can
be decomposed to the M, stepped waveforms having
the same amplitudes (I
dc
= 1pu), as shown in Fig, 10.
Thus, according to the superposition principal the

Fig.13: The 13-Level Converter Based on the
Fourth Proposed Method
overall Fourier series of the output current is obtained
as follows [13]:
i
o
(t) =

n=1,3,5,...
4I
dc
n
[cos(n
1
)+ (14)
cos(n
2
) + + cos(n
M
)] sin(nt)
where the parameters
1
,
2
, . . . ,
M
are given by
the following equation:

i
= sin
1

i 0.5
M

i = 1, 2, . . . , M (15)
The THD of the output voltage waveform is de-
ned by:
THD =

h=1,3,5,...
I
2
h
I
1
=

I
0
I
1

2
1 (16)
where I
h
and I
o
are the rms values of the h-th order
component and i
o
(t) respectively. TheI
o
and I
1
can
also be calculated using the equations (17) and (18):
I
0
=
2

2I
dc

j=1,3,5,...

k=1
cos(j
k
)
j

2
(17)
I
1
=
2

2I
dc

j=1
cos
j
(18)
Table 2 summarizes the number of main switches,
DC current sources, the maximum output current
and the number of levels of the N parallel multilevel
current source converter for dierent methods. Using
equations (1-17), all variables of the suggested con-
verters can be determined.
Current source converters have a number of advan-
tages:
Current is well controlled, the DC bus inductor in-
herently provides short-term high-current protection;
and the long-term protection is provided by the cur-
rent controlled loop.
8 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.1 FEBRUARY 2006
The DC bus energy storage component is a large
inductor, rather than being large capacitor as in mul-
tilevel voltage converters. A large power inductor
is arguably simpler, cheaper and most importantly,
more reliable.
Current source converters are suited to the high
power devices such as thyristors and GTOs, which
can block voltage in either direction, but conduct cur-
rent only in the forward direction.
Soft switching is either intrinsic to such devices, or
easily ensured.
Disadvantages:
Inductors have higher losses than capacitor.
Switch voltages are poorly dened. Most semicon-
ductor switches tolerate transient over-current than
transient over-voltages [9].
Table 2: The Summarized Results of Dierent
Methods
Method 1 Method 2 Method 3 Method 4
No. of
Switches
4 N 4 N 4 N 4 N
No. of DC
sources
N N N N
Maximum
output
current
N I
dc
NN+1
2
I
dc

N
k=1
I
dc,k
3
N
1
2
I
dc
Levels of
output
current
2 N + 12
N+1
11 + 2

N
k=1
I
dc,k
3
N
4. THE SHUNT ACTIVE FILTER BASED
ON MULTILEVEL CURRENT SOURCE
CONVERTER
4. 1 Shunt Active Filter Principle
In recent years, the usage of modern electronic
equipment has been increasing rapidly. These elec-
tronic equipments impose nonlinear loads to the AC
main that draw reactive and harmonic current in ad-
dition to active current [14]. In order to overcome
these problems, dierent kinds of active power l-
ters, based on force-commutated devices, have been
developed. Particularly, shunt active power lters,
using dierent control strategies, have been widely
investigated. These lters operate as current sources,
connected in parallel with the nonlinear load generat-
ing the current and the current harmonic components
required by the load. However, shunt active lters
present the disadvantages that are dicult to imple-
ment in large scale where the control is also compli-
cated. To reduce the drawbacks, the proposed solu-
tion in this paper is to use a multilevel current source
converter. A shunt active lter consists of a control-
lable voltage or current source. The voltage source
converter based shunt active lter is by far the most
common type used today. This topology is shown in
Fig. 14. It consists of a DC-link capacitor C, power
electronic switch and lter inductorsL
f
.

Fig.14: Conguration of a Voltage Source Con-
verter Based Shunt Active Filter
4. 2 Suggested Shunt Active Filter
Fig. 15 shows the schematic of the suggested shunt
active power lter consisting of the new multilevel
current source converter with a control unit, to solve
power quality problems. The operation of the shunt
current source multilevel inverters is based on the in-
jection of current harmonic, i
SH
, which is in phase
with the load current, i
Load
, thus eliminating the har-
monic content of the line (supply) current i
Line
. Now,
suppose that the load current can be written as the
sum of the fundamental and the harmonic current as
in equation (19):
i
Load
= i
Load,Fund
+i
Load,Hamonics
(19)
then the injected current by the shunt inverter should
be:
i
SH
= i
Load,Hamonics
(20)
with resulting the line current:
i
Line
= i
Load
i
SH
(21)
i
Line
= i
Load,Found
(22)
As it is seen, the equation (22) only contains the
fundamental component of the load current and thus
free from the harmonics.
4. 3 Case Study
The industrial loads usually have complex nonlin-
ear dynamics. In connecting nonlinearities to a power
network, they induce some undesirable distortions to
the sinusoidal signal of the network. For showing this
eect, a three phase diode rectier is used as a nonlin-
ear load connected to grid. Fig. 16 shows the circuit
of a three-phase diode rectier. The input phase volt-
ages can be written as:
v
a
= V
m
sin
i
t
v
b
= V
m
sin

i
t
2
3

(23)
v
c
= V
m
sin

i
t +
2
3

A New Topology for Multilevel Current Source Converters 9

Fig.15: Suggested Shunt Active Power Filter Con-
guration
Fig.16: Three-Phase Diode Rectier as a Nonlinear
Load
If the load is assumed a pure resistance, the output
current peak is:
I
m
=

3V
m
R
L
(24)
In this study, the parameters of the system are as-
sumed as: V
m
= 110

2V,
i
= 100 and R
L
= 40.
Fig. 17 shows the waveforms of input line voltages,
load current and line currents. As the Fig. 17 shows,
nonlinear loads may pollute power lines seriously with
their high levels of harmonic current and reduction in
power factor.
The ability of shunt active lters to suppress these
problems has attracted a great deal of attention to
these systems. This paper proposed a new struc-
ture for shunt active lter based on multilevel cur-
rent source converter. For showing the capability of
the proposed shunt active lter, a 27 level (13 lev-
els of positive, 13 levels of negative values and zero)
multilevel current source converter is simulated by
using of the method 4. Fig 18. shows a single-phase
structure of the multilevel converter. The converter
consists of three full-bridges with current sources I
dc
,
3I
dc
and 9I
dc
(I
dc
= 0.3A) Table 3 shows the ON
switches look-up table of a single-phase 27-level mul-
tilevel current converter at dierent levels. Fig. 19
shows the control block diagram of the 27-level mul-
tilevel converter. In the duty-cycle look-up table, the

Fig.17: The Outputs of Three-Phase Diode Rectier
ON switches data for dierent levels of multilevel con-
verter, are stored. Fig. 20 shows the algorithm to
generate the drive signals for each module.

Fig.18: Single-Phase 27-Level Multilevel Current
Converter Used in the Shunt Active Filter System
Fig. 21 shows the load, line and shunt active power
lter output currents. The shunt active power lter
with multilevel current converter is able to success-
fully compensates reactive power and mitigate cur-
rent harmonics distortions with excellent transient
performance. Figs. 22 and 23 show the power circuit
and it simulation results when the system is powered
from voltage source with inductors (a 0.1H inductor
is connected is series with the sources and other pa-
rameters same as previous).
As the Figs 22 and 23 show, the suggested shunt ac-
tive lter is best suited to mitigate the girds against
the current harmonics which produced by nonlinear
loads. It is seen that the grid operates with unity
power factor.
10 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.1 FEBRUARY 2006
Table 3: The ON Switches Look-Up Table of a
Single-Phase 27-Level Multilevel Current
No. Output Levels ON Switches
1 13I
dc
S
12
, S
13
, S
22
, S
23
, S
32
, S
33
2 12I
dc
S
11
, S
13
, S
22
, S
23
, S
32
, S
33
3 11I
dc
S
11
, S
14
, S
22
, S
23
, S
32
, S
33
. . . . . . . . .
14 0 S
11
, S
13
, S
21
, S
23
, S
31
, S
33
15 I
dc
S
11
, S
14
, S
21
, S
23
, S
31
, S
33
16 2I
dc
S
12
, S
13
, S
21
, S
24
, S
31
, S
33
. . . . . . . . .
25 12I
dc
S
11
, S
13
, S
21
, S
24
, S
31
, S
34
27 13I
dc
S
11
, S
14
, S
21
, S
24
, S
31
, S
34
Fig.19: Control Diagram of the 27-Level Multilevel
Converter
Fig.20: The Algorithm to Generate the Drive Sig-
nals for Each Module
5. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a new topology for multilevel cur-
rent source converters has been presented. To deter-
mine the levels of DC current sources, four dierent
methods have been suggested. The advantages of the
Fig.21: Load, Shunt Active Filter and Line Output
Currents

Fig.22: Power Circuit When the System is Powered
From Voltage Source With Inductors
proposed multilevel current source converter are:
The proposed strategies generate a current with
minimum error with respect to the sinusoidal refer-
ence. Therefore, it generates very low harmonic dis-
tortion or THD.
The suggested methods can generate a large num-
ber of levels (odd and even)
A New Topology for Multilevel Current Source Converters 11

Fig.23: Load, Shunt Active Filter and Line Out-
put waveforms, When the System is Powered From
Voltage Source With Inductors
The devices can be switched at low frequencies;
therefore, gives the possibility of working with low
speed semiconductors, generating low losses fre-
quency switching and higher eciency.
The proposed multilevel works like amplitude mod-
ulation and this fact makes the individual devices
have a much lower di/dt ratio.
It is simple and easy to implement.
It dose not interfere with the power distribution
system.
The control system is simple and exible.
Easy to extend and modify.
Other advantages of this converter as a core of the
shunt active power lters are:
1. Degree of the ltering is independent of the net-
work and independent upon the generation of the re-
active power
2. Selectable degree of ltering and high precision
and fast response
References
[1] Nikola Celanovic, Space Vector Modulation and
Control of Multilevel Converters, Ph.D. Thesis,
Blacksburg, Virginia, Sep. 2000.
[2] Giri Venkataramanan, and Ashish Bendre,
Reciprocity-Transposition-Based Sinusoidal
Pulsewidth Modulation for Diode-Clamped
Multilevel Converters, IEEE Transaction on
Industrial Electronics, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp.
1035-1047, Oct. 2002.
[3] Nabae, I. Takahashi and H. Akagi, A New
Neutral-Point Clamped PWM Inverter, IEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. IA-
17, No.5, pp. 518-523, September/October 1981.
[4] T. Meynard and H. Foch, Multi-Level Conver-
sion: High Voltage Choppers and Voltage Source
Inverters, IEEE PESC92, pp. 397403, 1992.
[5] T. Meynard and H. Foch, Imbricated Cells
Multi-Level Voltage Source Inverters for High
Voltage Applications, European Power Elec-
tronics Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 99106, June
1993.
[6] M. Marchesoni, M. Mazzucchelli and S. Ten-
coni, A Non Conventional Power Converter
for Plasma Stabilization, IEEE Transactions on
Power Electronics, Vol. 5, No. 2, April 1990.
[7] F. Z. Peng, J. S. Lai, J. McKeever and J. Van Co-
evering, A Multilevel Voltage-Source Inverter
with Separate DC Sources for Static Var Gener-
ation, IEEE-IAS Conference Record, pp. 2541-
2548, 1995.
[8] J. Rodriguez, L. Moran, A, Gonzales and C.
Silva, High Voltage Converter with Regenera-
tion Capability, IEEE-PESC Conference Pro-
ceedings, Vol. 2, pp. 1077-1082, 1999.
[9] Georey R. Walker B.E. (Hons), Modulation of
Multilevel Converters, Ph.D. Thesis, Queens-
land, Nov. 1999.
[10] A. Alesina and M. G. B. Venturini, Analysis
and Design of Optimum-Amplitude Nine-Switch
Direct ac-ac Converters,. IEEE Trans. Power
Electronics, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 101112, January
1989.
[11] Donald G. Holmes, A Unied Modulation Al-
gorithm for Voltage and Current Source Invert-
ers, Based on AC-AC Matrix Converter The-
ory, IEEE Trans. Industrial Applications, Vol.
28, No. 1, pp. 3140, January 1992.
[12] Ebrahim Babaei, Seyed Hossein Hosseini and
Mahrdad Tarafdar Haque, A Novel Ap-
proach to Multilevel Current Source Con-
verters, Proceedings of the 2005 Electri-
cal Engineering/Electronics, Telecommunica-
tions and Information Technology International
Conference (ECTI-CON 2005), Vol. I, pp. 177-
180, 12-13 May 2005, Pattaya, Choburi, Thai-
land.
[13] Leon M. Tolbert, Fang Zheng Peng, Tim Cun-
12 ECTI TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENG., ELECTRONICS, AND COMMUNICATIONS VOL.4, NO.1 FEBRUARY 2006
nyngham, and John N. Chiasson, Charge Bal-
ance Control Schemes for Cascade Multilevel
Converter in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 49,
No. 5, pp. 1058-1064, Oct. 2002.
[14] Fang Zheng Peng, John W. McKeever, and Don-
ald J. Adams, A Power Line Conditioner Using
Cascade Multilevel Converters for Distribution
Systems, IEEE Transaction on Industry Appli-
cations, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 1293-1298, Nov./Dec.
1998.
Ebrahim Babaei was born in Ahar,
Iran in 1970. He received the B.S. degree
in electronics engineering and M.S. de-
gree in electrical Engineering both form
Faculty of Engineering, University of
Tabriz, Iran in 1992 and 2001, respec-
tively, graduating with First Class Hon-
ors, where he is currently working to-
ward the Ph.D. degree in electrical En-
gineering at the Faculty of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at University of
Tabriz, Iran. His major elds of interest include Matrix Con-
verters, analysis and control of power converters and Multilevel
Converters. Since 2003 he joined the Faculty of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, University of Tabriz
Professor Seyed Hossein Hosseini
was born in Marand, Iran in 1953. He
received the M.S. degree from the Fac-
ulty of Engineering University of Tabriz,
Iran in 1976, the DEA degree from
INPL, France, in 1981 and Ph.D. de-
gree from INPL, France, in 1981 all in
electrical engineering. In 1982 he joined
the University of Tabriz, Iran, as an as-
sistant professor in the Dept. of Elec.
Eng., from 1990 to 1995 he was asso-
ciate professor in the University of Tabriz, since 1995 he has
been professor in the Dept. of Elec. Eng. University of Tabriz.
From Sept. 1990 to Sept. 1991 he was visiting professor in the
University of Queensland, Australia, from Sept. 1996 to Sept.
1997 he was visiting professor in the University of Western On-
tario, Canada. His research interests include Power Electronic
Converters, Matrix Converters, Active Hybrid Filters, Appli-
cation of Power Electronics in Renewable Energy Systems and
Electried Railway Systems, Reactive Power Control, Harmon-
ics and Power Quality Compensation Systems such as SVC,
UPQC, FACTS devices.
G.B. Gharehpetian was born in
Tehran, in 1962. He received his BS and
MS degrees in electrical engineering in
1987 and 1989 from Tabriz University,
Tabriz, Iran and Amirkabir University
of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran, re-
spectively, graduating with First Class
Honors. In 1989 he joined the Electri-
cal Engineering Department of AUT as a
lecturer. He received the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from Tehran Uni-
versity, Tehran, Iran, in 1996. As a Ph.D. student he has re-
ceived scholarship from DAAD (German Academic Exchange
Service) from 1993 to 1996 and he was with High Voltage Insti-
tute of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany. He held the position
of Assistant Professor in AUT from 1997 to 2003, and has been
Associate Professor since 2004. Dr. Gharehpetian is a Senior
Member of Iranian Association of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IAEEE), member of IEEE and member of central
board of IAEEE. Since 2004 he is the Editor-in-Chief of the
Journal of IAEEE. The power engineering group of AUT has
been selected as a Center of Excellence on Power Systems in
Iran since 2001. He is a member of this center and since 2004
the Research Deputy of this center. Since November 2005 he is
the director of the industrial relation oce of AUT. He is the
author of more than 140 journal and conference papers. His
teaching and research interest include power system and trans-
formers transients, FACTS devices and HVDC transmission.