Predictive Control of a Three-Phase Neutral Point Clamped Inverter

J. Rodrı́guez, J. Pontt, P. Cortés, R. Vargas

Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Marı́a
Department of Electronic Engineering
Avenida España 1680, Casilla 110-V, Valparaı́so, Chile
E-mail: rvargas@elo.utfsm.cl - http://www.elo.utfsm.cl

Abstract— A new predictive strategy for current control of a II. M ODEL OF THE S YSTEM
three-phase neutral point clamped inverter is presented. It is
based on a discrete-time model of the system, used to predict
Fig. 1 shows a model of the system. It includes a three-
future values of the load current and voltage of the capacitors in phase three-level inverter and a resistive-inductive-active
the DC-link, for each possible switching state generated by the load. The converter applies to the load 19 voltage vectors,
inverter. The state that minimizes a given quality function ”g” is generated from 27 switching states, as presented in Fig. 2.
selected to be applied during the next sampling interval. Several
compositions of g are proposed, including terms dedicated to
achieve reference tracking, balance in the DC-link and reduction
of the switching frequency. The algorithm uses the redundancy
of switching states, typical of a three-level inverter, by means
of a simple strategy. In comparison with classic PWM current
control, the strategy presents a remarkable performance. The
proposed method achieves comparable reference tracking with
lower switching frequency per semiconductor and a slightly
improved transitory behavior. It requires a greater sampling
frequency, which should not be a problem, considering the
present technologies available in digital signal processors. The
main advantage of the method is that it does not require any
kind of linear controller or modulation technique, achieving a
different approach to control a power converter.

I. I NTRODUCTION
Current control in three-phase inverters has been exten-
sively studied. Between the most common methods, litera-
ture states non-linear techniques, like hysteresis control, and
linear methods, like the use of a PI controller in conjunction
with pulse wide modulation (PWM) [1],[2]. On the other
Fig. 1. Circuit of a three-phase neutral point clamped inverter connected
hand, three-level neutral point clamped inverters have earned to a resistive-inductive-active load.
popularity between medium voltage drives [3],[4],[5].
Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a control theory which
was developed at the end of the Seventies [6]. Variants of The center of a predictive control algorithm is the model
this type of control strategy have found application in power of the plant, from which predictions are obtained. In this
converters. Predictive control has been used in drives [7], case, it corresponds to the equation of a three-phase resistive-
power factor correction [8] and active filters [9]. All of these inductive-active load, which fulfills:
works consider linear models and use modulation techniques di(t)
L = v(t) − Ri(t) − e(t) (1)
for voltage generation. In [10] and [11], a new variant of dt
MPC is used to control a matrix converter and a three-phase where R and L are the load resistance and inductance
two-level inverter, respectively. In both cases, the idea is to respectively, v is the voltage vector generated by the inverter,
apply, from the converter, the switching state that minimizes e is the electromotive force of the load and i is the load
a quality function evaluated for the next sampling time. In current vector. These vectors are defined as:
this document, a similar technique is applied, achieving a 2
new control method for a three-phase neutral point clamped v = (Va0 + aVb0 + a2 Vc0 ) (2)
3
inverter. Several variations of the algorithm are studied and 2
compared with classic PWM control, including features like i = (ia + aib + a2 ic ) (3)
3
reference tracking, balance in the DC-link and reduction of 2
the switching frequency. e = (ea + aeb + a2 ec ) (4)
3

0-7803-9033-4/05/$20.00 ©2005 IEEE. 1364

 Finally, each capacitor from the DC-link fulfills the fol-
lowing dynamic equation:
1
Vc (k + 1) = Vc (k) + ic (k)Ts (9)
C
where ic (k) is the current through the capacitor, vc (k) is
its voltage and C is the capacitance. Using (9), is possible
to obtain predictions for the future value of the capacitors
voltage, based on its present current and voltage.

III. PWM C URRENT C ONTROL M ETHOD

Before exposing the proposed predictive control method,
a short review of classic PWM current control applied to a
three-phase neutral point clamped inverter is presented, in
order to obtain suitable comparisons. The PWM scheme is
shown in Fig. 3. The load current is measured and compared

Sa
i*(k) v* a a Sb 3
Fig. 2. Possible voltage vectors and switching states generated by a three- b Pulse Width M
+- b Modulation Sc 3f
level inverter. c
i(k)

2π
where a = ej 3 .
Applying a sampling period Ts , the derivative form
i(k)
di(t)/dt is approximated by:
di(t) i(k) − i(k − 1) Fig. 3. Classic PWM Current Control Method.
≈ (5)
dt Ts
Replacing (5) in (1) and shifting the discrete time one step with its reference value. Next, a proportional-integral (PI)
forward, the relation between the discrete-time variables can controller generates the reference load voltages that enter a
be described as: modulator, where each voltage is compared with two triangu-


Ts L lar carrier signals (superior and inferior). The switching state
i(k + 1) = i(k) + v(k + 1) − e(k + 1) (6)
RTs + L Ts applied to the inverter is selected according to the results of
Equation (6) is used to obtain predictions for the future value the comparisons. For more details, see [2].
of the load current, i(k + 1), considering all possible voltage
vectors v generated by the inverter and measured current at IV. P REDICTIVE C URRENT C ONTROL M ETHOD
the k th sampling interval. The control strategy also uses an Fig. 4 shows a scheme that summarizes the implemented
estimation of the future reference current, which is obtained control strategy. The future value of the load current and
by a second order extrapolation given by: voltages in the capacitors are predicted for the 27 switching
states generated by the inverter, by means of equations (6)
i∗ (k + 1) = 3i∗ (k) − 3i∗ (k − 1) + i∗ (k − 2) (7)
and (9). For this purpose, it is necessary to measure the
The current prediction from (6) requires also the future load present load current and voltages in the capacitors. After
back-EMF, e(k + 1). That value can be estimated using obtaining the predictions, a quality function g is evaluated
a second order extrapolation, analog to the one applied for each switching state. The switching state that minimizes
to compute the future reference current. Present and past g is selected and applied during the next sampling period. The
estimations of e, needed for the extrapolation, can be obtained proposed quality function has the following composition:
from the load equation (6) shifted backward in time, and load
current measurements as: g = f (i∗ (k + 1), i(k + 1)) + λ · h(V c12 (k + 1), nc ) (10)
L RTs + L where nc is the number of commutations to get to the
ê(k) = v(k) + i(k − 1) − i(k) (8)
Ts Ts switching state under evaluation. The first term in (10),
For a sufficiently small sampling time, it is possible to f (i∗ , i), is dedicated to achieve reference tracking, quantify-
consider i∗ (k + 1) ≈ i∗ (k) and e(k + 1) ≈ e(k), so no ing the difference between the reference current and current
extrapolation is needed. prediction on the next sampling time, for a given switching

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 TABLE I
i*(k+1) Sa
C IRCUIT PARAMETERS .
Minimization Sb 3
of M
g function Sc 3f
(i(k+1),Vc1,2(k+1))i
C 1 , C2 1[mF]
27 R 0.5[Ω]
i(k) L 10[mH]
Predictive EMF Amplitude 50[V]
model Vc1,2(k) EMF Frequency 50[Hz]

Fig. 4. Predictive Current Control Method.

(a) PWM
20
state. The following composition of f , or ”tracking cost”, is 10

iα,β [A]
proposed: 0
−10
f (i∗ (k + 1), i(k + 1)) = |i∗α (k + 1) − iα (k + 1)| −20

+ |i∗β (k + 1) − iβ (k + 1)| (11) 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

where iα and iβ are the real and imaginary components of
current vector i, respectively, and i∗α and i∗β are the real and
imaginary components of the reference current vector i∗ .
The objective of the second term in (10), λ · h(V c12 , nc ),
is to take advantage of the state redundancy of a three-level
inverter from the fact that the tracking cost f depends only
on the voltage vector selected. Two possible compositions of
h are proposed:

= |V c1 (k + 1) − V c2 (k + 1)|
h(V c12 (k + 1), nc ) (12)
= nc
The first choice, adds up to g a term proportional to the
absolute difference between both capacitors voltage predic-
tions. A switching state that generates smaller differences
will be preferred. The second option is simply the number of
commutations to get to the next switching state. A switching
state that implies fewer commutations will be preferred. The
λ weighting factor multiplying h in (10), handles the relation
between f and h in g. A small λ implies greater priority to
reference tracking over balance in the DC-link or reduction
of the switching frequency.
V. R ESULTS
Results for the proposed predictive current control strategy
are presented. Within this section, the DC-link will be main-
tained in 200[V ], following a previous rectification stage. The
sampling period applied is Ts = 100[µs]. Values of the DC-
Link and load parameters (Fig. 1) are shown in Table I.
A. Reference Tracking.
Performance of the proposed strategy is analyzed and
compared with PWM current control. The algorithm was
implemented using the following quality function:
(b) Predictive
20
10
iα,β [A]
0
−10
−20
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
Time [s]
Fig. 5. Load current response : (a) PWM (b) Predictive.
Waveforms obtained for the load current, load voltage and
voltage spectrum for both methods are presented in Figs. 5,
6 and 7. Figs. 5 and 6 show the initial transient response,
starting from zero load current until reaching stationary
state. The load voltage spectrum obtained with the Predictive
method is more spread than with the PWM method, as shown
in Fig. 7. This could be considered a disadvantage of the
method.
In order to observe the interaction between both compo-
nents of the load current, the amplitude of i∗α (real component
of the reference current) is reduced from 20[A] to 10[A] at
time t = 0.015[s]. The imaginary component is left at 20[A].
Results for the load current are presented in Figs. 8 and 9, for
PWM and Predictive methods. From the presented results,
it is clear that the predictive method achieves comparable
performance on reference tracking during transient response,
without needing modulation techniques or to adjust any kind
of linear controllers. In addition, note that the proposed
method presents no interaction between iα and iβ . The
decoupling of both components of the current vector is an
inherent property of the predictive method.

g = |i∗α (k + 1) − iα (k + 1)| + |i∗β (k + 1) − iβ (k + 1)| (13)

B. Balance in the DC-link.
In order to generate the same average switching frequency per
semiconductor as the predictive method, of about 835[Hz], Balance is achieved including the term presented in al-
the PWM carrier frequency was set to 1670[Hz]. ternative 1 of equation (12). The method was implemented

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 (a) PWM PWM
150
100 20
50 10
VaN [V]

iα [A]
0 0
−50 −10
−100
−20
−150
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045
(b) Predictive
150 20
100 10
50

iβ [A]
VaN [V]

0
0
−50 −10
−100 −20
−150 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 Time [s]
Time [s]
Fig. 8. Load current response applying step on i∗α : PWM Method.
Fig. 6. Load voltage on phase a: (a) PWM (b) Predictive.

Predictive
(a) PWM
40 20
10
Magnitude [%]

30

i [A]
0

α
20 −10
10 −20
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045
0
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
(b) Predictive 20
40
10
Magnitude [%]

i [A]

30 0
β

20 −10
−20
10
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045
0 Time [s]
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Frequency [kHz]
Fig. 9. Load current response applying step on i∗α : Predictive Method.
Fig. 7. Load voltage spectrum: (a) PWM (b) Predictive.

The λ weighting factor was set at 0.001. The switching

using the following quality function:
g = |i∗α (k + 1) − iα (k + 1)| + |i∗β (k + 1) − iβ (k + 1)|
+λ|V c1 (k + 1) − V c2 (k + 1)|
The λ weighting factor was selected to be sufficiently small to
allow the algorithm to select switching states within a given
voltage vector. The value selected was λ = 0.001. As shown
in Fig. 10, the presented method succeeded maintaining
voltage balance without affecting the current control.
C. Reduction of the switching frequency.
Choosing alternative 2 of equation (12), it is possible
to reduce considerably the average switching frequency per
semiconductor, fs . This was proven using the following
quality function:
g = |i∗α (k + 1) − iα (k + 1)| + |i∗β (k + 1) − iβ (k + 1)|
+λ · nc (15)
frequency fs was reduced from 835[Hz] to 645[Hz] without
harming reference tracking. Increasing λ to 0.332 (emphasis
in reducing the switching frequency), a frequency of 299[Hz]
(14) was achieved. That represents only a 35.8% of the original
average switching frequency per semiconductor or the fs
presented by the PWM method. Results for the load current
on phase a, for λ = 0.001 and λ = 0.332, are presented in
Fig. 11.
As expected, applying a greater λ implies in most cases
reducing the switching frequency. In general, the trade-off
is a slight increase of the reference tracking error. In the
case presented (Fig.11) the mean absolute reference tracking
error increased from 0.3137[A] to 0.3534[A]. To expose the
possibilities of the proposed method, a graph showing the
relation between the design parameter λ and the switching
frequency and mean absolute reference tracking error is
presented in Fig.12.
The designer should select a λ parameter that fits his
requirements in terms of switching frequency and reference

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 λ v/s Switching Frequency
(a) Without applying balance 0.9

Frequency [kHz]
200 0.8

Switching
0.7
Vc ,Vc [V]

150
0.6
2

100 0.5
0.4
1

50 0.3
0.2
0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
(b) Applying balance λ v/s Absolute Error
200 0.8

0.6
Vc1,Vc2 [V]

Absolute
Error [A]
150
0.4
100
0.2
50
0
0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Time [s] λ

Fig. 10. Voltage in the capacitors of the DC-link: (a) Without applying Fig. 12. Design parameter λ (a)Relation with the mean switching frequency
balance, quality function (13) (b) Applying balance, quality function (14). per semiconductor (b)Relation with the mean absolute reference tracking
error.

(a) High switching frequency

20 It presents a very effective control of the load current, and
10 compares well with established control methods, like PWM,
i [A]

0 achieving a slightly better dynamic response. The proposed

a

−10
method presents no interaction between both components of
−20
the load current.
0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08 0.085 0.09 0.095 0.1
One of the remarkable aspects of the method is the use of
(b) Low switching frequency state redundancy, in order to achieve balance in the DC-link
20
and reduction of the switching frequency. The strategy allows
10
the designer to adjust the λ parameter to fits his requirements
i [A]

0
in terms of switching frequency and reference tracking.
a

−10
−20
0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08 0.085 0.09
Time [s]
Fig. 11. Load current on phase a (a)High switching frequency: fs =
645[Hz] (b)Emphasis in reducing the switching frequency: fs = 299[Hz].
tracking. The lowest mean absolute reference tracking error
achieved was 0.2745[A] or 1.3725% with λ = 0.062 and
fs = 662[Hz]. The PWM method presented a mean absolute
reference tracking error of 0.2939[A] or 1.4695% with fs =
835[Hz].
Summarizing, the reference tracking performance of the
predictive method compares well with PWM current con-
trol, with lower switching frequency per semiconductor and
improved transitory behavior. Nevertheless, the proposed
method requires a greater sampling frequency or data acqui-
sition frequency. The previous fact should not be a problem,
considering the new technologies available in digital signal
processors.
VI. C ONCLUSION
The predictive current control method presented does not
require any kind of linear controller or modulation technique.
The method can be easily implemented taking advantage of
0.095 0.1
the present technologies available in digital signal processors.
This control strategy uses, in a very convenient way, the
discrete nature of the power converter and the microprocessor
used in the control.
These results show that predictive control is a very power-
ful tool, with a conceptually different approach, which opens
new possibilities in the control of power converters.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledge the support of the Chilean Re-
search Fund CONICYT (Grant 1030368) and of the Univer-
sidad Técnica Federico Santa Marı́a.
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