Maximum Constant Boost Control of Four Switch
Switched Boost Inverter
Nihla C.
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department
MEA Engineering College
Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India
18pmpe03@meaec.edu.in
Abstract— A new control strategy for the four switch
switched boost inverter is presented in this paper. A quasi-
switched boost inverter is modified in order to derive
the inverter structure. A maximum constant boost control
technique is suggested for the four switch switched boost
inverter. Therefore, it can work properly in non shoot-
through as well as shoot-through modes and operate as
a single stage boost inverter. Besides the voltage gain of
the inverter can be improved and the maintenance of
low voltage stress across the switching elements can also
be obtained under a given modulation index. Analysis of
control technique, relationships in between the voltage gain
of the inverter and modulation ratio, voltage stress of
switching devices and voltage gain are detailed and are
substantiated by simulation results.
Keywords— Maximum constant boost control (MCBC),
shoot through, simple boost control (SBC).
I. I NTRODUCTION
The accustomed voltage source inverter (VSI) and current
source inverter (CSI) has extensive use in distributed power
generation industry for the grid integration purpose. But VSIs
are limited for high voltage applications, whereas CSIs are
limited for low voltage applications. So in applications where
a buck-boost operation is demanded, these types of inverters
can’t be used. Also the shoot-through phenomenon is inter-
dicted in these topologies [1] - [4]. By inserting a dc-dc boost
converter before the inverting part, the voltage at the output
side of VSI can be made greater than the input section. But it
causes an additional conversion of power in the VSI [5] - [6].
In order to solve the issues faced by VSI and CSI, a new
Z- source inverter topology was proposed in [7], in which the
boost converting section is replaced by an X shaped special LC
network. This Z- source inverter is featured by its buck-boost
capability and immunity towards shoot-through phenomenon.
But it is disadvantageous due to discontinuous input current
[8]. The discontinuity of current at the input side is solved in
quasi Z source inverter (qZSI), which holds advantages of ZSI
[9] - [10]. But the high number of passive elements makes the
Mrs. Subeekrishna M. P.
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department
MEA Engineering College
Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India
subee@meaec.edu.in
ZSI and qZSI not suitable for low power applications where
size, weight and cost are the main scrutinies.
A switched boost inverter (SBI) [11] and quasi switched
boost inverter (qSBI) [12] were proposed to minimize the
number of passive elements in the inverter circuit. However,
there are five switches in SBI and qSBI. The qSBI is derived
from qZSI with all the inherent merits of it. The four switch
switched boost inverter [13] meets the requirements of a gen-
eralized inverter design like single stage conversion, immunity
towards shoot through phenomenon, buck-boost capability,
improved input current profile and lesser number of active
as well as passive elements. It is derived from embedded type
qSBI and it has only four switches. Compared to qSBI, it
possess one less switch and one more capacitor. Similarly, in
comparison with qZSI, it has one less inductor and one more
diode. Moreover the modified control methods used in these
inverters need to create further improvements in switching and
inserting of the shoot-through states to provide crucial benefits.
The four switch switched boost inverter in Fig 1 is based on
simple boost control (SBC) technique [14] - [15]. It uses one
upper and one lower straight lines equal to or greater than the
peak value of the control signal to control the shoot-through
duty ratio. The expression of voltage gain in this method,
ηSBC is,
N
ηSBC = N.βSBC = (1)
2N − 1
And the voltage stress, Uzs−SBC can be obtained from,
Uzs−SBC = βSBC .Uzin = (2ηSBC − 1)Uzin (2)
Where N is the modulation index, β SBC is the boost factor
of SBC method and Uzin is the input DC voltage.
A new control strategy, maximum constant boost control
(MCBC) technique is implemented in this paper for the four
switch switched boost inverter. So that the voltage gain can be
ameliorated and voltage stress reduction can also be obtained
[16]. The paper is structured as follows: Section II details the
four switch switched boost inverter circuit and AC small signal
modeling of the inverter. Section III handles with the MCBC
method of four switch switched boost inverter followed by
the simulation results and conclusion in Section IV and V The state space representation of four switch switched boost
respectively. inverter in the shoot-through condition can be written as
follows,
     1 
ĩLzin 0 0 0 0 Lzin
1
d  ũcza  0 0 − cza 0 0 
     
    
= x +   u. (5)
  
dt  ĩzo  0 L1zo − LRzo L1zo   0 

     
ũczb 0 0 − c1zb 0 0

The state space representation of four switch switched boost

inverter in the non shoot-through condition can be written as
follows,
1  1 
0 − Lzin
   
ĩLzin 0 0 Lzin
  1 1
ũ 0 − 0 0 
   
 c
d  za   cza
  cza
 
= 1 x +   u.
  
1 R
dt  ĩzo   0 − 0

Lzo Lzo Lzo 
  
Fig. 1. Four switch switched boost inverter.     
1
ũczb 0 0 − czb 0 0
(6)
Small-signal relationship among the state variables is ob-
II. F OUR S WITCH S WITCHED B OOST I NVERTER tained by applying small signal perturbations ûzin to the input
voltage and dˆ to the shoot-through duty ratio. Then we have,
A. Inverter Topology
ũzin = Uzin + ûzin (7)
As shown in Fig. 1, there are four switches, Qz1 - Qz4 . The
inverter is extracted from embedded type quasi switched boost and
inverter (qSBI). The structural difference is in the position of d˜ = D + dˆ (8)
switch Qz0 in the qSBI, which has been replaced by the second Then the small signal state equations using state-space
H-bridge leg containing two switches Qz3 and Qz4 in four averaging method is,
switch switched boost inverter. The components of four switch    
− (1−2D)
 
switched boost inverter are diodes Dz1 and Dz2 , inductors Lzin îLzin 0 cza 0 0 îLzin
 
and Lzf, and capacitors Cza and Czb . DC offset components 
û   (1−2D)

0 1
− cza 0 

ûcza 

can be eliminated by capacitor Czb . The series combination  cza  
d  cza  
= . +
 
dt  îzo  
 1 R 1   î
of resistor Rzl and Lzf is considered as load side. Two boost 0 Lzo − Lzo Lzo   zo 
 
  
 
converters in a single inverter structure is the most important ûczb 0 0 − c1zb 0 ûczb
attribute of this switched boost network. That is, a combination
 Ucza

of Lzin , Cza , Qz1 and Qz2 act as a boost converter when  1 
Dz1 is forward biased, and when Dz2 is forward biased, the
Lzin
 Lzin 
 0 
   ILzin
− Cza

combination of Lzin , Cza , Qz3 and Qz4 act as an another boost 
 dˆ (9)
 
 ûzin + 
  
converter. Thus, making it a single sage implementation. Also,  0 

 0 

it can operate properly in both shoot through and not shoot    
0 0
through modes.

B. Modeling of Four Switch switched Boost Inverter Where ILzin , Ucza , and Uzin are steady state inductor
current, steady state capacitor voltage, and steady state input
AC small signal modeling of four switch switched boost voltage at the point of occurrence of small signal perturbations
inverter is done in this section. If the capacitor voltages ucza respectively.
and uczb , inductor current iLzin , and output current izo are
III. M AXIMUM C ONSTANT B OOST C ONTROL M ETHOD
taken as state variables, then the vector representation is,
(MCBC) OF F OUR S WITCH S WITCHED B OOST I NVERTER
h iT By considering the equations given in (1) and (2), we can
x = ĩLzin ũcza ĩzo ũczb (3) say that, for a given voltage gain, reduction of voltage stress
can be accompanied by maximization of N while minimizing
β. Alternatively, we should maximize β for any given modu-
and
  lation index to achieve the maximum voltage gain. Therefore,
u = ũzin (4) we must make the shoot through duty ratio as high as possible.
 This MCBC method helps to acquire maximum voltage can divide its period of duration into [0, π/3] and [π/3, 2π/3]
gain with constant boost by maximizing the period of shoot intervals. For the first part, [0, π/3] in Fig 2, the positive and
through without affecting the active states, and at the same negative envelope curves can be expressed as in (10) and (11)
time keeps low voltage stress. Thus maximum output voltage respectively.
for a given modulation index can be acquired. Consecutively, √ 2π
maximum modulation index can be used to get any desired Uzp1 = 3N + sin(θ − )N (10)
output voltage. 3
2π
Uzn1 = sin(θ − )N (11)
3
In a similar way, the envelope curves for the second part
[π/3, 2π/3] can be expressed as in (12) and (13).

Uzp2 = sin(θ)N (12)

√
Uzp2 = sin(θ)N − 3N (13)
√
From the above analysis, it is obvious that 3N is the
distance that separates two curves and it is constant throughout
Fig. 2. Draw map of maximum constant boost control technique. the path, which also clarifies that the shoot-through duty ratio
is constant consistently for a specified modulation ratio, N and
The draw map of the MCBC method is shown in Fig. 2. In its expression is given in (14).
this method a sinusoidal carrier waveform, Ucont is compared √ √
with a high frequency triangular waveform to render control T0 2 − 3N 3N
= =1− (14)
signals for the leg A switches Qz1 and Qz2 . In the next step, T 2 2
the upper side and lower side sinusoidal envelope waveforms,
Uzp and Uzn are related to triangular signal to render shoot
through control signals for the leg A switches Qz1 and Qz2 .
Then this shoot through signals are mixed with the control
signals of switches Qz1 and Qz2 with the help of an OR
logic gate. In this manner shoot through states in leg A is
produced. The same procedure has to be followed to produce
shoot through signals for the switches Qz3 and Qz4 . Just the
difference is the both control and triangular waveforms needs
to be phase shifted by 180 degrees and 90 degrees respectively.
The MCBC control logic diagram of four switch switched
boost inverter is given in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4. Voltage gain of SBC method (η SBC ) and modulation index (N).

The boost factor, β and the voltage gain, η can be computed

as given in (15) and (16).
1 1
βM CBC = T0
=√ (15)
1−2T 3N − 1
N
ηM CBC = N.βM CBC = √ (16)
3N − 1
By relating the expressions given in (16) and (1), the gain
(η) of the four switch switched boost inverter is improved
when it is controlled with MCBC control method.
Fig. 4 plots voltage gain of SBC method (η SBC ) and
Fig. 3. MCBC logic diagram of the four switch switched boost inverter. modulation index (N) and Fig. 6 plots voltage gain of MCBC
method (η SBC ) and modulation index (N). The vertical green
The specialties of both envelope signals are its periodicity line shown in the above figures stands for the maximum value
and the frequency which is threefold the output frequency. We of N, modulation index beyond which η, gain approaches
Fig. 5. Simulation results when Uzin = 100V, D = 0.22 and M = 0.78. (a) input and output voltage (b) capacitor Cza voltage, input voltage, capacitor Czb
voltage (c) input current (d) output current (e) diode Dz1 voltage (f) Dzb voltage (g) switch Qz3 voltage (h) inverter bridge voltage Uzxy .

Fig. 6. Voltage gain of MCBC method (η M CBC ) and modulation index (N).
Fig. 7. Uzs /Uzin versus voltage gain (η).

√
infinity. And that is 1/2 for SBC control and 1/( 3) for MCBC
control. Clearly the operating region of the inverter is (0 <
D < 0.577) for MCBC method and ( 0 < D < 0.5) for SBC
method. That means the operating region of the inverter with
MCBC control method gets improved.
The voltage stress in MCBC control method, Uzs−M CBC
can be expressed as,
√ 10 kHz.
Uzs−M CBC = βM CBC .Uzin = ( 3ηM CBC − 1)Uzin (17)
The plot in between the ratio Uzs /Uzin and η, voltage gain
for both the SBC and MCBC control methods are shown in
Fig. 7. From which, it is clear that the MCBC method keeps
low voltage stress.
IV. S IMULATION AND R ESULTS
Simulink environment of MATLAB software is utilized for
theoretical validation of four switch switched boost inverter
with MCBC control method. The input voltage Uzin is taken
as 100V DC. The parameters with which the simulation was
performed are: Cza = 1360 µF, Czb = 660 µF, Lzin = 2.5 mH,
Lzf = 10 mH, and Rzl = 20 Ω. The switching frequency is
Control logic shown in Fig. 3 yields the waveforms in Fig. 5
and Fig. 8 for Uzs = 100 V and N = 0.78 and the yielded output
voltage is 190 V. The simulation results with the input voltages
Uzin = 90 V, 150 V, and 250 V are shown in Figures 9, 10, and
11 respectively. The corresponding modulation index values
are N = 0.75, 0.8 and 1 respectively. In the simulation results,
Uzin is the input voltage, Izin is the input current, Uzs is the
voltage stress, Uzxy is the inverter bridge voltage, Uzca and
Uzcb are the capacitor Ca and Cb voltages and Uzo is the
output rms voltage after the filter. Based on the analysis given
above, the theoretical voltage stress and output rms voltage
for the above values of N and Uzin are listed in Table I . The
obtained inverter results in Figures 9, 10, and 11 validate the
theoretical expectations.

TABLE I
VOLTAGE S TRESS AND O UTPUT VOLTAGE

PARAMETERS Voltage Stress, Uzs Output Voltage, Uzo

N = 0.75, Uzin = 90 V 350 V 160 V
N = 0.82, Uzin = 150 v 356 V 206 V
N = 1, Uzin = 250 V 338 V 240 V

Fig. 10. Simulation results when N = 0.82, Uzin = 150 V.

Fig. 8. Load voltage and load current waveforms when N = 0.78, Uzin =
100 V.

Fig. 11. Simulation results when N = 1, Uzin = 250 V.

Fig. 9. Simulation results when N = 0.75, Uzin = 90 V.
V. C ONCLUSION
A single-phase switched boost inverter preferable for grid
integration purpose in distributed power generation systems
with only four switches and ameliorated voltage gain is pro-
posed in this paper. The presented inverter with the advantages
of single-stage conversion, immunity towards shoot-through
phenomenon, buck-boost capability, improved input current
profile and lesser number of active as well as passive elements
is established by maximum constant boost control method.
This method helps to acquire maximum voltage gain with con-
stant boost by maximizing the shoot through period without
affecting the active states, and at the same time keeps low
voltage stress. The inverter structure, its modeling using AC
small signal modeling and control using maximum constant
boost control method with analysis are discussed in detail.
The operation of four switch switched boost inverter circuit
with this maximum constant boost control method is verified
by MATLAB simulation.
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