The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 05, 2021
Filed:
Oct. 15, 2019
University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Knoxville, TN (US);
Shuoting Zhang, Mountain View, CA (US);
Fred Wang, Knoxville, TN (US);
Leon M. Tolbert, Knoxville, TN (US);
University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Knoxville, TN (US);
Abstract
Circuits and methods for power conversion. In some examples, a modular multi-level converter (MMC) is configured for power conversion between an alternating current (AC) bus and a direct current (DC) bus. The MMC includes submodules arranged into a phase leg for at least one phase of the AC bus. Each submodule includes an energy storage component and a switch configured for bypassing the energy storage component or connecting the energy storage component into the phase leg. The MMC includes a pre-charger circuit configured to pre-charge the energy storage components of the submodules. The pre-charger circuit is configured for providing a first DC voltage that is lower than a second DC voltage on the DC bus, and the pre-charger circuit is coupled to an end submodule of the phase leg.