Decentralized Control Method of ISOP Converter for Input Voltage Sharing and Output Current Sharing in Current Control Loop

Input-Series-Output-Parallel (ISOP) converters, a kind of modular converter, are used in high-input voltage and high-output current applications. In ISOP converters, Input Voltage Sharing (IVS) and Output Current Sharing (OCS) should be implemented for stable operation. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a decentralized control method. In the proposed control, output current reference is changed according to the decentralized control characteristic in individual current control loops. In this way, the proposed control method is able to implement IVS and OCS without communication. Also, this method can be easily used in current control loops and has high reliability compared to conventional control methods that require communication. In this paper, the operation principle is described to elucidate the proposed control and a small signal model of an ISOP converter is also implemented. Based on the small signal model, IVS stability analysis is performed using pole-zero maps with varying coefficients and control gains. In addition, the current control loop is designed in a stable region. In order to demonstrate the proposed control method, a prototype ISOP converter is configured using full-bridge converters. The performance of IVS and OCS in an ISOP converter is verified by experimental result.