An Aperiodic Modulation Method to Mitigate Electromagnetic Interference in Impedance Source DC-DC Converters

Rapid voltage and current transitions in switched-mode power converter circuits generate electromagnetic interference (EMI) which may interfere with other electronic systems. High-speed (e.g., wide bandgap) switching devices can improve circuit efficiency and compactness, but may increase the bandwidth of the interference generated. The peak interference is concentrated at harmonics of the fundamental switching frequency, and so may be reduced by modulating the converter switching frequency. However, converter topologies incorporating more than one switching device may not be suited to modulation of the switching frequency, and coordinated modulation of other pulse parameters is required to suppress interference. A relatively simple implementation of a hybrid pulse modulation technique is presented to suppress EMI in a quasi-Z-source converter comprising an impedance-source network and GaN-based H-bridge switching circuit. The technique uses two anharmonically related periodic signals to generate a modulated sawtooth carrier, which in turn generates coordinated switching pulses aperiodically modulated in position and width within a constant switching period. Experimental results demonstrated 10 dB suppression of the peak interference with negligible impact upon the converter's efficiency or output voltage. The proposed pulse modulation technique and its method of implementation are generic, and are expected to be widely applicable to other switched-mode dc-dc power converters.