Switched mode power supplies (SMPS) are being extensively used in most power conversion processes. The analysis, design and modeling processes of hard-switched converters are mature, where the switching frequency was limited to a few 10's of kHz. The present direction of evolution m SMPS is towards higher efficiency and higher power density. These twin objectives demand high switching frequency and low overall losses. Soft switching results in practically zero switching losses and extends the switching frequency to 100's of kHz and beyond. This thesis presents novel variants of push-pull and half-bridge DC-DC converters with soft switching properties. The proposed topology uses two additional switches and two diodes. The additional switches introduce freewheeling intervals m the circuit and enable loss-less switching. Switch stress, control and small signal model are similar to hard-switched PWM converter. Synchronous rectifiers are used in the ZVS push-pull converter to achieve high efficiency. It is interesting to see that the drives for the synchronous rectifier device are practically the same as the additional switches. The contributions made in this thesis are 1) Idealized analysis and design methodology for the proposed converters. 2) Validation of the design through circuit simulation as well as prototypes - a 300kHz, 200W push-pull converter and a 300kHz, 640W half-bridge converter. 3) Closed loop control design for desired bandwidth and accuracy Verification of loop gain through network analyzer instrumental for the same The loop gain bandwidth achieved is about 30kHz for the push-pull converter and 20kHz for half-bridge converter. An appendix has been devoted to explain the use of network analyzer. Characterization of coil, transformer and capacitor are explained in detail. Measurement techniques for measuring the small signal parameters of power supply are also explained in the appendix.

Electric power has become a basic necessity of human life. The major share of electric power comes from fossil fuel which results in global warming and pollution. A share of generated power comes from nuclear power which is equally dangerous. Big hydro projects take away lots of fertile land. The continuous usage of fossil fuel also poses a threat of petroleum and coal getting over in the near future. The only way out of this energy scarcity is to depend more and more on renewable sources like solar, wind and micro-hydro. At present, instead of having preference over any particular source of renewable energy, effort should be made to extract power from every possible energy source available in whatever form it is and use it in an optimal way. Like any renewable energy sources, the wind power contains large potential for harnessing energy that has been well understood hundreds of years ago. The importance of wind power generation has come to focus recently both at installation and research level and lot of activities are being carried out for efficient use of wind energy. There are different types of wind turbine designs available in the literature. But the most commercially used model is the two or three blade horizontal axis propeller type wind turbine. Research has shown that variable speed operation of this type of turbine is advantageous over fixed speed operation in terms of total energy synthesis. The most commonly used machines for wind power conversion are synchronous machine, squirrel cage induction machine and slip ring induction machine (SRIM). Variable speed operation using synchronous machine or squirrel cage induction machine requires large ratings of the power converters. However, SRIM based variable speed wind generator is advantageous over other schemes due to its inherent advantages like lower power rating for the converters, higher energy capture and the flexibility of sharing reactive power between the stator and the rotor. SRIM is used for both grid connected and stand alone applications and have been reported in the literature. The grid connected applications have received major attention in the literature whereas there are only a very few instances of its stand alone counterparts. There are many places both within and outside India where utility grid has not yet reached or the available grid is very weak. Moreover, in many of the places, the transmission line is so long that the losses in the system are extremely high. Isolated wind power generation can be of great advantage in such places where the available wind power is harnessed and utilized locally. This has been the motivation to go for proposing an isolated wind power generation scheme in this thesis. The proposed scheme is designed to supply power to the load even when very low or no wind power is available. Therefore, a battery bank is also a part of the system. The power converter assembly of the proposed scheme has three major components. One is the rotor side converter which is connected to the rotor terminals of the SRIM. The second one is the stator side converter with output LC filter which is connected to the stator side. These two converters share a common DC link which is interfaced to the battery bank through a multi phase bi-directional fly-back DC-DC converter. Fig. 1. Overall block diagram of the proposed stand alone wind power generator Functionally, this thesis proposes a system as shown in Fig. 1, which has primarily two components with multiple energy ports viz. (i) the SRIM is one triple energy port component and (ii) the proposed power conditioner is another triple energy port component. The SRIM device consists of (i) a mechanical energy port that is interfaced with the windmill shaft (ii) an AC port through the stator windings that is interfaced with the micro-grid/load and (iii) a third port which is also an AC port through the rotor windings of the SRIM that interfaces with an AC port of the proposed power conditioner. The proposed power conditioner is another triple energy port device which consists of (i) a DC energy port that interfaces with a battery/accumulator, (ii) an AC port that interfaces with the rotor windings of the SRIM and (iii) another AC port that generates the micro-grid that is connected to the load and the stator port of the SRIM. The proposed power conditioner provides the frame work for managing the energy flow from the mechanical port of the SRIM to the rotor and accumulator as well as from the mechanical port to the stator/load and accumulator. Further, energy interaction can also take place between the stator and the rotor externally through the power conditioner. The power interfaces on all three energy ports of the proposed power conditioner poses several challenges that have been discussed in this thesis. This thesis focuses on developing schemes to solve these challenges as explained below. Speed sensorless control is a natural choice for slip ring induction machine because of the flexibility of sensing both stator and rotor currents. There are different methods proposed in the literature which deal with the speed sensorless control of slip ring induction machine. However, the elimination of the measurement noise in the flux position estimation is not sufficiently addressed. It is important to address this issue as this would lead to deterioration in rotor side control of SRIM if the measurement noise is not eliminated. Primarily, the schemes which use algebraic relation between the estimated rotor current in stator reference frame and the sensed rotor current, are prone to measurement noise. On the other hand, the schemes, which use rotor back-emf integration, are affected by DC drift problems, though they are not much affected by measurement noise. The proposed stator flux position estimation scheme incorporates the benefits obtained from both the above schemes while eliminating the disadvantages inherent to them. The rotor flux position is estimated by integrating the rotor back-electromotive force. The stator flux is then obtained from the rotor flux estimate. This integration mechanism leads to several problems like dc drift and lack of error decaying mechanism. This estimation scheme solves the above problems including reduction in the propagation of noise in the sensed current to the estimated rotor side unit vectors. On the implementation front, this scheme also eliminates the need for differentiating the unit vectors for estimating slip frequency. This makes the proposed flux estimator very robust. The proposed scheme is simulated and experimentally verified. There is an internal DC bus within the proposed power conditioner that manages the energy flow through the three energy ports. The internal DC bus is interfaced to an external accumulator or battery through a power interface called the multi phase bi-directional dc-dc converter. It is generally advantageous to have the motor rated for higher voltages in order to achieve better efficiencies for a given power rating as compared to low voltage motors. This implies higher DC bus voltage. On the other hand, it is advantageous to have the battery bank rated for low voltage in order to improve the volumetric efficiency which is better at lower battery bank voltages. Both these are contradictory requirements. The above problem is solved in this thesis by proposing a multi power port topology using a bidirectional fly-back converter that is capable of handling multiple power sources and still maintain simplicity and features like high gain, wide load variations and lower output current ripple. As a spin-off, the scheme can handle parallel energy transfer from even a eutectic combination of batteries without any additional control circuitry for parallel operation. Further, the scheme also incorporates a novel transformer winding technique which significantly reduces the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor. The proposed multi-port bidirectional converter is analyzed by including non-idealities like leakage inductance. The DC bus voltage regulation requirement is not very stringent because it is not directly fed to any load. Therefore, hysteresis voltage regulation with small proportional correction is used for DC bus voltage control. The proposed converter is built and experimentally verified in the proposed system as well as in a hybrid-electric vehicle prototype. The third port of the proposed power conditioner interfaces with the stator of the SRIM and the load. The stator/load needs to be connected to a stiff micro-grid. The control requirement of the micro-grid is very stringent because, even for a sudden variation in the wind speed or the load, the grid voltage magnitude and frequency should not change. The dynamic response of the grid voltage controller has to be very fast. Moreover, the grid voltage must be balanced in presence of unbalanced loading. This thesis proposes a converter called the stator side converter along with three phase L-C filter at its output to form the micro-grid. A generalized control scheme is proposed wherein the negative sequence components and the harmonics can be eliminated at the micro-grid by means of feed-forward compensators included in the fundamental positive synchronous reference frame alone. The theoretical foundation for this scheme is developed and discussed in the thesis. In isolated locations linear loads constitute a significant percentage of the total load. Therefore, on the implementation front, only the compensation of fundamental negative sequence is demonstrated. One more necessity for compensating the fundamental negative sequence is that, the SRIM offers only leakage impedance to the fundamental negative sequence components resulting in high fundamental negative sequence current even for a small fundamental negative sequence voltage present at the micro-grid. The proposed scheme ensures balanced three phase currents at the SRIM windings and the full unbalanced current is provided from the stator side converter. This scheme is validated both by simulation and experimentation. The proposed power conditioner is integrated and used in the implementation of the entire wind power generation scheme that is proposed in the thesis. The maximum power point tracking of the wind power unit is also incorporated in the proposed system. The simulation and experimental results are also presented. Finally, the engineering issues involved in the implementation of the proposed scheme are discussed in detail highlighting the hardware configuration and the equipments used. The wind turbine is emulated using a chopper controlled DC motor. The shaft torque of the DC motor is controlled to give the Cp−λ characteristic of a typical windmill. The control issues of the DC machine to behave as a wind turbine are also explained. Finally the thesis is concluded by a statement of potentials and possibilities for future work in this research area.

Les convertisseurs de puissance en DC/DC sont largement utilisés pour les applications domestiques et industrielles pour des puissances de quelques Watts à quelques MégaWatts. Généralement, pour chaque application un convertisseur adapté est conçu afin de répondre au cahier des charges. A chaque nouvelle application correspond donc un nouveau convertisseur, ce qui conduit à concevoir systématiquement de nouvelles structures de conversion et qui s'avère coûteux en temps et en argent. Eventuellement, cela peut conduire à des développements technologiques spécifiques qui, eux aussi ont des conséquences sur le coût de développement des solutions d'électronique de puissance.Afin de contourner ces difficultés, mes travaux de thèse portent sur la démarche Réseaux de Micro Convertisseurs (RµC) qui propose une nouvelle approche permettant de répondre de manière totalement flexible à n’importe quel cahier des charges. Cette approche vise à créer un composant unique, appelé cellule élémentaire (CE), permettant de répondre à tout type de cahiers des charges par la mise en série et/ou en parallèle de plusieurs de ces cellules élémentaires. Elle permet ainsi de régler les calibres en tension et/ou en courant du convertisseur à réaliser. Mes travaux de thèse se divisent en deux grandes parties. La première partie consiste en la conception et l’intégration de la cellule élémentaire utilisée dans le RµC. La deuxième, aborde les stratégies de configuration utilisées dans les RµC ainsi que les modes d’association des cellules élémentaires pouvant répondre à n’importe quel cahier des charges. / DC/DC power converters are widely used for domestic and industrial applications with powers from a few watts to several MegaWatts. Generally, for each application, an appropriate converter is designed to meet the specifications. So, with a new application corresponds a new converter leading to systematic review and re-design of a new structure of conversion which is costly in time and money. Eventually, it can lead to specific technological developments which also have an impact on the cost of developing solutions for power electronics. To circumvent these difficulties, my thesis focuses on the process of Micro Converters Networks (MiCoNet) which proposes a new approach to respond fully flexibely to any specifications. The aim of this approach is to create a unit component, called elementary cell, able to respond to any kind of specifications by connecting in series and/or parallel several of these elementary cells. It permits to adjust the voltage and/or current of the converter to achieve. Therefore, my thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part consists in the design and the integration of the elementary cell used in the MiCoNet. The second discusses the configuration strategies used in the MiCoNet and association modes of elementary cells which can respond to any specification.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work presents the analysis and implementation of a connection between two power converters, applied to street lighting with LEDs. This connection is called optimized cascade. The main idea of this connection is the reduction of the processed energy by the second converter, increasing this way the system efficiency. Besides that, the electrolytic capacitor is eliminated, aiming the life-span increase of the converter. To do that, the capacitance is reduced, causing a low frequency ripple, which is compensated by the second converter. This way, it is possible to unify high eficiency with long life-span on this converter. Such characteristics are considered fundamentals on LED driver. To prove the idea, two prototypes were built, one based on feedback control scheme and the other on a feedback plus feedforward control scheme. Both had shown good results, however the feedback plus feedforward controller proved to be more effiective on the active compensation of the low frequency ripple. In the end, a comparison between the two most used topologies on LED driver with the optimized cascade was performed. The results had shown a possible application range, advantages e limitations of this idea. / Este trabalho apresenta a análise e implementação de uma conexão entre dois conversores de potência, com aplicação para iluminação pública com LEDs. Essa conexão foi chamada de cascata otimizada. A principal ideia dessa conexãoo é a minimização da energia processada pelo segundo conversor, aumentando assim a eficiência do sistema. Além disso, o capacitor eletrolítico é eliminado desta topologia com o intuito de aumentar a vida útil do sistema. Para tal, a capacitância é reduzida, sendo a ondulação de baixa frequência, proveniente de tal redução, compensada ativamente pelo segundo conversor. Com isso, é possível unir alta eficiência e durabilidade, características consideradas fundamentais em um driver para LEDs. Para provar a ideia, dois protótipos foram desenvolvidos, um baseado em controle feedback e o outro baseado na união de um controle feedback com feedforward. Ambos mostraram bons resultados, o entanto o controle feedback mais o feedforward mostrou-se mais eficaz na compensação ativa da ondulação de barramento. Por fim, uma comparação entre as duas topologias mais utilizadas em drivers para LED e a cascata otimizada foi realizada. Os resultados obtidos mostraram sua possível faixa de aplicação, bem como vantagens e limitações.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis presents a design methodology for the dual active bridge converter, that includes the influence of the nominal phase-shift angle in the behavior of the DAB converter for entire power and voltage ranges. The analysis presented focus on two important performance parameters of the DAB converter: the nonactive power and the limits of ZVS operation. The study of these two parameters results in a prior knowledge of the qualitative characteristics of the conduction and switching losses, respectively. Using this knowledge it is possible to optimize the converter operation considering the priorities of application performance. The experimental results were performed for three different projects nominal angles and three different input voltages for the whole load range, and they prove the feasibility of the proposed analysis. The analyse of the limit ZVS area took into account the switches intrinsic capacitances, and the dead time between the complementary switches. The DAB converter placed at a three-stage structure applied to solid state transformer, has voltage ripple at low frequency in their bus voltages because of the connection into the distribution network. Thus, it becomes possible to apply a low frequency burst mode modulation, without needing to oversize the bus capacitors. Three burst mode modulations are evaluated in simulation. The modulation which performed better results in simulation was implemented in practice, and the experimental results showed significant improvement in the converter´s efficiency when it is operating in light loads. Finally, a discussion of the parameters to be evaluated for the DAB converter´s design is proposed. / Esta tese de doutorado apresenta uma metodologia de projeto do conversor DAB, a qual inclui a influência do ângulo nominal de defasagem no comportamento do conversor DAB para toda faixa de potência e de tensão. Além disso, as análises focam em dois importantes parâmetros de desempenho do conversor DAB: a potência não ativa e os limites de operação com ZVS. O estudo destes dois parâmetros resulta em um conhecimento prévio das características qualitativas das perdas de condução e comutação, respectivamente. Através deste conhecimento é possível otimizar a operação do conversor considerando as prioridades de desempenho da aplicação. Os resultados experimentais, que comprovam as análises referentes à potência não ativa e aos limites de operação com ZVS, são realizados para três diferentes projetos de ângulos nominais e três diferentes tensões de entrada, para toda faixa de operação de carga. O estudo dos pontos de perda de ZVS considerou as capacitâncias intrínsecas dos interruptores e o tempo morto entre os interruptores complementares. O conversor DAB funcionando em uma estrutura de três estágios, aplicado a transformadores de estado sólido, apresenta ondulação de tensão em baixa frequência em seus barramentos, provinente da conexão da estrutura na rede de distribuição. Deste modo, torna-se possível a aplicação de modulações de baixa frequência do tipo burst, sem a necessidade de sobredimensionamento dos capacitores. Três modulações são realizadas e avaliadas em simulação. A modulação que apresentou melhores resultados em simulação foi implementada na prática, e os resultados experimentais mostraram melhora significativa da eficiência do conversor em baixas cargas. Por fim, uma discussão sobre as considerações a serem avaliadas nos parâmetros de projeto do conversor DAB é proposta.

nÃo hà / O presente trabalho propÃe o estudo do conversor boost CC-CC de alto ganho de tensÃo baseado na cÃlula de comutaÃÃo de trÃs estados e nas cÃlulas multiplicadoras de tensÃo (mc). Este trabalho investiga um modelo matemÃtico para o citado conversor. A anÃlise proposta à baseada na ferramenta âmodelagem do interruptor PWM para conversores CC-CCâ. O modelo deve ser encontrado por uma simples inspeÃÃo do circuito do conversor. Deve ser possÃvel aplicÃ-lo para realizar diversas anÃlises, como em regime permanente, regime transitÃria e anÃlise de pequenos sinais por meio de um uma abordagem unificada. Considerando um dado nÃmero de cÃlulas multiplicadoras de tensÃo, duas situaÃÃes sÃo analisadas com esta ferramenta: operaÃÃo com uma Ãnica cÃlula multiplicadora de tensÃo (mc=1) e vÃrias cÃlulas multiplicadoras de tensÃo (mc> 1). O mÃtodo proposto à validado por simulaÃÃes e à verificada sua efetividade. AlÃm disso, à analisado neste trabalho o controle modo corrente mÃdia convencional, o qual à aplicado em uma das configuraÃÃes em estudo. O rendimento do conversor e a efetividade do controlador proposto sÃo demonstrados por resultados experimentais para um protÃtipo do laboratÃrio de 1 kW. / The present work proposes the study of the boost converter based on three-state switching cell and voltage multipliers cells (mc). A mathematical model of the aforementioned converter is investigated here. The proposed analysis is based on the tool named âPWM-Switch Modeling of DC-DC Convertersâ. The model must be found by a simple inspection of the converterâs circuit. It is possible to apply such model in order to realize various analyses such as steady-state, transient, and small-signal analysis in a single and same model. Considering the number of voltage multipliers cells (mc), two situations are analyzed: operation with a single multiplier cell (mc=1) and operation with multiple voltage multiplier cells (mc>1).The proposed method was validated through simulations and its effectiveness was verified. In addition to this, conventional average current mode control is also applied to one of the studied configurations. The performance of the converter and the effectiveness of the proposed controller are demonstrated by experimental results obtained from a 1-kW laboratory prototype.

Les convertisseurs DC-DC suscitent un intérêt considérable en raison de leur puissance élevée et de leurs bonnes performances. Ils sont particulièrement utiles dans les systèmes multisources de production d'énergie électrique. Toutefois, en raison du grand nombre de composants sensibles utilisés dans ces circuits et comprenant des semi-conducteurs de puissance, des bobines et des condensateurs, une probabilité non négligeable de défaillance des composants doit être prise en compte. Cette thèse considère l'un des convertisseurs DC-DC les plus prometteurs - le convertisseur ZVS à pont isolé de type Buck. Une approche en deux étapes est présentée pour détecter et isoler les défauts en circuit ouvert dans les semi-conducteurs de puissance des convertisseurs DC-DC. La première étape concerne la détection et la localisation des défauts dans un convertisseur donne. La seconde étape concerne sur les systèmes munis de plusieurs convertisseurs DC-DC. Les méthodes proposées sont basées sur les réseaux Bayesiens (BBN). Les signaux utilisés dans ces méthodes sont ceux des entrées de mesure du système de commande et aucune mesure supplémentaire n'est requise. Un convertisseur expérimental ZVS à pont isolé de type Buck a été conçu et construit pour valider la détection et la localisation des défauts Sur un seul convertisseur. Ces méthodes peuvent être étendues à d'autres types de convertisseurs DC-DC. / DC-DC converters have received significant interest recently as a result of their high power capabilities and good power quality. They are of particular interest in systems with multiple sources of energy. However due to the large number of sensitive components including power semiconductor devices, coils, and capacitors used in such circuits there is a high likelihood of component failure. This thesis considers one of the most promising DC-DC converters—the ZVS full bridge isolated Buck converter. An approach with two stages is presented to detect and isolate opencircuit faults in the power semiconductor devices in systems with DC-DC converters. The first stage is the fault detection and isolation for a single DC-DC converter, while the second stage works on a system with multiple DC-DC converters. The proposed methods are based on Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). The signals used in the proposed methods are already available as measurement inputs to control system and no additional measurements are required. An experimental ZVS full bridge isolated Buck converter has been designed and built to validate the fault detection and isolation method on a single converter. The methods can be used with other DC-DC converter typologies employing similar analysis and principals.

In the present day, owing to the increasing number of electronic loads such as computer power supplies, Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and the increasing number of sources such as solar photovoltaics, fuel cells (DC sources), DC Micro-grids provide a more efficient solution compared to the AC counterpart in terms of the number of stages involved in conversion. Also, the ability to be readily buffered to storage elements is an advantage in a DC system. Apart from this, there are no issues of frequency stability, reactive power transfer and ac power losses. A DC micro-grid is effectively a multi-port dc-dc converter. The ports refer to the various sources and loads that are part of the micro-grid. Sources could be unidirectional (as in the case of PV, load) or bidirectional (as in the case of batteries). Interfacing a variety of ports and controlling power flow between these ports presents an interesting challenge. Commonly used topologies interface the various ports at the DC bus capacitor thereby making the DC bus capacitor bulky. Apart from this, the DC bus coupled topologies route power from one port to another via the central capacitor. This increases the number of stages in transferring power from one port to another. An alternative topology is to use the active bridge type converters where dynamic power flow equations are required to control inter-port power flow. But, as the number of stages increase, the computations get tedious.In this thesis, a novel topology is proposed that uses a UU type transformer core to interface all the power ports. This alleviates the problems faced in the DC bus coupled topologies. A PWM scheme to control simultaneous power flow from each of the ports is also proposed in this thesis. The PWM scheme enables the usage of simple constant frequency average current mode control to dynamically control power sharing ratio between the various ports delivering to loads. By means of the proposed PWM scheme and the control scheme, the drawbacks of the active bridge topologies are alleviated. Using the proposed topology and the PWM scheme, a prototype micro-grid system is developed for a system comprising of the utility grid, batteries, solar PVs and resistive loads. Yet another aspect of the thesis explores the concept of connecting multiple micro-grids in order to create a 'local power network'. A potential application for this could be in interconnecting residential buildings and routing power from one house to another in order to balance demand and supply among these houses. This is against the growing trend of using the utility grid to also sink power and subsequently route it to other houses connected to the grid. Unfortunately not all areas have access to the utility grid. Additionally, turning the grid bidirectional requires that a number of standards be met and policies be created. But, the standard for using a local network that only involves a unidirectional grid is fixed by the community that owns such a network. In a crude sense, this scenario can be compared to the existence of a local area network to transfer information among users of the network. In this thesis, a prototype local power network interconnecting two micro-grids has been implemented.

Depuis ces années, le développement de systèmes de stockage d'énergie pour la mobilité électrique avec davantage d'autonomie de durabilité est au cœur des contraintes de développement des véhicules électriques ou hybrides entraînant une émergence de l'utilisation des systèmes de management ainsi que des circuits d'équilibrage. Les travaux de thèse portent sur la conception et la réalisation d'une nouvelle structure d'équilibrage à base du réseau de micro-convertisseurs (RµC) utilisant les matrices de connections ainsi que les stratégies de commande appropriées. L'objectif principal est de concevoir un équilibreur actif forcé de haute performance, intégrable à base de technologies d'aujourd'hui et avec une stratégie de contrôle simple à mettre en œuvre. Le mémoire de thèse se structure en quatre chapitres : approche du RµC versus l'équilibrage des batteries, conception de la structure et des stratégies d'équilibrage à base du RµC, conception et dimensionnement du système de contrôle intégrée, version intégrée de l'équilibreur-perspectives. Les premiers prototypes de l'équilibreur utilisant des composants discrets ont été mis en place afin de valider notre structure ainsi que les solutions de contrôle proposées. La réalisation des versions intégrées en se basant sur l'utilisation les technologies disponible au sein du laboratoire ouvre un avenir promettant pour les systèmes de management de batterie. / In recent years, the development of energy storage systems for electric mobility with greater autonomy of sustainability is at the heart of development constraints of electric or hybrid vehicles resulting in the emergence of the use of management systems as well as balancing circuits. The thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a new balancing based network structure of micro-inverters (RμC) using matrices connections and appropriate control strategies. The main objective is to design an active balancer forced high performance integrated based technologies of today and a simple control strategy to implement. The thesis is structured in four chapters: RμC approach versus balancing batteries, structural design and balancing based strategies RμC, design and simulation of control system built, integrated version of the balancer - perspectives. The first prototypes of the balancer using discrete components were developed to validate our structure and control solutions proposed. The realization of integrated based on using the technologies available in the laboratory versions opens a promising future for battery management systems.

Energy harvesting is identified as a promising alternative solution for powering implantable biosensors. It can completely replace the batteries, which are introducing many limitations, and it enables the development of self-powered implantable biosensors. An interface circuit is necessary to correct for differences in the voltage and power levels provided by an energy harvesting device from one side, and required by biosensor circuits from another. This thesis investigates the available energy harvesting sources within the human body, selects the most suitable one and proposes the power management unit (PMU), which serves as an interface between a harvester and biosensor circuits. The PMU targets the efficient power transfer from the selected source to the implantable biosensor circuits. Based on the investigation of potential energy harvesting sources, a thermoelectric energy harvester is selected. It can provide relatively high power density of 100 μW/cm2 at very low temperature difference available in the human body. Additionally, a thermoelectric energy harvester is miniature, biocompatible, and it has an unlimited lifetime. A power management system architecture for thermoelectric energy harvesters is proposed. The input converter, which is the critical block of the PMU, is implemented as a boost converter with an external inductor. A detailed analysis of all potential losses within the boost converter is conducted to estimate their influence on the conversion efficiency. The analysis showed that the inevitable conduction and switching losses can be reduced by the proper sizing of the converter’s switches and that the synchronization losses can be almost completely eliminated by an efficient control circuit. Additionally, usually neglected dead time losses are proved to have a significant impact in implantable applications, in which they can reduce the efficiency with more than 2%. An ultra low power control circuit for the boost converter is proposed. The control is utilizing zero-current switching (ZCS) and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) techniques to eliminate the synchronization losses and enhance the efficiency of the boost converter. The control circuit consumes an average power of only 620 nW. The boost converter driven by the proposed control achieves the peak efficiency higher than 80% and can operate with harvested power below 5 μW. For high voltage conversion ratios, the proposed boost converter/control combination demonstrates significant efficiency improvement compared to state-of-the-art solutions. / <p>QC 20150413</p>