Uninterruptible Power Supplies: Classification, Operation, Dynamics, and Control

Stoyan B. Bekiarov and Ali Emadi

Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL 60616-3793
Phone: (312) 567-8940; Fax: (312) 567-8976
EML: emadi@iit.edu
URL: http://www.ece.iit.edu/~emadi/

Abstract—This paper presents a comprehensive review of operation and related control strategies are addressed in
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems in terms of Section V. In Section VI, concept of negative impedance
topologies, operation, dynamics, and control. UPS systems are instability in UPS systems with constant power loads is
classified with emphasis on static systems. This paper also introduced. Section VII deals with the control techniques
addresses fundamental problems faced in these systems in
suitable for these systems. At last, Section VIII summarizes
different distributed and centralized applications. In addition,
a brief description of the conventional UPS systems, their the results obtained in this paper.
disadvantages, scope for improvement, advanced architectures,
role of power electronics, and current trends in UPS research II. CLASSIFICATION
are explained. Negative impedance dynamics in UPS systems
with constant power loads are also introduced. Finally, this UPS systems are classified to three general types of
paper concludes with a brief outline of the advancement to be static, rotary, and hybrid static/rotary systems. In this
made in the future. section, we explain these three categories of UPS systems.

I. INTRODUCTION A. Static UPS

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems provide Static UPS systems are the most commonly used UPS
uninterrupted, reliable, and high quality power for vital systems. They have a broad variety of applications from low
loads. They, in fact, protect sensitive loads against power power personal computers and telecommunication systems,
outages as well as overvoltage and undervoltage conditions. to medium power medical systems, to high power utility
UPS systems also suppress line transients and harmonic systems. Their main advantages are high efficiency, high
disturbances. Applications of UPS systems include medical reliability, and low THD. The inherent problems related to
facilities, life supporting systems, data storage and computer static UPS systems are poor performance with nonlinear and
systems, emergency equipment, telecommunications, unbalanced loads and high cost for achieving very high
industrial processing, and on-line management systems [1]- reliability. On-line, off-line, and line-interactive
[9]. configurations are the main types of static UPS systems.
Generally, an ideal UPS should be able to deliver
uninterrupted power and, simultaneously, provide the 1) On-line UPS: On-line UPS systems consist of a
necessary power conditioning for the particular power rectifier/charger, a battery set, an inverter, and a static switch
application. Therefore, an ideal UPS should have the (bypass). Other names for this configuration are “inverter-
following features: regulated sinusoidal output voltage with preferred UPS” and “double-conversion UPS” [1]-[3]. Fig. 1
low Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) independent from the shows the block diagram of a typical on-line UPS. The
changes in the input voltage or in the load, on-line operation rectifier/charger continuously supplies the DC bus. Its power
that means zero switching time from normal to back-up rating is required to meet 100% of the power demanded by
mode and vice versa, low THD sinusoidal input current and the load as well as the power demanded for charging the
unity power factor, high reliability, high efficiency, low EMI battery bank. The batteries are rated in order to supply power
and acoustic noise, electric isolation, low maintenance, and during the back up time. The duration of this time varies in
low cost, weight, and size. different applications. The inverter is rated at 100% of the
In this paper, classification, operation, dynamics, and load power since it must supplies the load during the normal
control of UPS systems are reviewed. In Section II, UPS mode of operation as well as during the back up time. It is
systems are classified to static, rotary, and hybrid connected in series with the load; hence, there is no transfer
static/rotary systems. Static UPS systems are explained in time associated with the transition from normal mode to
details. In Section III, distributed and centralized stored energy mode. This is the main advantage of on-line
applications are presented. Performance evaluation of UPS UPS systems. The static switch provides redundancy of the
systems is given in Section IV. Principles of parallel power source in the case of UPS malfunction or overloading.

0-7803-7404-5/02/$17.00 (c) 2002 IEEE 597

The AC line and load voltages must be in phase in order to available at all. During this mode of operation the power to
use the static switch. This can be achieved easily by a the load is supplied by the battery set via the inverter for the
locked-phase control loop. duration of the preset back up time or till the AC line is back
During normal mode of operation, the power to the load again. The duration of the switching time depends on the
is continuously supplied via the rectifier/charger and starting time of the inverter. The transfer time is usually
inverter. In fact, a double conversion, i.e., AC/DC and about ¼ of the line cycle, which is enough for most of the
DC/AC, takes place. It allows a good line conditioning. The applications such as personal computers.
AC/DC converter charges the battery set and also supplies The main advantages of this topology are simple design,
power to the load via the inverter. Therefore, it has the low cost, and small size. The line conditioning, when there is
highest power rating in this topology increasing the cost. such, is passive and, hence, the technique is very robust. On
When the AC input voltage is outside the preset the other hand, lack of real isolation of the load from the AC
tolerance, the inverter and battery maintain continuity of line, no output voltage regulation, long switching time, and
power to the load. The duration of this mode is the duration poor performance with nonlinear loads, are the main
of preset UPS back-up time or till the AC line returns within disadvantages.
the preset tolerance. When the AC line returns, a phase-
locked loop makes the load voltage in phase with the input Static Switch
AC Load
voltage and after that the UPS system returns to normal Line (Normaly on)

operating mode.
The main advantages of on-line UPS are very wide
AC/DC
tolerance to the input voltage variation and very precise Rectifier/
DC/AC
Inverter
regulations of output voltage. In addition, there is no transfer Charger

time during the transition from normal to stored energy

modes. It is also possible to regulate or change the output
frequency [3]. The main disadvantages of this topology are Battery Bank

low power factor, high THD at the input, and low efficiency.
Fig. 2. Block diagram of a typical off-line UPS.
The input current is destroyed by the rectifier unless an extra
Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuit is added; but, this
3) Line-interactive UPS: Line-interactive UPS systems,
adds to the cost of the UPS system [4].
as is shown in Fig. 3, consist of a static switch, a series
S t a tic
inductor, a bi-directional converter, and a battery bank. An
S w itc h
(B y p a s s )
optional output filter can be added at the output of the bi-
directional converter or at the input side of the load. A line-
AC A C /D C D C /A C
Load
interactive UPS can operate either as an on-line UPS or as an
L in e R e c tif ie r In v e rte r
off-line UPS. For an off-line line-interactive UPS, the series
inductor is not required. However, most of the line-
B a tte ry B a n k interactive UPS systems operate on-line in order to either
improve the power factor of the load or regulate the output
Fig. 1. Block diagram of a typical on-line UPS. voltage for the load.

2) Off-line UPS: Off-line UPS configuration is also S e rie s In d u c to r

known as “standby UPS” or “line-preferred UPS” [1], [2]. AC
L in e
S ta tic
S w itc h
Load

As is shown in Fig. 2, it consists of an AC/DC converter, a

battery bank, a DC/AC inverter, and a static switch. A filter B i-d ire c tio n a l
A C /D C
may be used at the output of the UPS or inverter to improve C o n v e rte r

the quality of the output voltage. The static switch is on

during the normal mode of operation. Therefore, load is B a tte ry B a n k

supplied from the AC line directly without any power

conditioning. The AC/DC converter charges the battery set. Fig. 3. Block diagram of a typical line-interactive UPS.
It is rated at a much lower power rating than the
rectifier/charger in an on-line UPS since it is not required to When the AC line is within the preset tolerance, it feeds
meet the power demand of the load. This, in turn, allows the the load directly. The AC/DC converter is connected in
off-line UPS systems to be cheaper than on-line UPS parallel with the load and charges the battery. It may also
systems. The inverter is rated at 100% of the load demand. It supply the reactive power required to keep the power factor
is connected in parallel to the load and stays standby during close to unity or to regulate the output voltage [1], [5]. In
the normal mode of operation. It is turned on only when the stored-energy mode of operation, the bi-directional converter
primary power is out of a given preset tolerance or is not operates as an inverter and supplies the load from the battery

598
set. The static switch disconnects the AC line in order to of this UPS is relatively high. Therefore, the delta-
prevent back feed from the inverter. conversion UPS is used in high power rating applications.
The main advantages of the line-interactive UPS However, the complicated control of this topology limits its
systems are simple design and, as a result, high reliability applications.
and lower cost compared to on-line UPS systems. They also
have good harmonic suppression for the input current. Since B. Rotary UPS
this is a single stage conversion topology, the efficiency is
A typical rotary UPS is shown in Fig. 5. It consists of an
higher than that of the double-conversion UPS. The main
AC motor, a DC machine, an AC generator, and a battery
disadvantage is the lack of effective isolation of the load
from the AC line. Employing a transformer in the output can bank. Electric machines are mechanically coupled. There are
eliminate this; but, it will add to the cost, size, and weight of two operating modes: normal and stored energy. During the
normal mode of operation, the AC line supplies the AC
the UPS system. Furthermore the output voltage
motor, which drives the DC machine. The DC machine
conditioning is not good because the inverter is not
drives the AC generator, which supplies the load. During the
connected in series with the load. In addition, since the AC
stored energy mode of operation, the battery bank supplies
line supplies the load directly during the normal mode of
operation, there is no possibility for regulation of the output the DC machine, which, in turn, drives the AC generator.
frequency. The AC generator supplies the load. The rotary UPS systems
are much more reliable than the static UPS systems. Yet,
The new series-parallel line-interactive topology, called
they require more maintenance and have much bigger size
“delta-conversion” UPS, can achieve simultaneously both
and weight.
unity power factor and precise regulation of the output
voltage, which is not possible with a conventional line-
interactive UPS [6]. Its configuration is shown in Fig. 4. It Static Switch
(Bypass)
consists of two bi-directional converters connected to a AC Motor DC Machine AC Generator
common battery set, static switch, and a series transformer.
The series bi-directional converter is rated at about 20% of AC
Line
M M/G G Load

the output power of the UPS and it is connected via a

transformer in series with the AC line. The second bi-
directional converter is the usual inverter for a line-
interactive UPS connected in parallel to the load and rated at
Battery Bank
100% of the output power.
Fig. 5. Block diagram of a typical rotary UPS.
SeriesTransformer
AC Static
Line Switch Load

C. Hybrid Static/Rotary UPS

Series
DC Link
Parallel
Hybrid static/rotary UPS systems combine the main
Bi-directional
Converter
Bi-directional
converter
features of both static and rotary UPS systems. They have
low output impedance, high reliability, excellent frequency
stability, and low maintenance requirements [7], [8]. In Fig.
battery set 6, a typical hybrid static/rotary UPS is depicted. It consists
of a bi-directional AC/DC converter, an AC motor, an AC
Fig. 4. Block diagram of a typical series-parallel line-interactive UPS.
generator, a battery bank, and a static switch. Hybrid UPS
systems are usually used in high power applications.
Parallel converter keeps output voltage stable and
precisely regulated by PWM control. Series converter Static Switch
compensates any differences between output and input (Bypass)

voltages. It also controls the input power factor to unity and, AC Motor AC Generator

at the same time, controls the charging of the battery. When AC

Line
Switch M G Load
the AC line is within the preset tolerance, most of the power
is supplied directly from the AC line to the load. Only a
Bi-directional
small portion of the total power, usually up to 15%, flows AC/DC
through the series and parallel converters. This power is Converter

needed to compensate for any differences between the input

and the output voltages and to make the input power factor
unity. Since an important portion of the power flows without Battery Bank

any conversion from the AC line to the load, the efficiency Fig. 6. Block diagram of a typical hybrid static/rotary UPS.

599
 III. APPLICATIONS trained group of staff will be in charge of maintenance and
service reducing the risk of misuse of the system and
UPS systems not only supply power during the
increasing its reliability. Employing line-interactive
blackouts, but also, in most cases, provide power
topology in centralized UPS systems can give some
conditioning. They are now not only highly desirable, but
additional useful functions apart from ensuring the
also a required standard in many cases.
continuity of the power supply. By using a parallel-
connected UPS to control the real and reactive power drawn
A. Distributed Approach
from the AC line, one can use it for load leveling, voltage
In a distributed approach, many separate UPS units regulation, harmonic suppression, or reactive compensation.
operate in parallel to supply critical loads. UPS units are Capability of line-interactive UPS systems to control
placed flexibly in the system to form a critical load network. real and reactive power flow from the AC line is very
A typical distributed UPS system is shown in Fig. 7. valuable from power system operation and control point of
view. Utilities use parallel UPS systems as Battery Energy
Stored Systems (BESS) for load leveling, voltage stabilizing,
UPS Load
frequency control, and active filtering [10]. As a load
leveling device, BESS helps to cover the peak power
AC
Line
Static
Switch
Secure Network UPS demanded by the loads. BESS can also work as a frequency
control device if its capacity is large enough compared to the
UPS
overall power of the system. It can supply additional real
Load Load power to the system in the case of generator outage in order
to stabilize the frequency.

Load IV. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

UPS UPS

Performance of a UPS system is evaluated in terms of

Fig. 7. Block diagram of a typical distributed UPS system. several factors. First and the most important factor is the
quality of the output voltage. The output voltage should be
Distributed UPS systems have many advantages. They sinusoidal with a low THD, usually less than 5% even when
are highly reliable because of the redundancy. In fact, it is an feeding non-linear or unbalanced loads. In addition, UPS
advantage to achieve the so called N+1 redundancy in systems should have good transient response towards sudden
distributed UPS systems, where N UPS units supply the load changes in the load. They should also be capable of
and one additional unit stays in reserve. They are also highly maintaining the regulation of the output voltage.
flexible to increase the capacity of the system, when the load Considering the power electronic topologies, on-line
grows, by simply adding additional units. The problems UPS configuration gives superior performance followed by
associated with distributed UPS systems are the following. line-interactive UPS and finally by off-line UPS. In on-line
First, the load sharing between separate units has to be very UPS system, the inverter is connected in series with the load
fast and precise because of the fast dynamic response of in both normal and stored-energy operating modes and
each module and the low overload limit of a typical static continuously provides power conditioning to the load. In
UPS. In practice, this load sharing is difficult to achieve and line-interactive UPS systems, the inverter is connected in
require very fast and complicated digital controllers. The parallel with the load and during the normal mode provides
second disadvantage is that the monitoring of the whole only limited power conditioning to the load. Only during the
system is difficult and requires specially trained staff [9]. stored-energy mode of operation, the performance of line-
The distributed approach is expected to be more attractive interactive UPS can be the same as that of the on-line UPS.
for highly proliferated loads such as medical equipment, data The second important factor in terms of which
processing, and telecommunications. performance of UPS systems is evaluated is the power factor
of the input current. For higher power applications, active
B. Centralized Approach Power Factor Correction (PFC) techniques are used. In these
techniques either a PWM rectifier is controlled in PFC
In centralized approach, one large UPS unit supplies all
technique [11] or an additional DC/DC PFC circuit is used
the critical loads. Main goal is to ensure the continuous
[12]. These active techniques are applicable only for on-line
operation of the whole system rather than the operation of
and off-line UPS topologies. For line-interactive UPS
specific critical loads. This approach is more desirable for
systems, PFC is achieved by controlling the power angle
industrial and utility applications. The problems here are
between the input and output voltages [13].
associated with the high relative cost for achieving
Another important factor for evaluating performance of
redundancy and increasing of capacity with load expansion.
UPS systems is the transfer time. In this aspect, the on-line
Centralized approach offers a clear advantage in respect
UPS topology is superior. Its configuration naturally ensures
to maintenance and service of UPS systems. A specially

600
that the load is continuously supplied with power without from a common DC link, supply loads connected to a critical
any transfer time. The transfer time in line-interactive UPS bus [15]. In addition, in a system with several UPS units
systems depends on the time necessary for converting the operating in parallel, UPS modules are close to each other
power flow from the battery bank through the inverter to the and parallel operation is achieved by communication
load. Improved performance is achieved by choosing the DC between separate units [16]-[19].
bus capacitor voltage at the battery side to be slightly higher
than the floating voltage of the batteries. Therefore, when AC/DC
the AC line fails, it is not necessary to sense the failure Rectifier

because the DC bus voltage will immediately fells under the AC AC/DC
DC/AC
Inverter Load
Line 1
floating voltage of the batteries and the power flow will Rectifier
DC/AC Load
naturally turn to the load. For off-line UPS systems, the AC/DC
Inverter

transfer time is the longest. It depends upon the speed of Rectifier

DC/AC
sensing the failure of the AC line and starting the inverter. AC/DC
Secure DC
Ring Bus
Inverter

Rectifier
DC/AC Load
Inverter
V. PARALLEL OPERATION AC AC/DC
Line 2 Rectifier
A typical on-line UPS consists of an AC/DC rectifier, a DC/AC
Inverter
battery bank, and a DC/AC inverter. The concept of parallel AC/DC
Rectifier
operation can be applied to rectifiers alone, to inverters Battery
alone, or to the whole UPS. As shown in Fig. 8, two or more Bank

AC/DC rectifiers can operate in parallel to supply the DC Fig. 9. Block diagram of a typical UPS with parallel configurations forming
link with rectified voltage/current. On the other side of the a ring DC bus.
DC link, one or more inverters supply the critical loads.
VDC VDC

Static Switch
(Bypass) Vnom Vnom
Vdrop
Vdrop
AC/DC DC/AC
Rectifier Inverter

AC AC/DC DC/AC
Load
Line Rectifier Inverter I1 I 1' IDC1 I2 I 2' IDC2

Fig. 10. Voltage drop characteristics of the rectifier groups in Fig. 9.

Battery Bank DC/AC
AC/DC
Rectifier Inverter

A. Control Strategies in Parallel Operated UPS Systems

Fig. 8. Block diagram of a typical UPS with several rectifiers and inverters
in parallel. 1) Concentrated Control: In this control method, as
shown in Fig. 11, a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) in each
The concept of parallel operation can be taken further, inverter is used to synchronize its output voltage in
as shown in Fig. 9, where two separate rectifiers, formed a frequency and phase with the voltage of the critical bus
DC ring bus, fed from separate AC lines [14]. The load ensuring proper real power load sharing between separate
sharing is achieved by built-in voltage drop. In fact, changes inverters. A parallel control unit detects the total load current
in DC voltage are used as communication signals. Principle I, divides it by number of inverters n in the system, and
of operation of the UPS system in Fig. 9 can be explained by passes the signal I/n to each inverter. This signal is used as a
using Fig. 10. A change in load causes a corresponding reference for the minor current control loop, which takes as a
change in DC voltage. For example, a load increase causes a feedback signal the current through the output filter inductor.
decrease in DC voltage. Rectifiers work in voltage control Both signals are compared and an error is obtained, which is
mode to increase their currents in order to restore the proper used to compensate any inequality in voltage amplitude of
voltage level. The overall increase in current (∆I=∆I1-∆I2) is different inverters. Therefore, a proper reactive power load
distributed between the separate rectifiers by the build-in sharing is achieved [19].
voltage drops. It can be seen in Fig. 10 that the steeper the
voltage drop, less load will be taken from the rectifier. This 2) Master-Slave Control: Basically, the master-slave
configuration is used mostly in industrial applications where control is the same as the concentrated control. The
many different critical loads have to be supplied. difference is that only the master unit has enabled the PLL
The concept of parallel operation can also be applied to which is in charge of providing constant sinusoidal output
inverters. In this configuration, two or more inverters, fed voltage synchronized in frequency and phase with the

601
critical bus voltage. The other inverters work as slaves, VI. NEGATIVE IMPEDANCE DYNAMICS
which are controlled to track the reference current provided
In general, there are two kinds of loads for UPS
by the parallel control unit. The parallel control unit has the
systems. One group is conventional positive incremental
same function as in a concentrated control method. Hence,
impedance loads that require a regulated voltage for their
the reference current derives from load current; so, it can
operation. The other group is constant power loads sinking
serves as a frequency and phase reference as well. As a
constant power from their input power supply.
result, the slave units do not need to have separate PLL
Power electronic converters, when tightly regulated,
circuits enabled. If the master unit fails, one of the slave
behave as constant power loads. In fact, there is a trend in
units replaces it by simply enabling its PLL circuit [15],
the power electronic loads of UPS systems to be constant
[17]-[19].
power. On the other hand, several loads such as electric
Critical Bus motors, actuators, and power electronic converters have to
AC
be controlled such that constant output power is maintained
for them. If we neglect the losses, input power is constant.
Vr + Voltage V* PWM
Line Regulator Inverter
-
fo
+ PLL
f*
As a result, these loads present constant power
-
UPS #1 fcr
characteristics to the UPS systems.
An example of constant power loads is a DC/AC
I1
+

-
inverter which drives an electric motor and tightly regulates
Load the speed when the rotating load has one-to-one torque-
I/n
speed characteristic. Usually, a controller tightly regulates
+
In
the speed; therefore, the speed is almost constant. Since the
-
rotating load has one-to-one torque-speed characteristic, for
-
every speed there is one and only one torque. As a result, for
Voltage V*
a constant speed, torque is constant and power, which is the
Vr + PWM
Regulator Inverter
f*

UPS #n
fo
+
- fcr
PLL multiplication of speed and torque, is constant. If we assume
a constant efficiency for the drive system, considering the
Fig. 11. Block diagram of a typical concentrated control strategy. constant power of the rotating load, the input power of the
DC/AC inverter will be constant. Therefore, the DC/AC
In the above two described methods, a failure in parallel inverter presents a constant power load characteristic to its
control circuit can cause a whole system failure. This is input power supply. Another example is a DC/DC converter
prevented in the distributed control method. Each inverter which feeds an electric load and tightly regulates the voltage
sends signals to the others. Compensating voltage and when the load has one-to-one voltage-current characteristic.
frequency signals are sent to each inverter [19]. In constant power loads, although the instantaneous
value of impedance is positive; but, the incremental
3) Wireless Independent Control: In this method, there impedance is always negative. In fact constant power loads
are no inner-connective load sharing wires between have negative impedance characteristics, which might
inverters. Control is based on information available locally impact the power quality and stability of the UPS systems.
at the inverter terminals: voltage, current, and frequency. Current through a constant power load decreases/increases
Each inverter has a build-up frequency drop characteristic when the voltage across it increases/decreases. This is a
for real power load sharing and a build-up voltage drop destabilizing effect for the power supply system and known
characteristic for reactive power load sharing [9], [16], [19]. as negative impedance instability. Fig. 12 depicts the
It is well known that when there is an unbalance in generated negative impedance behavior of constant power loads.
and consumed real power in the system, there is a change in Because of the non-linearity and time-dependency of
the system frequency. Hence, the frequency can be used as a power converters and because of the negative impedance
communication signal between two inverter connected in destabilizing characteristics of constant power loads,
parallel. For example, if the real power demanded by the two classical linear control methods, which are often used to
inverters in parallel is increased by ∆P=∆P1+∆P2, than the design controllers for UPS systems, have stability limitations
frequency will initially drop by ∆f. The increase of power around the operating points. In [20]-[22], we have presented
∆P will be taken by separate inverters accordingly to the an assessment of the negative impedance instability concept
slope of their build-up frequency drop. New steady state of the constant power loads in the multi-converter power
equilibrium will be achieved at a lower frequency. In order electronic systems. Furthermore, recommendations on the
to restore the initial frequency the whole drop characteristic design of power supply systems to avoid negative
has to be shifted up vertically. A proper active power load impedance instability have been given. Different stabilizing
sharing control is then implemented without communication control methods have been proposed in [20]-[22] to ensure
needs between inverters. large-signal stability.

602
 P = Cons tan t
loops: an outer and an inner. The outer control loop uses the
V
V= output voltage as a feedback signal, which is compared with
I
a reference signal. The error is compensated by a PI
∆V integrator to achieve stable output voltage under steady-state
<0 operation. This error is also used as a reference signal for the
∆V ∆I
inner current regulator loop, which uses the inductor [28] or
the capacitor [29] output filter current as the feedback signal.
The minor current loop ensures fast dynamic responses
∆I I enabling good performances with nonlinear or step-changing
Fig. 12. The negative impedance behavior of constant power loads. loads.

VII. CONTROL TECHNIQUES

IL* L Vo
V* + PI + Current DC/AC
THD of the output voltage and dynamic responses of a -
Regulator
-
Regulator Inverter
Load
Io
UPS system are among the most important performance IL C

features of the UPS. They depend mostly on the control

strategy applied to the UPS inverter. UPS control strategy as
well as UPS power electronic topology determine the overall
performance of the UPS systems.

A. Single Voltage Control Loop Strategy Fig. 14. Block diagram of a typical control system with multiple feedback
loops.
This strategy, as shown in Fig. 13, uses a single
feedback loop to provide well-regulated output voltage with
The basic current regulators employed as minor current
low THD. The feedback control can be continuous [23] or
loop are: hysteresis regulators, sinusoidal PWM regulator,
discontinuous [24], [25]. Analogue techniques are used in
and predictive regulators. In a typical hysteresis regulator,
continues approach. The most usual continuous feedback
the reference signal is compared with the feedback signal.
control is Sinusoidal PWM (SPWM), which can be of
The sign and predetermined amplitude of the error determine
natural sampling type, average type, or instantaneous type
the output of the modulator, which has two possible levels
[26], [27].
+/-Vout. The duration between two successive levels is
L
determined by the slope of the reference signal. The output
V
Vr +
K(s)
PWM
Modulator
DC/AC
Inverter
o voltage tracks the reference signal within the upper and
-
C Load
lower boundary levels [30], [31]. This hysteresis control has
fast transient response; but, the switching frequency varies
widely.
In SPWM control technique, the output voltage
feedback is compared with a sine reference signal and the
Fig. 13. Block diagram of a single feedback loop. error voltage is compensated by a PI-regulator to produce
the current reference. The current through the inductor or
In natural sampling type, the peak value of the output the capacitor is sensed and compared with the reference
voltage is detected and compared with a reference voltage in signal. After compensated by a P-regulator, the error signal
order to obtain the error, which is used to control the is compared with a triangular waveform to generate SPWM
reference to the modulator. The average approach is signal for switching control. The SPWM current control has
basically the same; but, the sensed voltage is converted to an constant switching frequency and also provides fast dynamic
average value and after that is compared with a reference responses [29], [32].
signal. These approaches control only the amplitude of the In predictive current control method, the switching
output voltage and are good only at high frequencies. In instants are determined by suitable error boundaries. When
instantiations voltage feedback SPWM control, the output the current vector touches the boundary line, the next
voltage is continuously compared with the reference signal switching state vector is determined by prediction and
improving dynamic performances of the UPS inverter [27]. optimization in order to minimize the error [33]. Predictive
current control requires a good knowledge of the load
B. Multiple Control Loop Strategy parameters. All these current regulators are typically used as
an inner loop to regulate the current in the filter inductor.
Better performance even with non-linear and step- The current reference for the current regulator is obtained by
changing loads can be achieved by multiple control loop summing together the error in an outer voltage loop with the
strategies [28]. As shown in Fig. 14, there are two control actual load current to yield the rated output voltage.

603
 VIII. CONCLUSIONS [15] J. Holtz, W. Lotzkat, and K. H. Werner, “A high-power
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