A Novel Dual Phase Shift Modulation for Dual-

Active- Bridge Converter

Song Chi Peng Liu Xue Li
State Key Laboratory of Reliability and State Key Laboratory of Reliability and State Key Laboratory of Reliability and
Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Intelligence of Electrical Equipment,
Hebei University of Technology Hebei University of Technology Hebei University of Technology
Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic
Field and Electrical Apparatus Field and Electrical Apparatus Field and Electrical Apparatus
Reliability of Hebei Province, Hebei Reliability of Hebei Province, Hebei Reliability of Hebei Province, Hebei
University of Technology University of Technology University of Technology
Tianjin, China Tianjin, China Tianjin, China
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Mochen Xu Shanhu Li
State Key Laboratory of Reliability and State Key Laboratory of Reliability and
Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Intelligence of Electrical Equipment,
Hebei University of Technology Hebei University of Technology
Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic
Field and Electrical Apparatus Field and Electrical Apparatus
Reliability of Hebei Province, Hebei Reliability of Hebei Province, Hebei
University of Technology University of Technology
Tianjin, China Tianjin, China
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—The isolated dual active bridge (DAB) dc-dc This phase-shift modulation method is accompanied by a large
converter with conventional dual-phase-shift (DPS) modulation power reflow and a large current stress, and when the voltage
exhibits large variations of currents under a small change of ratio of the two sides is not equal to 1, the full range of zero-
phase shift ratio at light load and larger peak current and voltage-switching (ZVS) cannot be realized [5]. In [6], a dual
reactive power at non-heavy load. To solve this problem, this phase shift (DPS) modulation method was proposed, which
paper proposes a novel dual phase shift (NDPS) modulation can effectively eliminate a large amount of power reflow,
method based on two degrees of freedom under non-heavy load reduce current stress, broaden the range of soft switching, and
conditions. By redefining the constraints of two inner phase shift increase the efficiency of the converter. Since there are two
ratios and one outer phase shift ratio, NDPS modulation
degrees of freedom, DPS modulation is simple and flexible
achieves a wider phase shift adjustment range at non-heavy
load, and basically eliminates reactive power. By establishing
[7]. Paper [8] and paper [9] respectively model the current
mathematical models of transmission power, the paper stress and the reflow power functions, and apply mathematical
introduces and analyzes the operating principle of the NDPS methods to obtain the optimal performance under DPS
modulation in detail, and provides the operation mode analysis modulation. The triple phase shift modulation is proposed in
of the converter. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed reference [10], it further improves the overall performance of
method is verified by experimental result. the converter and makes the control more flexible. However,
because of its three degrees of freedom, triple phase shift has
Keywords—Dual active bridge (DAB), Reactive power, Novel the complexity of modulation. Therefore, the phase-shifting
dual phase shift (DPS), Transmission power, Non-heavy load modulation based on two degrees of freedom is more simple
and easy to implement [11,12]. Nevertheless, there are still
I. INTRODUCTION partial reactive power in conventional DPS modulation under
The dual active bridge (DAB) converter is a bidirectional non-heavy load conditions. Besides, conventional DPS
DC-DC converter which possesses the advantages of simple modulation method has a small adjustment range of phase
structure, symmetry, high power density, galvanic fault shift ratio when transmitting the same power under light load
isolation, and easy implementation of soft switching[1]. In conditions, and the change of phase shift ratio causes a
recent years, it has important applications in the field of new relatively large inrush current which impact on the switches
energy, such as electric vehicles, uninterruptible power and compromise the safe operation of the converter [13,14].
supplies, new energy power generation and DC power All the possible phase-shifting modulation strategies of DAB
distribution [2-4]. converter are described in reference [15], but one of them is
not elaborated in detail.
Fig. 1 shows the circuit schematic of the isolated DAB
converter. Traditional phase-shift modulation strategy for the
DAB converter is called single phase shift (SPS) modulation.

This work supported by 1. Research on High Frequency Power Electrionic

Technology and Application. "100 People Plan" Funding for Introducing
Overseas High-level Talents of Hebei Province, No.E2015100007.

978-1-7281-0395-2/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE 1556

 D 1 =D 1-1 =D 1-2
S1 S3 S5 S7

C1 C2
a c+
V1 + L Vcd V2 S 1 (S 2 )
Vab -
- b d D 1-1
n :1 S 4 (S 3 )
S2 S4 S6 S8
D2
S 5 (S 6 )
D 1-2
Fig. 1: Circuit schematic of the isolated DAB converter S 8 (S 7 )

D1
According to the previous discussion, to solve the problem
of reactive power and large inductor current with conventional V ab
DPS under non-heavy load condition, this digest proposes a
novel dual phase shift (NDPS) modulation method. The
D2
modulation principle of NDPS is to redefine constraint
relationship between two inner shift ratios and outer shift n Vc d
ratio, which are the outer shift ratio and the inner shift ratio of
primary H bridge as one freedom degree of the NDPS, and the
inner shift ratio of secondary H bridge as another freedom
iL
degree. The NDPS modulation is especially suitable for non-
heavy load power transmission. It has a wide adjustment range
of phase shift at the same low power transmission, low
variations of currents, eliminates a large amount of reactive
power, and increases the efficiency of the converter. By P
comparing the power characteristics of the traditional DPS
and the novel DPS, it is concluded that the NDPS has excellent t
performance under the condition of non-heavy load. t0 t 1 t 2 t3 t 4 t 5 t 6 t7 t8
II. CONVENTIONAL DPS MODULATION Fig. 2: Waveforms of DPS modulation (case II: D2 > D1, D1+D2 < 1)

For the convenience of analysis, the base power value Pb

and the per unit of transmission power Pout[p.u.] can be According to different combinations of inductor voltages
expressed as with D1 and D2, by neglecting the losses of converter, the
transmission power of DPS modulation is shown in Table I.
nV1V2 From Table I, the transmission power can be divide into four
Pb = (1) cases with DPS modulation.
8 fs L
Fig. 3 show the 3-D model and 2-D model of the DPS
P transmission power with D2 ∈ [0, 1] and D1 ∈[0, 1]. As
Pout[p.u.] = out (2) shown in Fig. 3(a), the maximum transmission power Pout[p.u]
Pb
is obtained under D1 = 0 and D2 = 0.5 with DPS modulation
Where n is the transformer turns ratio, V1 is the input and its value is 1. As shown in Fig. 3(b), the case IV
voltage, V2 is the output voltage, fs is the switching frequency, represents the light load region. Light load region only
L is the inductance of primary bridge, Pout is the transmission accounts for a quarter of total region, so the adjustment
power. If Pout[p.u.] is less than 0.67, it can be defined as a non- ranges of traditional DPS light load phase shift angle is
heavy load. relatively small.
The traditional DPS modulation includes two phase shift TABLE I. OUTPUT POWER (P.U.) OF DAB CONVERT WITH DPS
ratios: phase shift ratio between the primary and secondary
side of the transformer D2 (outer phase shift ratio) and phase Case Boundary Pout(p.u.)
shift ratio between the gate signals of the diagonal devices in
the same side D1 (inner phase shift ratio), the inner shift ratio I D2 > D1 , D2 + D1 ≥ 1 2 (1 − D2 )(1 + D2 − 2 D1 )
D1 includes D1-1 in primary H bridge and D1-2 in secondary H
bridge, D1=D1-1=D1-2 with conventional DPS. Fig. 2 shows II D2 > D1 , D2 + D1 < 1 − 2 D12 − 4 D22 + 4 D 2
the waveforms of DPS modulation. The product of the D2 ≤ D1 , D2 + D1 < 1 2 ( 2 − 2 D1 − D2 ) D2
III
primary side voltage Vab and inductor current iL is the
instantaneous power P. The portion where the instantaneous IV D2 ≤ D1 , D2 + D1 ≥ 1 2 (1 − D1 )
2

power is negative represents the reactive power. Due to the

addition of the inner phase shift ratio D1, the waveform of the
primary side voltage Vab contains zero level and the existence
of zero level eliminates the part of reactive power. Form Fig.
2, it still contains the reactive power of the transmission
power with the DPS modulation.

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 D1 D3
D5 D7
1 S1 S3 S5 S7

C1 C2
0.8
V1 L V2
D2
Pout [p.u.] 0.6
S2 S4
D4 n :1
S6 D6 S
8
D8

0.4

0.2 (a) Mode 1

D1 D3
0 1 D5 D7
1 S1 S3 S5 S7
0.5 D
0.5 1
D2 C1
0 C2
V1 L V2
(a)
D2
1 D4 n :1
S2 S4 S6 S8
D6 D8
0.8 I
(b) Mode 2
0.6 D1 D3
D5 D7
D2 IV
II S1 S3 S5 S7

0.4 C1 C2
V1 L V2
D2
D4 n :1 D6 S D8
S6
0.2 III S2 S4 8

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 (c) Mode 3
D1 D3
D1
(b) D5 D7
S1 S3 S5 S7
Fig. 3: Transmission power of DAB converter by using DPS
modulation with D1 and D2. (a) 3-D model. (b) 2-D model. C1 C2
V1 L V2
D1-1=D2 D2
D4 n :1
S2 S4 S6 S8
S1(S2) D6 D8

D1-1
S4(S3)
(d) Mode 4
S5(S6) D2
Fig. 5 Operation modes of the converter with NDPS modulation
D1-2
S8(S7)

III. NDPS MODULATION FOR DAB CONVERTER

nVcd
Vab
A. The principle of NDPS modulation
In order to solve the problem of reactive power under
non-heavy load condition and current large variation with
change of phase shift ratio under light load condition, a
V1
nV2 novel DPS is proposed. The main waveforms of NDPS
VL V1-nV2 modulation are shown in Fig. 4. In the NDPS modulation, the
novel constraint relationship is that the outer phase shift ratio
D2 and the inner phase ratio in primary H bridge D1-1 are
simultaneously as a freedom of degree (ie. D2 = D1-1), and the
inner phase shift ratio in secondary H bridge D1-2 is the other
iL freedom of degree. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the driver of
signals of S4 and S5 are the same, which is remarkable feature
of the NDPS modulation.
In Fig. 4, compared to the waveforms of DPS, the reactive
P power of the transmission power is basically eliminated under
the NDPS modulation, and the peak current is smaller than
t that of DPS.
t0 t1t1' t2 t3 t4 t4' t5 t6
B. Operation Modes of DAB Converter in NDPS
Fig. 4: Waveforms of NDPS modulation (case I: D1-2+D2 < 1)
To simplify the process of the analysis, we assume that the
converter has reach steady operation states. According to the
principle waveforms in Fig. 4, the operation mode of
converter can be divided into eight states. However, due to
the volt-second balance principle of inductor, the switching

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waveform has half-period symmetry. Therefore, this paper
 nV2
only introduces four operation states in the half-period as iL ( t0 ) = −  k (1 − D2 ) + 2 D2 + D1− 2 − 1
shown in Fig. 5. The inductance current iL (t) at any time can  4 fs L 
be expressed as  nV2
iL ( t1 ) = −  k (1 − D2 ) + D1− 2 − 1 (7)
diL (t ) Vab − nVcd
=  4 fs L 
dt L (3)  nV
iL ( t2 ) = − 2  k (1 − D2 − 2 D1− 2 ) + D1− 2 − 1
1) Mode 1(t0-t1): Fig. 5(a) shows the equivalent circuit  4 fs L
for the mode 1. Just before t0, S2 and S3 are conducting. The
where k= V1/(nV2) is the voltage conversion ratio, and we
current iL is in negative direction, the current flows through
assume k ≥1 in the paper, the other condition k <1 can be
D1 and S3. The secondary full bridge current flows to source analyzed similarity. When the power flows from V1 to V2, the
V2 through D6 and D7. At this mode , the Vab is zero, and the transmission power is
inductance current can be expressed as
2 T2
Vab iL ( t ) dt =
T 0
nV Pout =
iL ( t1 ) = i ( t0 ) + 2 ( t − t0 ) (4)
L (8)
nV1V2
2) Mode 2(t1-t1'): Fig. 5(b) shows the equivalent circuit  D1− 2 (1 − D1− 2 ) + D2 (1 − D2 − D1− 2 ) 
4 fs L 
for the mode 2. If current iL is still in negative direction at t1
then at t1, S3 and S6 are turned OFF and S4 is turned ON at The transmission power unit value is
zero current, iL is carried from inductor L to source V1 by D1
and D4, Vab is equal to the supply power voltage V1; secondary Pout[p.u.] = 2 D1− 2 (1 − D1− 2 ) + 2 D2 (1 − D2 − D1− 2 ) (9)
side current flows through S5 and D7, so Vcd is equal to zero.
According to different combinations of inductor voltages
The inductance current decays negatively until t1' time is
with D1-2 and D2, by neglecting the losses, the transmission
zero, and the inductance current can be expressed as power with NDPS modulation can be expressed in Table II.
V
iL ( t ) = iL ( t ) + 1 ( t − t1 ) (5) TABLE II. OUTPUT POWER (P.U.) OF DAB CONVERT WITH NDPS
L
Case Boundary Pout(p.u.)
3) Mode 3(t1'-t2): Fig. 5(c) shows the equivalent circuit
for the mode 3. During the t1'-t2 time, all the switch drive I D1−2 + D2 ≤ 1 2 D1−2 (1 − D1−2 ) + 2 D2 (1 − D2 − D1−2 )
signals were not changed. At time t1', inductor current
becomes positive, it flows to the transformer through S1 and II D1−2 + D2 > 1 2 (1 − D1−2 )(1 − D2 )
S4. On the secondary,the current becomes free flow through
S7 and D5, and V2 charges to C2 at this time. The inductor 0.7

current expression is the same as (5). 0.6

4) Mode 4(t1'-t2): Fig. 5(d) shows the equivalent circuit 0.5

Pout [p.u]

for the mode 4. Before time t2, S8 does not flow current, and 0.4

at time t2, S7 turns off , S8 is turned on at zero current. Since 0.3

the driver signal of the left full-bridge switchs do not change, 0.2
the state of the primary circuit is the same as that of mode 3, 0.1
and the secondary current becomes power supply to V2 0
through D5 and D8, and the inductor current value continues 1
0.5
1
0.5
to increase. At this mode, Vab is equal to V1, Vcd is equal to V2, D2 0 D1-2
and the inductor current is expressed as (a)
1
V1 − nV2
iL ( t ) = i L ( t ) + ( t − t2 ) (6) 0.8
L
II
After the above analysis, the voltage Vab is zero in the t0-t1, 0.6
and the Vab is also zero in the t3-t4, therefore a large reactive D2
power can be reduced.
0.4
C. Transmission Power of NDPS modulation
According to the analysis of operation modes in section B, 0.2 I
assuming t0 =0, the switching period is T, and the switching
frequency is fs=1/T. The average current of the inductor 0
over one switching period should be zero in steady state. 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
In the range of D1-2+D2<1, D2∈ [0, 1] and D1-2∈ [0, 1], from D 1-2
(4) to (6), currents of inductor can be derive as (b)
Fig. 6 Transmission power of DAB converter by using NDPS modulation
with D1-2 and D2. (a) 3-D model. (b) 2-D model.

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There are two cases of transmission power in the NDPS
modulation. Comparing light load region of DPS and NDPS
from Table I and Table II, the equation of case IV with DPS
only has one variable, however, there are two variables in the
equation of case II with NDPS. Consequently, the adjustment
of light load region with NDPS is more flexible than that of
DPS. Therefore, when transmitting the same power, there is
less variation of current under the NDPS.
Fig. 6 show the 3-D model and 2-D model of the NDPS
transmission power with D2∈ [0, 1] and D1-2∈ [0, 1], It can
be seen that, the NDPS has a wide range of phase shift ratio
adjustments compared to the light load operation of the
traditional DPS, and the maximum transmission power
Pout[p.u.] with NDPS modulation is 0.67.
(a)
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
In order to verify the aforementioned analysis, a laboratory
prototype is construed based on TMS320F28335 DSP
controller. Table III shows the main parameters of converter.
The experimental results were obtained under the NDPS and
DPS modulation.

TABLE III. MAIN PARAMETER OF PROTOTYPE

Parameter Value
Primary dc voltage 1 30V
Secondary dc voltage 2 10V
Switching frequency  20kHz
Transformer turn n 1
(b)
Sum of inductance L 155μH
Fig. 8 Experimental waveforms of NDPS modulation ‘(a) non-heavy
Voltage of conversion ratio k 3 load (Pout [p.u.]= 0.6) (b) light load. (Pout [p.u.]= 0.1)

Fig. 7 and 8 show the experimental waveforms of two H

bridge voltages, inductance current and instantaneous
transmitting power with the DPS and the NDPS modulation,
respectively. As can be seen form Fig. 7 (a) and Fig. 8 (a), the
NDPS eliminate reactive power and reduce the peak
inductance current under the non-heavy load. Comparing Fig.
7 (b) and Fig. 8 (b), the NDPS also has no reactive power
under light load. These results show the correctness of the
theoretical study.
V. CONCLUSION
This paper proposed a novel dual phase shift modulation.
The theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the
(a) novel dual phase shift modulation has excellent performance,
such as eliminate reactive power under non-heavy load,
smaller peak current of inductance than that of conventional
DPS. Under light load condition, NDPS modulation expands
regulating range of transmission power and enhances
regulatingflexibility. Besides, NDPS modulation is simple in
principle and easy to implement.

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