Parallel IGBT Module Interconnection with Master-Slave Driver IC
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-performance electric vehicle propulsion systems require large motor torque, necessitating high AC currents, which poses challenges for protecting insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules in inverters, as conventional designs often require multiple driver integrated circuits to ensure equal current sharing and protection, increasing complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
The method involves assigning a pair of IGBT switches to a single driver integrated circuit (IC), with one switch acting as the 'master' and the other as the 'slave', and electrically coupling the master switch's protective circuits to the IC, allowing for equal current sharing and protection across parallel IGBT modules, reducing the number of required driver ICs while maintaining effective protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple driver integrated circuits are used to ensure equal current sharing and protection in parallel IGBT modules, then reliability and protection capability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the control functions for multiple IGBT switches into a single driver IC. Specifically, one driver IC controls multiple IGBT switches in parallel by selectively activating them based on current sharing requirements, merging what would traditionally require multiple separate driver ICs into one integrated control unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The driver IC is designed with multi-functional capability to control multiple IGBT switches simultaneously. It incorporates current sensing, selective switch activation, and protection functions that can serve multiple switches, making a single driver IC universal for controlling parallel IGBT configurations rather than requiring dedicated drivers for each switch.
2Reliability
If multiple driver integrated circuits are used to ensure equal current sharing and protection in parallel IGBT modules, then protection capability is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the control functions for multiple IGBT switches into a single driver IC. Specifically, one driver IC controls multiple IGBT switches in parallel by selectively activating them based on current sharing requirements, merging what would traditionally require multiple separate driver ICs into one integrated control unit.
3Reliability
If conventional protection circuits are used for each IGBT switch, then protection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the control functions for multiple IGBT switches into a single driver IC. Specifically, one driver IC controls multiple IGBT switches in parallel by selectively activating them based on current sharing requirements, merging what would traditionally require multiple separate driver ICs into one integrated control unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The driver IC incorporates current sensing feedback mechanisms that monitor the current through each IGBT switch and use this information to selectively activate or deactivate switches to maintain equal current sharing. This feedback-based control consolidates protection functions without requiring separate complex protection circuits for each switch.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for interconnecting parallel insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules is provided. A pair of switches selected from a plurality of the IGBT modules are assigned to a driver integrated circuit (IC). In the pair of switches, a master IGBT switch is selected, the other switch being a slave IGBT switch. A command signal from the driver IC is electrically coupled to both the master and slave IGBT switches. The master and slave IGBT switches both have protective circuits; however, the driver IC is electrically coupled to the protective circuits of the selected master IGBT switch only. The protective circuits include temperature and current sense circuits. The plurality of the IGBT modules may be formed by two hexpack power modules. The modules are configured such that only a single driver IC is needed for each pair of parallel IGBT switches, with equal current sharing of the paralleled modules.