Patent ID: 6040990
Filing Date: 2000-03-21
Classification: H02M

Abstract:
A multilevel converter structure made up of cells in cascade, each intermediate cell containing two switches, with one pole of each of the two switches forming part of a pair of upstream poles and the other pole of each of the switches forming part of a pair of downstream poles, the pair of downstream poles of an upstream cell being connected to the pair of upstream poles of a downstream cell, the converter structure also having a respective capacitor for each cell, each capacitor being connected between the two poles constituting the pair of downstream poles of its cell, wherein said converter structure is made up of modules, among which at least an intermediate module contains an upstream capacitor element, in addition to two switches corresponding to the switches of an intermediate cell, the capacitance of said capacitor element being a fraction of the capacitance of the cell capacitor of said upstream cell, while a module upstream from said intermediate module contains a downstream capacitor element whose capacitance is a second fraction of the capacitance of the cell capacitor of said upstream cell.