Patent ID: 6894461

Claim:
A bidirectional power converter that controls the magnitude and direction of power flow between a plurality of power buses, said bidirectional power converter that comprises: at least one reactive element that is coupled to said power buses; and at least one of said power buses that is capable of both supplying power to said reactive element and receiving power from said reactive element; and a control circuit that is adapted to regulate the transfer of power from said at least one power bus to said reactive element and from said reactive element to said at least one power bus, wherein the reactive element is an inductor and said control circuit comprises: a ground switch that intermittently couples said reactive element to ground; at least one power switch that intermittently couples at least one of said power buses to said reactive element; and a driver circuit that is coupled to said ground switch and said power switch, said driver circuit that provides at least two driver signals, said driver signals that control whether each said ground switch and said power switch is OPEN or CLOSED.