Soft switching choppers: A study by the equivalent soft switching cell method

The switching cell concept was first introduced and used in order to study the micro-phenomena involved in the switching process; parasitics' influence, switching losses, snubbers, soft switching principle and so on. In this paper we want to demonstrate that the switching cell can also be a very efficient tool in the study of various converter topologies. As examples, two soft switching cells that can be used in any DC-DC converter are described. We give the quantitative study and show how the study of a single switching cell leads to a thorough knowledge of a whole set of converters, especially their open loop output characteristics and the design.