Indirect Modulation for Direct Matrix Converter

Matrix converters have been studied and proposed in many different applications. There exist two kinds of matrix converters, which are called indirect and direct converters, each one with their advantages and drawbacks. For the indirect matrix converter two modulators are considered, since, it is composed by two stages: the rectifier and the inverter stage, which allow the usage of modulation techniques and traditional controller implementation. On the other side, the direct matrix converter is composed by a single stage, so that, it is considered a single modulator or controller, because a direct modulator is usually employed. An indirect modulation is addressed for the direct matrix converter in this paper; this means that two virtual modulators are employed: the input stage or rectifier stage uses a modulator while the second stage or inverter stage uses another one, certainly both modulators are joined in order to establish the final control signals for the single stage matrix converter. Not only a comprehensive analysis, operation, and discussion is given, but also, simulation and some experimental results are shown in order to confirm the operation of the system.