Analysis of Space Vector Modulation Technique

Mahedihusain A. Lokhandwala
E.C.Department, Parul Institute of Engineering & Technology, Limda, Ta-Waghodia, Dist-Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
mal_piet@yahoo.co.in

Hina B. Chandwani
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, M.S.University of Baroda, Vadodara.
hinachandwani@yahoo.com

Yogeshwar Prasad Kosta

Director, Technical Campus, Marwadi Educational Foundation Group of Institutions
ypkosta@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Space Vector Modulation is standard for switching power converters, in this paper, authors have studied and analyzed switching sequence
and time associated during active and inactive states for variable frequency ac drives in industrial applications. Here each state of 3-ph
Voltage Source Inverter is represented as switching vectors. The rotating space vector that represents three phase sinusoidal voltages is
derived using space vector modulation obtained primarily due to averaging effect of switching between two adjacent states. Mathematical
expression to calculate switching time associated with adjacent vectors that is necessary to obtain phase information associated with phase
of space vector has been derived. Switching sequence that result in minimum switching between the inverter-lags during the switching
period and to have switching between the sector during inactive states is explained in some detail using mathematical and graphical
representations.

KEY WORDS: VSI; Switching Vector; Space Vector; Space

Vector Modulation.
I. INTRODUCTION
Variable frequency ac drives are increasingly are used for
various applications in industry and traction. Due to the
improvement of fast-switching semiconductor power
devices, voltage source inverters with pulse width
modulated (PWM) control find particularly growing
interest (Heinz at all, 1988). The initial use of Space Vector
Modulation at three-phase voltage-source inverters has
been expanded by application to novel three-phase
topologies as AC/DC Voltage Source Converter, AC/DC or
DC/AC Current Source Converters, Resonant Three-Phase
Converters, B4-inverter, Multilevel Converters, AC/AC
Matrix Converters, and so on (Dorin, 2001).
There are two types of voltage control methods, sinusoidal
pulse width modulation and space vector modulation
method. This paper deals with PWM voltage control
method based on space vector control.
I. SPACE VECTOR REPRESENTATION OF 3-PH
SYSTEM
Any three functions of time that satisfy
Eq. (1)
v a (t )  vb (t )  vc (t )  0
can be represented in a two-dimensional space as shown in
Fig. 1. The arbitrary space vector v(t) in complex notation
is then given by
v(t)= 2 (v a (t )  vb (t )e j ( 2 / 3)  v c (t )e  j ( 2 / 3) ) Eq. (2)
3
Where,
v(t) = vα + jvβ Eq. (3)
and 2/3 is a scaling factor so that the amplitude of space
vector v(t)becomes unity.
The space vector for three cosine functions displaced in
phase by 120 degree as a function of t for discrete values
of t can be obtained as follows (MATLAB m file below)
and is shown in Fig. 2. It shows that the space vector

NCEVT’12 Mahedihusain Lokhandwala -1-

rotates in anticlockwise direction with starting position at Equating Eq. 2 and Eq. 3 and expanding Eq. 2, the
positive real axis corresponding to t =0. If we take sine coordinate transformation from the a-b-c axis to the α-β
functions instead of cosine functions then it will start from axis is obtained as follows (Bong et all, 1993):
negative imaginary axis. Plots in Fig. 2 are for six and  1 1 
1   v a 
twelve discrete values of t . The rotating phasers  v  2  2 2   Eq. (4)
generates polygonal path trajectory (hexagonal path for six v     vb
 
  3  3 3 
angular positions etc.). As we go on increasing the phasers,
0 2  2  v c 
the path trajectory becomes circular, in the limit as phasers
becomes infinite. This is exactly the case of phasers Here, va , vb & vc are magnitudes of phasers for va (t), vb (t)
representing sinusoidal signals. & vc (t) respectively.

If we attach vector v(t), which is rotating with angular

velocity t , with frame d-q, then the coordinates of tip of
arrow of vector v(t) can be represented with reference to
rotating frame d-q using following transformation (Bong et
all, 1993),

 vd   cos t sin t   v 
v      Eq. (5)
 q    sin t cos t   v 
The above transformation can be used to represent any
point which is rotating with reference to stationery frame α-
β as stationery point with respect to rotating frame d-q. (i.e.
transformation from fixed reference frame x-y to rotating
frame d-q ).

Fig. 1 Three phase coordinate vectors and space vector v(t).

% Matlab m file for obtaining space

vector position at various phase angles
wt.
clc;
clear all;
N = input('No. of samples of 2pi
interval :');
wt = 0:2*pi/(N):2*pi;
va = cos(wt);
vb = cos(wt-2*pi/3);
vc = cos(wt+2*pi/3); Fig. 2a Space vector at t =  n , n=1, 2, …, 6.
vt = 2/3*( va + vb*exp(j*2*pi/3)+ 3
vc*exp(-j*2*pi/3));
polar(angle(vt), abs(vt), '--.');
for i = 1:N
x=[0 real(vt(i))];
y=[0 imag(vt(i))];

line(x,y,'Color','r','LineWidth',1);
end

With the help of Eq. 2 we have effectively represented

three variables (three phase the instantaneous voltage
values va(t), vb(t) and vc(t) varying along a, b, and c axis)
into space vector in two coordinate α-β axis. The matrix
form representation of 3/2 can be obtained as follows. Fig. 2b Space vector at t =  n , n=1, 2, …, 12.
3

NCEVT’12 Mahedihusain Lokhandwala -2-

From Fig. 1,
va = Re (v) Eq. (6.1)
If, v is rotated by an angle 2 , then d-q frame also rotates
3
by same angle, but α-β frame is stationery, therefore, vb can
be written as,
2
i
3
vb = Re (v e ), (i.e. real part in d-q frame) Eq. (6.2)
Similarly
2
i
3
vc = Re (v e ) Eq. (6.3)

Eq. 6 can also be obtained by taking inverse transform (2/3 Fig. 3 Three phase Voltage Source Inverter.
transform) of Eq. 2.

Now, v is vector with amplitude Vm and angular

velocity  .
j t
v(t) = Vm e Eq. (7)
Therefore,
va=Re(v) = Re(V m e jt )  V m cos(t )
vb=Re(ve-j(2/3))
= Re(V m e jt e  j 2 / 3 )  Vm cos( t  2 / 3 )
vc=Re(vej(2/3)
= Re(V m e jt e j 2 / 3 )  V m cos(t  2 / 3 ) Eq. (8) Fig. 4 Output phase voltage waveforms and state coding.

The switching states for the inverter in Fig. 3 are as

Alternately, Eq. 7 can also be obtained by substituting Eq. follows:
8 into Eq. 2.
Table 1: Space vectors corresponding to various states of VSI
The main advantages of this mathematical representation Switch
Switches State Line Voltage
are (Dorin, 2001): State
 Analysis of three-phase systems as a whole ON No. vab vbc vca Space vector
S1S2S3
instead of looking at each phase; S6S1S2 1 100 Vs 0 -Vs V1=Vs(1+j0.577)
 It allows to use the properties of the vectorial
S1S2 S3 2 110 0 Vs -Vs V2= Vs(0+j1.155)
rotation. Using rotation with ωt leads to an
analysis in DC components by withdrawing the S2 S3 S4 3 010 -Vs Vs 0 V3= Vs(-1+j0.577)
rotational effect. S3 S4 S5 4 011 -Vs 0 Vs V4= Vs(-1-j0.577)
S4 S5 S6 5 001 0 -Vs Vs V5= Vs(0-j1.155)
This vectorial representation is the basis for control
algorithms in (Dorin, 2001): S5 S6 S1 6 101 Vs -Vs 0 V6= Vs(1-j0.577)
 electrical drives (Induction Machine or S1 S3 S5 7 111 0 0 0 V7=0
Synchronous Machine drives); S2 S4 S6 8 000 0 0 0 V8=0
 AC/DC converters:
 Active filtering systems based on the General Expression for Space Vector (Fig. 5):
instantaneous power components (p-q) theory.
The switching function for a switch Sk ( k = 1,2;-., 6) is
All these control methods are based on vectorial defined as
mathematical models and are using PWM algorithms in the d k* = 1 when switch Sk is on
final control stage before the power converter.
d k* = 0 when switch Sk, is off.
II. SPACE VECTOR REPRESENTATION OF 3-PH The following relations are satisfied:
VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTER 3
d1*  d 3*  d 5*  and
2
The three phase inverter under consideration is shown in Fig. 3 3
* * * Eq. (9)
and the output voltage waveforms and state coding is shown in d 2  d 4  d6 
Fig. 4. 2

NCEVT’12 Mahedihusain Lokhandwala -3-

 and angle of vr(t). The angle of vr(t) determines the sector
of the complex plane. The best set is obtained by
decomposing vr into the left and right adjacent vectors and
the zero vectors. In this way, a minimum ripple can be
achieved. For sufficiently large switching frequency, the
modulated vector vr(t) can be assumed constant during one
switching period. The required space vector vr(t) is realized
because of averaging effect due to inductance (filtering
effect) of load.

Determination of State Times:

Fig. 5 Switching line voltage space vectors corresponding to

unmodulated operation of inverter.

The output line voltage of the PWM rectifier is then given

by,
v ab  ( d 1*  d 3* )Vs
v bc  (d 3*  d 5* )Vs
Fig. 6 Determination of state times.
v ab  (d 5*  d 1* )Vs Eq. (10)
If, the modulated signal vr is lying between two active
Substituting Eq. 10 into Eq. 4 we get, vector Va and Vb, then the two non-zero vectors Va and
Vb and one zero vector Vz should be used to obtain the
V1=Vs(1+j0.577)= 2 Vs[ 3  j 1 ] maximum load line voltage and to minimize the switching
3 2 2 frequency.
= 2 Vs[cos   j sin  ]  2 Vs  e j / 6
3 6 6 3 We can equate the volt time of the desired vector to the
SVs as
2
V2=Vs(0+j1.155)= Vs[0  j1]
3 Vr·Ts = Va·Ta + Vb·Tb + Vz· Tz Eq. (12)
= 2 Vs[cos   j sin  ]  2 Vs  e j 3 / 6
3 2 2 3 As Vz = 0,
and so on. 1
vr(t) = (Va·Ta + Vb·Tb) Eq. (13)
Thus, in general the space vector in α-β coordinate for line Ts
voltages is given by, From fig-6,
Va = 2 Vs and Vb = 2 Vs  e j / 3
2 3 3
Vn = Vs  e j ( 2 n 1) / 6 , n = 1, 2, 3, …, 6  vr(t)=  2 VsTa   2  2   1
3  Vs  cos( )Tb  j Vs  sin( )Tb
 3 3 3 3 3  Ts
= 0 n = 7,8 Eq. (11)
= 2 Vs  Ta  Tb   j 3 Tb 1 Eq. (14)
  
III. THE SPACE VECTOR MODULATION: 3  2  2  Ts
The real and imaginary parts of vr(t) can also be given as,
In the three phase converter, only six discrete states of
space vectors are present in the entire interval of [0 2] vr(t) = vra + vrbcos(/3) + jvrbsin(/3)
with unit amplitude. For sinusoidal output we need to get
space vector rotating continuously at a angular frequency =  v ra  v rb   j 3 v rb Eq. (15)
ωt. This can be achieved if we have infinite states, which is  2  2
not possible. Referring to Fig. 5, we see that the desired Where
space vector vr(t) can be obtained by modulating the 2 | vr(t)|    2 | vr(t)|sinθ
v ra  sin    r  and vrb  r
conduction times of switches according to the amplitude 3  3  3

NCEVT’12 Mahedihusain Lokhandwala -4-

The conducting times of switches generating space vectors The space vector starting from t   / 2  3 / 2  9 / 6 ,
Va and Vb can be obtained by comparing Eq. 14 and Eq. lags behind the space vector stated from t  0 . Hence, if
15, we start switching from t  9 / 6 , which is in sector n=6,
2 Ta 2   then the output voltages will be sinusoidal as,
Vs  | v r (t) | sin    r 
3 Ts 3 3 
Therefore va = Vr cos(t   / 2)  Vr sin(t )
| v (t) |     vb = Vr cos(t  2 / 3   / 2)  Vr sin(t  2 / 3 )
Ta  r Ts  sin    r  = m  Ts  sin    r  Eq. (16a)
Vs 3  3  vc = Vr cos(t  2 / 3   / 2)  Vr sin(t  2 / 3 ) Eq. (20)
And Tb
Vs  | v r (t) | sin  r
Ts IV. THE SWICHING SEQUENCE:
Therefore
| v (t) | As discussed above, the space vector in any sector can be
Tb  r Ts  sin  r = m  Ts  sin  r Eq. (16b)
obtained by switching two switching vectors enclosing the
Vs
two space vectors for Ta and Tb times and zero vector by
And Tz = Ts-Ta-Tb Eq. (16c) Tz time decided by Eqs. 16. The switching sequences
within various sectors during switching intervals should be
| v r (t) | is modulation index, 0m1 Eq. (17) such that there is minimum switching between the lags
Where m during switching period and the switching between the
Vs
sectors is during inactive states (i.e. zero states). The
Highest achievable = |vr(t)|= 0.866VA =Vs from eq(11).
following sequence achieves this goal.
From eq (7), the space vector for three phase sinusoidal
Table 3: Optimum sector-wise switching sequences
signals is Upper
j t
v(t) = Vm e Sector Sector-wise switching sequences lag
switches
This implies that to have sinusoidal output of PWM
V8 V1 V6 V7 V6 V1 V8
rectifier, the space vector vr(t) should be same as space 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S1
vector v(t). Thus, for discrete values of 0≤  t≤2  , and 1
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S3
required peak amplitude Vr = | v r (t) | of output voltage, we 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S5
have to calculate  r and from that Ta, Tb and Tz in V8 V1 V2 V7 V2 V1 V8
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S1
respective sector. 2
0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S3
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S5
Table 2: Value of  r in various sectors V8 V3 V2 V7 V2 V3 V8
Sector Range of t r 3
0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S1
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S3
1   / 6  t   / 6  r  t   / 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S5
2  / 6  t  3 / 6  r  t   / 6 V8 V3 V4 V7 V4 V3 V8
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S1
3 3 / 6  t  5 / 6  r  t  3 / 6 4
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S3
4 5 / 6  t  7 / 6  r  t  5 / 6 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S5
5 7 / 6  t  9 / 6 V8 V5 V4 V7 V4 V5 V8
 r  t  7 / 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S1
6 9 / 6  t  11 / 6 5
 r  t  9 / 6 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S3
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S5
In, general, V8 V5 V6 V7 V6 V5 V8
0 0 1 1 1 0 0 S1
6
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 S3
 r =  t – (2n-3)  / 6 n = 1,2,...,6 Eq. (18) 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 S5

The reproduced output voltages corresponding to v r (t) Duty Cycle Calculations for switches:
from Eq. 8 are,
From fig-7,
jt
va = Re(vr) = Re(Vr e )  Vr cos(t ) 2 , Eq. (21)
v c (t )  Ec (1  t ) (0  t  Ts / 2)
vb=Re(vre-j(2/3))= Re(Vr e jt e  j 2 / 3 )  Vr cos(t  2 / 3 ) Ts
The reference functions can be calculated as follows,
vc=Re(vrej(2/3))= Re(Vr e jt e j 2 / 3 )  Vr cos(t  2 / 3 ) 2 Ts T 1
v c1  Ec[1  (  )]  d 1 Ec Eq. (22)
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Eq. (19) Ts 2 2
v c 3  d 3 Ec and v c5  d 5 Ec Eq. (22)

NCEVT’12 Mahedihusain Lokhandwala -5-

 Ts 1
T1

Vc1
0.5

vc1 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
wt in multiple of pi
vc(t)
1
T5 Ec
vc5

Vc3
0.5

0
vc3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
wt in multiple of pi
1

Vc5
Switch S1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Switch S3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 wt in multiple of pi

Switch S5 0 Fig. 8: Switching reference functions for modulator of Fig. 3

0 1 1 1 0 0
SV V8 V1 V6 V7 V6 V1 V8 We can consider the space vector modulation as equivalent
to sinusoidal pulse width modulation with triangular wave
Tb/2 Tz/2 as carrier and sinusoidal wave as modulating function. In
Tz/4 Ta/2 this case the modulating functions are switching reference
functions and triangular carrier is as shown in Fig. 7 with
Fig. 7 Switching functions during sector-1 switching time Ts.
The duty ratios of switches d1, d3 and d5 during sector-1, as
seen from fig-7 can be calculated as,
V. CONCLUSION:
T1  Ta  Tb  Tz / 2
 d1  d a  d b  d z / 2 Eq. (23.1) We conclude that we can generate sinusoidal output
Similarly, voltage for voltage source inverter using space vector
d3  d z / 2 Eq. (23.2) modulation. The steps to be followed are as follows:
1. The highest peak value of sinusoidal voltages
d5  d a  d z / 2 Eq. (23.3) from eq(17) is Vs for m=1. For required peak
d 4  1  d1 Eq. (23.4) value of output sinusoidal voltage calculate
d6  1  d 3 Eq. (23.5) modulation index m from Eq. 17.
2. Starting from t =0 calculate  r using Eq. 18.
d2  1 d5 Eq. (23.5)
3. Calculate Ta, Tb and Tz using Eq. 16 for  r as
The duty ratios in different sectors are shown in table-4 calculated in step-2 above.
4. Apply switching sequence as in table-3 according
below.
to in which sector t falls.
Table-4: Duty ratios in different sectors.
Sector d1 d3 d5 REFERENCES:
1 da +db+dz/2 dz/2 da +dz/2
Bong-Hwan Kwon and Byung-duk Min, “A fully software-
2 da +db+dz/2 db +dz/2 dz/2 controlled PWM rectifier with current link”, IEEE
3 da +dz/2 da +db+dz/2 dz/2 TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL.
4 dz/2 da +db+dz/2 db +dz/2 40, NO. 3, JUNE 1993.
5 dz/2 da +dz/2 da +db+dz/2
6 db +dz/2 dz/2 da +db+dz/2 Dorin O. Neacsu, “Space Vector Modulation-An introduction-
Tutorial at IECON2001”, IECON'01: The 27th Annual
The duty ratios d4, d6 and d2 are complimentary functions of Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.
d1, d3 and d5 respectively.
Heinz Willi Van der Broeck, Hans-Christoph Skudenly and Georg
Viktor Stanke, “Analysis and realization of a pulse width
The switching reference function vc1, vc3 and vc5 can be modulator based on voltage space vectors”, IEEE
calculated from eqs (22). The switching reference functions TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL 24.
are plotted using matlab as shown in fig-8. NO 1 . JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988.

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