34 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING, VOL. 42, NO.

1, WINTER 2019

Analysis of the Three-Phase Inverter Power

Efficiency of a BLDC Motor Drive Using
Conventional Six-Step and Inverted Pulsewidth
Modulation Driving Schemes
Analyse de l’efficacité énergétique d’un onduleur
triphasé pour l’entraînement d’un moteur sans balais
utilisant la méthode conventionnelle de modulation
de la largeur d’impulsion en six étapes et inversée
YongKeun Lee , Member, IEEE, and JongKwang Kim , Member, IEEE

Abstract— In this paper, the three-phase inverter power efficiency of a brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive
is analyzed theoretically and verified experimentally. An inverted pulsewidth modulation driving scheme has
higher power efficiency than a conventional six-step driving scheme, particularly under low rotor speed due
to less diode conduction power loss of Sync metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs).
However, the difference in the power efficiency decreases as the rotor speed increases; for a rotor speed above
1000 r/min, the difference in the power efficiency is negligible. In addition, the power efficiency of the inverted
driving scheme drops further than one for the conventional six-step driving scheme with sampling frequency
increase. It is due to the additional switching power loss of Sync MOSFET. The theoretical analysis of power
loss in a three-phase inverter verifies the experimental results.
Résumé— Dans cet article, l’efficacité énergétique d’un variateur de vitesse à courant continu sans balai
(BLDC) est analysée théoriquement et vérifiée expérimentalement. La méthode de commande de modulation de
largeur d’impulsion inversé présente une efficacité énergétique supérieure à celle d’une méthode de commande
conventionnelle à six étapes, en particulier à faible vitesse de rotation du rotor à cause de la perte de puissance
de conduction des diodes des transistors à effet de champ (MOSFET) Sync métal–oxyde–semi-conducteur
inférieure. Cependant, la différence d’efficacité de la puissance diminue avec l’augmentation de la vitesse du
rotor; pour une vitesse de rotor supérieure à 1000 tr/min, la différence d’efficacité de la puissance est négligeable.
De plus, l’efficacité énergétique de la méthode d’entrainement inversée chute de plus d’un pour la méthode
de pilotage conventionnelle à six étapes avec augmentation de la fréquence d’échantillonnage. Cela est dû à la
perte de puissance de commutation supplémentaire du MOSFET de synchronisation. L’analyse théorique de la
perte de puissance dans un onduleur triphasé vérifie les résultats expérimentaux.
Index Terms— Brushless dc (BLDC), inverted pulsewidth modulation (PWM), power efficiency, power loss,
three-phase inverter.

I. I NTRODUCTION metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOS-

T HREE-PHASE inverters, driving various types of motors,
have been widely used [1]–[5] due to their fast dynamic
response, absence of commutation failure, and indepen-
dent control. In the past, they were limited to low-power
rated motors due to the low voltage and current ratings of
Manuscript received August 12, 2018; revised October 23, 2018; accepted
December 1, 2018. Date of current version April 3, 2019. This work was
supported by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology
through the Internal Research Funds. (Corresponding author: YongKeun Lee.)
The authors are with the Graduate School of Nano IT Design Fusion, Seoul
National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811, South Korea
(e-mail: yklee@seoultech.ac.kr; jkk@seoultech.ac.kr).
Associate Editor managing this paper’s review: Alireza Safaee.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/CJECE.2018.2885351
0840-8688 © 2019 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
FETs) in it; however, the voltage and current ratings of
MOSFETs have been significantly improved, so that the use
of three-phase inverters has been extended to high-power rated
motors. However, in spite of its popularity, the significant
power loss in a three-phase inverter [4] has become problem-
atic, particularly for motor drives requiring high power and
high efficiency [6], [7]. In this paper, a three-phase inverter for
driving a brushless DC (BLDC) motor is selected to analyze
its power efficiency because such motors have a large spectrum
of consumer electric applications due to their high efficiency
and low maintenance [8].
The power efficiency of a three-phase inverter for a BLDC
motor drive highly depends on the driving scheme [5] since
LEE AND KIM: ANALYSIS OF THE THREE-PHASE INVERTER POWER EFFICIENCY OF A BLDC MOTOR DRIVE 35

TABLE I
MOSFET S WITCHING PATTERN AND S EQUENCE
FOR A BLDC M OTOR D RIVE

Fig. 1. Three-phase inverter topology.

TABLE II
T YPES OF P OWER L OSS FOR A C ONVENTIONAL
S IX -S TEP FROM T HREE MOSFET S

Fig. 2. Conventional six-step driving scheme for the three-phase BLDC

each driving scheme gives different switching sequences and motor drive.
patterns. In many studies, the power efficiency of three-phase
inverters using conventional six-step and inverted pulsewidth
modulation (PWM) driving schemes have been analyzed and
reported; however, the power efficiency of these two driving
schemes has not been compared. Therefore, in this paper,
the power efficiency of the most popular driving schemes,
conventional six-step and inverted PWM, for BLDC motor
drives are compared and analyzed theoretically as well as
experimentally.

II. BLDC C ONTROL D RIVE M ETHODOLOGY

Three Hall sensors mounted on the stator, each being
separated by 120° [9], [10], are used to determine the rotor
position, and the corresponding MOSFET switching pattern
and sequence for the BLDC motor drive are shown in Table I.
As shown in Table II, for every 60 electrical degrees [11],
one of the hall sensors changes its state, and it takes six steps
to complete one cycle. The direction of phase currents U, V,
and W in Table I is labeled as OFF, +, and −, which stand
for floating, input, and output, respectively [12], [13]. For
example, during the switching interval (60° − 120°), S1 and
S5 must be ON while the others are OFF, as shown in Fig. 1,
which makes the U, V, and W phase currents to be +, −,
and OFF.
Among various driving schemes for BLDC motors, the two
most common driving schemes, conventional six-step and
inverted PWM, are analyzed in this paper. In both schemes,
one electrical cycle consists of six steps, which are identical
to each other except for their commutation phases. Thus,
analyzing one out of six steps is sufficient for the power
efficiency calculation. In this paper, one of six steps marked
in a red-colored box, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is analyzed.
Fig. 3. Inverted PWM driving scheme for the three-phase BLDC motor
drive.
As per a conventional six-step driving scheme, the PWM
signal is applied to the U-phase high-side (HS) MOSFET
while the V-phase low-side (LS) MOSFET is ON all times.
Unlike the conventional six-step driving scheme, as per
an inverted PWM driving scheme shown in Fig. 3, the
U-phase LS MOSFET is also driven by the PWM signal in an
inverted manner to the U-phase HS MOSFET. Otherwise, its
driving scheme is identical to the conventional six-step driving
scheme.
III. P OWER L OSS FOR D RIVING A BLDC M OTOR
Three-phase voltages, VU , VV , and VW , and three-phase
currents, IU , IV , and IW , are shown in Fig. 4. At any instance,
only three MOSFETs participate in conduction while the
others are OFF. Three MOSFETs in conduction at any instance
for the step being analyzed are shown in Fig. 5. They are
36 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING, VOL. 42, NO. 1, WINTER 2019
Fig. 4. Phase currents and phase voltages for the three-phase inverter.
Fig. 5. Three MOSFETs in conduction from the U phase to V phase.
labeled as HS MOSFET, LS MOSFET, and Sync MOSFET,
respectively.
During this operation, the HS MOSFET of the U phase
is driven by PWM, while the LS MOSFET of the V phase is
turned ON. When HS MOSFET is turned ON, the current flows
from HS MOSFET to LS MOSFET. On the other hand, if HS
MOSFET is turned OFF, the phase current will still continue
to flow through the diode of Sync MOSFET to LS MOSFET.
A. Power Loss for a Conventional Six-Step Driving Scheme
The types of power loss generated in three MOSFETs for
the conventional six-step driving scheme are listed in Table II.
HS MOSFET has conduction and switching power loss
because it is driven by PWM. The conduction and switching
power loss depend on the PWM ON period and PWM switch-
ing frequency of HS MOSFET, respectively. At the same time,
LS MOSFET also has conduction and switching power loss
where the conduction power loss dominates over the switching
power loss. It is due to the fact that LS MOSFET is kept
ON , while only single switching action is required to turn
LS MOSFET ON / OFF. At the same time, Sync MOSFET is
always OFF and the power conduction loss of the diode of Sync
MOSFET occurs at the PWM OFF period of HS MOSFET.
Instances of conduction, switching, and diode loss for three
MOSFETs are illustrated as a function of time in Fig. 6.
1) Conduction Loss: Conduction loss occurs at HS
MOSFET and LS MOSFET in the conventional six-step
driving scheme. The conduction power loss in MOSFET
can be calculated using the drain–source ON-state resistance
Fig. 6. Power loss from three MOSFETs where the current flows from the
U phase to V phase for the conventional six-step driving scheme.
(RDS(ON) ). The MOSFET acts as a resistor during the switched
ON state that can be computed as follows:
2
Pconduction = RDS(ON) × Irms (1)
where Irms is the rms value of the MOSFET switched
ON -state current and RDS(ON) is the resistance of the MOSFET
switched ON state. However, RDS(ON) highly depends on the
temperature [16], [17] that the operation temperature must be
considered to calculate the accurate conduction loss and can
be determined using the following equation:
 α T J −25°
RDS(ON) (T J ) = RDS(ON)MAX (25°) × 1 + (2)
100
where T J is the junction temperature, α is the temperature
coefficient, and RDS(ON)MAX (25 °C) is the maximum value of
RDS(ON) at 25 °C, which can be obtained from the MOSFET’s
datasheet.
2) Switching Loss: Switching loss occurs at HS MOSFET
and LS MOSFET [18] in the conventional six-step driving
scheme. Switching ON MOSFET, the gate voltage must rise
to the threshold voltage (VGS(th)) but it takes time, which
depends on the product of gate resistance and capacitance of
the MOSFET. After VGS(th) is reached, the drain current rises
and takes over the load current. During the drain current rise
time (tri) to IDon , the drain–source voltage (VDS ) is main-
tained at VDD , which generates the switching loss [14], [15],
as shown in Fig. 7.
After the drain current reaches IDon , the drain–source volt-
age (VDS ) drops from VDD to its ON-state value RDS(ON) × ION .
The drain–source voltage fall time is determined by the
gate current passing through the gate–drain capacitance CGD .
During the voltage fall time, the gate–drain capacitance is
CGD1 = CGD (VDD ) for VDD /2 ≤ V DS ≤ V DD and is CGD2 =
CGD (RDS(ON) × ION ) for 0 ≤ VDS ≤ VDD /2. The total voltage
fall time (tfu) can be computed as follows:
tfu1 + tfu2
tfu = (3)
2
LEE AND KIM: ANALYSIS OF THE THREE-PHASE INVERTER POWER EFFICIENCY OF A BLDC MOTOR DRIVE
Fig. 7. Switching power loss during switch-ON transient.
where
CGD1
tfu1 = (VDD − RDS_ON × I D_ON ) ×
IG_ON
CGD2
tfu2 = (VDD − RDS_ON × I D_ON ) ×
IG_ON
where IG_ON is the gate current during tfu.
Just like the voltage fall time calculation, the voltage rise
time (tru) can be computed in a similar manner. With the rise
and fall times of the current and voltage computed above,
the switching energy loss can be obtained. The switching-ON
energy loss (E SW_ON ) in MOSFET without the reverse recov-
ery of the free-wheeling diode can be computed as follows:
tri + tfu
E SW_ON = VDD × IDon × . (6)
2
The switching-OFF energy loss (E SW_OFF ) in the MOSFET
can be expressed in the similar manner. The total switching
power loss in the MOSFET without reverse recovery of the
free-wheeling diode can be computed as follows:
PSL = (E SW_ON + E SW_OFF ) × f sw
where f sw is the switching frequency.
3) Diode Loss: Diode loss occurs at Sync MOSFET in the
conventional six-step driving scheme. Sync MOSFET’s intrin-
sic diode power loss consists of diode conduction and reverse
recovery power loss. When HS MOSFET is turned ON, all
the minority carriers stored in Sync MOSFET diode must be
removed and this reverse recovery current is absorbed by HS
MOSFET, resulting in additional current. The switching- ON
energy in Sync MOSFET diode is mostly reverse recovery
energy loss (E Drr_ON ). The Sync MOSFET diode reverse
recovery power loss can be calculated as follows:
PDrr_L = E Drr_ON × f sw .
The other diode power loss, the diode conduction power
loss (Pdc ) from Sync MOSFET, can be computed as
Pdc = V D × I D_ON × tct × f sw
37
TABLE III
T YPES OF P OWER L OSS FOR AN I NVERTED PWM D RIVING
S CHEME FROM T HREE MOSFET S
(4)
Fig. 8. Power loss from three MOSFETs where the current flows from the
(5) U phase to V phase for the inverted PWM driving scheme.
where V D is the voltage across the Sync MOSFET diode and
tct is the conduction time. The conduction time is equal to
the dead time which is equal to PWM OFF period as shown
in Fig. 6. The conduction time is significant, relative to one
for inverted PWM driving schemes. It causes Sync MOSFET
diode conduction power loss to be significant.
B. Power Loss for Inverted PWM Driving Scheme
Unlike the conventional six-step driving scheme, for the
inverted PWM driving scheme, Sync MOSFET is driven by
PWM signal in inverted manner [19], [20] to PWM signal to
HS MOSFET and thus additional conduction and switching
(7) loss generate from Sync MOSFET. Luckily, the dead time
period is shortened, and thus, the conduction loss of the diode
of Sync MOSFET decreases in the inverted PWM driving
scheme. Table III lists the types of power loss generated
by three MOSFETs. Instances of conduction, switching, and
diode loss for three MOSFETs are illustrated as a function of
time in Fig. 8.
1) Conduction Loss: In addition to conduction power loss
from HS and LS MOSFETs, conduction power loss in Sync
MOSFET is generated and can be computed as
PSync_conduction = RDS(ON) × Irms
2
. (10)
2) Switching Loss: In addition to HS and LS MOSFETs
(8) switching loss, Sync MOSFET switching loss is generated.
Fortunately, its amount is not significant due to almost zero
voltage switching since the switching of Sync MOSFET
follows the conduction of Sync MOSFET’s diode. The
(9) switching-ON energy loss in Sync MOSFET (E Sync_SW_ON )
38 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING, VOL. 42, NO. 1, WINTER 2019

TABLE IV TABLE V
E LECTRICAL C HARACTERISTICS OF IRFS7530 T YPE AND A MOUNT OF P OWER L OSS C OMPARISON B ETWEEN
C ONVENTIONAL S IX -S TEP AND I NVERTED D RIVING
S CHEMES FROM T HREE MOSFET S

can be computed as follows:

tri + tfu
E Sync_SW_ON = Vphase × IDon × (11)
2
where Vphase is the phase voltage. The switching-OFF energy
loss in Sync MOSFET can be expressed in the similar manner.
The total switching power loss in Sync MOSFET can be
expressed as follows:
 
PSync_SL = E Sync_SW_ON + E Sync_sw_OFF × f sw . (12)
3) Diode Loss: The diode conduction power loss from Sync
MOSFET is reduced due to the shortened conduction time
across the diode of Sync MOSFET while the diode reverse TABLE VI
recovery power loss is unchanged. The diode conduction D EVICE S PECIFICATION
power loss from Sync MOSFET is computed in the same
manner as the conventional six-step driving scheme.

IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS

Two most common driving schemes, conventional six-step
and inverted PWM, are compared in terms of the type and
amount of power loss generated in the three MOSFETs.
Table IV shows the characteristics of MOSFET (IRFS7530),
which is used in this simulation.
Based on the theoretical analysis mentioned earlier,
the amount of power loss from three MOSFETs where the
PWM ON duty is set at 50% with a switching frequency
of 15 000 Hz at a speed of 300 r/min is calculated and listed
in Table V for both driving schemes. The dc link voltage and
the phase rms current are 30 V and 100 A, respectively, in this
calculation.
As shown in Table V, the power losses generated from HS
and LS MOSFETs for both conventional six-step and inverted
PWM driving schemes are identical to each other. However,
the inverted PWM driving scheme generates the additional
conduction and switching power loss from Sync MOSFET,
while it reduces the diode conduction power loss from Sync
MOSFET. To adopt the inverted PWM driving scheme over
the conventional six-step driving scheme, the power loss (con-
duction and switching) generated by Sync MOSFET driven Fig. 9. I –V transfer characteristics for MOSFET (IRFS7530).
by the inverted PWM driving scheme must be smaller than
the diode conduction power loss generated from the Sync
MOSFET diode driven by the conventional six-step driving In this experiment, the board with the controller
scheme. (AMEGA32U4) and the embedded three-phase inverter
designed/manufactured by using IRFS7530, as shown
V. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS in Fig. 10, is used and connected to the BLDC motor, as shown
The device specifications are given in Table VI, and the in Fig. 11. A BHD-144 Dynamometer manufactured by Valid
I –V transfer characteristics for MOSFET (IRFS7530) are Magnetics is used for speed and torque measurement. By using
shown in Fig. 9 [21]. the power analyzer (PPA3540), the output voltage and current
LEE AND KIM: ANALYSIS OF THE THREE-PHASE INVERTER POWER EFFICIENCY OF A BLDC MOTOR DRIVE
Fig. 10. Controller and embedded three-phase inverter board for the
experiment.
Fig. 11. Typical experimental setup for the driving BLDC motor.
of the three-phase inverter are measured to compute the power
efficiency. The rms value of the phase voltage and current is
in the range of 7 V and 5 A, respectively.
The BLDC motor is driven at various speed ranges between
140 and 2000 r/min at a sampling frequency of 15 KHz, and
the power efficiency of the three-phase inverter is measured.
When the BLDC motor is driven at a high rotor speed
of 2000 r/min and zero load torque, the power efficiency
from both the conventional six-step and inverted PWM driving
schemes is approximately 95% and the difference is neg-
ligible for the rotor speed at 1000 r/min and higher. This
is because the generated conduction and switching power
loss of the Sync MOSFET for the inverted PWM driving
scheme approximate the reduced conduction power loss of the
diode of Sync MOSFET for the conventional six-step driving
scheme as the rotor speed increases. However, as the rotor
speed decreases below 1000 r/min and less, the difference in
the power efficiency between the conventional six-step and
inverted PWM driving schemes becomes more noticeable as
shown in Table VII, so that low-speed operation is emphasized
in this experiment.
When the three-phase inverter is driven by a conventional
six-step driving scheme, the power efficiency is approximately
29%, 30%, and 54% at a rotor speed of 140, 250, and
500 r/min, respectively. However, with the inverted PWM
driving scheme, the power efficiencies are 31%, 38%, and
64% at the same rotor speeds, all of which are higher than
those for the conventional six-step driving scheme. It is mainly
due to the reduction of the Sync MOSFET diode conduction
power loss. Thus, when driving the BLDC motor at a low
speed, the inverted PWM driving scheme is more suitable
39
TABLE VII
P OWER E FFICIENCY B ETWEEN C ONVENTIONAL S IX -S TEP AND I NVERTED
D RIVING S CHEMES V ERSUS ROTOR S PEED
AT 15 000-H Z S WITCHING F REQUENCY
TABLE VIII
P OWER E FFICIENCY B ETWEEN C ONVENTIONAL S IX -S TEP AND I NVERTED
D RIVING S CHEMES V ERSUS S AMPLING F REQUENCY AT 500 R / MIN
than the conventional six-step driving scheme for obtaining
higher power efficiency. The power efficiency is measured at
various sampling frequencies of 5, 10, 15, and 20 kHz at a
fixed rotor speed of 500 r/min and a fixed dead time of 2 μs.
As shown in Table VIII, the power efficiency of both schemes
drops with the increase in sampling frequency. It is due to the
fact that in both schemes, the switching power loss increase is
more significant than the conduction power loss decrease due
to the sampling frequency increase at a fixed 500-r/min rotor
speed. In addition, it was observed that the power efficiency
of the inverted PWM scheme drops further than one for the
conventional six-step scheme, the reason of which is based on
additional Sync MOSFET switching action and the power loss
in the inverted PWM scheme.
VI. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, two different driving schemes for a BLDC
motor drive, conventional six-step and inverted PWM, are
analyzed in terms of power efficiency and loss to facilitate
the understanding of the type and amount of the power loss
in a three-phase inverter driving BLDC motor. Besides the
conduction and switching power loss of HS and LS MOSFETs,
the additional conduction and switching power loss from Sync
MOSFET driven by an inverted PWM driving scheme must
be compared to the conduction power loss from the diode
of Sync MOSFET to select the more power-efficient driving
scheme of the two schemes studied. The power efficiency of
the three-phase inverter driven by the inverted PWM driving
scheme is greater than that driven by the conventional six-step
40 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING, VOL. 42, NO. 1, WINTER 2019

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