Powering Isolated Gate Drivers in HEV-EV Traction Inverters

Transportation electrification plays a key role to address global environmental issues. High voltage power electronics system is one of the core elements in an electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A gate driver functions as a bridge to connect the control module and the power transistor. The control signal from the control module is amplified through the gate driver in order to drive the power transistors ON and OFF in a proper fashion. There are new challenges to have proper power supplies for the isolated gate drivers due to new system requirements of higher power density, higher power conversion efficiency, and lower emissions. In this session, we will first discuss about those system challenges. Then, we will discuss about the trade-offs of different power supply architectures and topologies. After that, we will showcase comparisons on aspects of power conversion efficiency, voltage regulations, relative solution size and cost, and robustness of operations through reference designs.