A review of soft-switching techniques in high performance DC power supplies

A review of some of the more practical soft-switching techniques in DC-DC converters is given with a view towards actual and potential application areas. A brief review of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching (ZCS) is followed by a discussion of various soft-switched circuit topological categories, their advantages and disadvantages and their areas of application. Application of these soft-switching techniques to high power factor supplies, distributed power systems and both low-voltage and high-voltage power supplies is reviewed. A design comparison of several approaches is given for a 100 kW DC-DC converter.