This invention relates to new soft-switching techniques for minimizing
switching losses and stress in power electronic circuits using inverter
legs. By choosing the switching frequency with specific relationships
with the resonant frequency of the power electronic circuits, the
proposed switching technique enables the power electronic circuits to
achieve soft switching under full load and short-circuit conditions at
the defined frequencies for both capacitive and inductive loads. This
technique can be applied to an electronic circuit with two switches
connected in totem pole configuration between two dc voltage rails or
commonly known as a power inverter leg or inverter arm. Examples of these
circuits are class-D power converter, half-bridge power converters and
full-bridge power converters or inverters. The proposed techniques allow
inverter circuits with resistive, capacitive and inductive loads to
achieve soft switching.