ABSTRACT
An arbitrary number of input lines can be connected to an arbitrary number of output lines directly using bidirectional semiconductor switches, as shown in Fig. 14.1. The multiple conversion stages and energy storage components of conventional inverter and cycloconverter circuits can be replaced by one switching matrix. With ideal switches the matrix is subject to power invariancy so that the instantaneous input power must always be equal to the instantaneous output power. The number of input and output phases do not have to be equal so that rectification, inversion, and frequency conversion are all realizable. The phase angles between the voltages and currents at the input can be controlled to give unity displacement factor for any loads.
