Abstract
This paper presents a new switched-ladder structure for multilevel converter which consists of several bidirectional and unidirectional switches along with DC voltage sources. The values of DC sources in the proposed topology are determined based on a new mathematical algorithm. The proposed multilevel converter is an extended structure, which can produce any levels at output voltage waveform. To prove the merits of the proposed structure, the proposed converter is compared with other similar structures. According to comparison results, it is shown that the presented structure requires the least numbers of DC sources, IGBTs, drivers and on-state switches. Also, the value of voltage rating of the switches is analyzed. The experimental results are provided for the proposed 17-level converter to prove the performance of suggested structure.