Two-mode dynamics in pulse-modulated control systems

Pulse-modulated converter systems play an important role in modern power electronics. Systems of this type also deserve considerable theoretical interest because of the complex interplay they exhibit between ordinary (smooth) bifurcations and so-called border-collision bifurcations generated by the switching dynamics. Particularly interesting are the unusual transitions to torus dynamics, i.e., to a mode of behavior in which the regular switching dynamics is modulated by another oscillatory mode that may arise through instability in the feedback control. Using the model of a two-level DC/DC converter as an example the paper provides a survey of three new mechanisms of torus bifurcation that can be observed in pulse-modulated control systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of the influence that operation in the torus regimes will have on the efficiency of the converter.