PUBLICATIONS
Radio Science
REVIEW ARTICLE
10.1002/2016RS006041
Special Section:
Special issue of the 2015 URSI-
Japan Radio Science Meeting
Key Points:
• We propose a Y configuration power
router as a unit cell to easily construct
a power delivery system
• A prototype three-way isolated DC/DC
converter as a core unit of the power
router was constructed by using SiC
power devices
• We explored the requirements for
communication between energy
routers to achieve dynamic
adjustments to energy flows in
real time
Correspondence to:
Y. Kado,
kado@kit.ac.jp
Citation:
Kado, Y., D. Shichijo, K. Wada, and
K. Iwatsuki (2016), Multiport power
router and its impact on future smart
grids, Radio Sci., 51, 1234–1246,
doi:10.1002/2016RS006041.
Received 31 MAR 2016
Accepted 14 JUL 2016
Accepted article online 18 JUL 2016
Published online 30 JUL 2016
©2016. American Geophysical Union.
All Rights Reserved.
KADO ET AL.
Multiport power router and its impact on future
smart grids
Yuichi Kado1, Daiki Shichijo1, Keiji Wada2, and Katsumi Iwatsuki3
1
Department of Electronics, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan, 2Department of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Japan, 3Research Organization of Electrical Communication, Tohoku
University, Sendai, Japan
Abstract We propose a Y configuration power router as a unit cell to easily construct a power delivery
system that can meet many types of user requirements. The Y configuration power router controls the
direction and magnitude of power flows between three ports regardless of DC or AC. We constructed a
prototype three-way isolated DC/DC converter that is the core unit of the Y configuration power router.
The electrical insulation between three ports assures safety and reliability for power network systems. We
then tested the operation of power flow control. The experimental results revealed that our methodology
based on a governing equation was appropriate to control the power flow of the three-way DC/DC
converter. In addition, a distribution network composed of power routers had the ability to easily enable
interchanges of electrical power between autonomous microgrid cells. We also explored the requirements
for communication between energy routers to achieve dynamic adjustments of energy flows in a
coordinated manner and their impact on resilient power grid systems.
1. Introduction
There are 450 cities in the world that have populations above one million, and 72% of the world’s population
is expected to be urban residents by 2050 [United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division, 2012]. Also, the headquarters of major corporations are clustered in large cities, and of
the 62 Japanese Fortune Global 500 companies, 45 (about 70%) are located in Tokyo. Accordingly, the
networks that supply electrical power to the major cities and serve as the energy infrastructure that supports
the lives of people and the activities of enterprises in these cities must operate with high levels of reliability
and stability and be robust against disasters such as hurricanes or major earthquakes. Increasing the
resilience of the power grid and other social infrastructure systems has been a pressing issue in Japan since
the major earthquake that occurred in eastern Japan in 2011.
Another factor is the need for the large-scale introduction of renewable energy sources such as solar power
generation and wind power generation as measures to address global warming and energy self-sufficiency.
Because the output of these energy sources varies greatly with weather conditions, the connection of a
large number of such sources to the existing electric power grid requires solutions to problems such as adjust-
ments to the balance of the power supply and demand and regulation of the power grid voltage. It would also
be advantageous to construct a power grid that facilitates the aggregation of negative watts (surplus power)
that are generated within the distributed power grid by distribution system operators and aggregators and
pooled for use by enterprises and factories that need them in an electrical power interchange market.
To meet the needs for these kinds of power networks described above, changes in the topology of the power
grid from centralized, unidirectional power networks whose nodes are the power generators of local power
companies and that only supply power to users to a distributed, bidirectional power network that is similar to
the Internet have been proposed [Saitoh et al., 1997; Huang et al., 2011; Abe et al., 2011; Xu et al., 2011]. The
Cyber-Physical System [Sztipanovits et al., 2012] is the result of such a tight interworking of power and data
communication networks. The Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management system [Huang
et al., 2011] has been attracting particular attention as going beyond the proposal of a concept to introduce
solid state transformers [Falcones et al., 2010] as key devices for the interface between power and data net-
works. They can also operate autonomously in isolation from the higher-level grid by using natural renewable
energy sources and storage batteries in subordinate grids. Among the proposals for new architectures, con-
trol methods, and operation modes for the next-generation smart grid, the proposals of power electronics
Y CONFIGURATION POWER ROUTER 1234
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Figure 1. Application of Y configuration power router to autonomous microgrid system utilizing renewable energy resources.

with new functions to serve as the interface between the power network and data network and integration
with the power grid topology will have strong impact.
In response to these issues and requirements, we propose a Y configuration power router that can be used as
a unit cell to enable a power delivery system to be easily constructed to meet many types of user require-
ments and reduce the overall system development costs [Kado et al., 2015] as outlined in Figure 1. The router
is composed of a three-way isolated DC/DC converter [Zhao et al., 2008] and AC/DC converters connected to
the end of each input/output (I/O) port of the three-way converter. The power interchanging function is
performed by the three-way isolated DC/DC converter that is the core unit of the Y configuration power
router. It maintains electrical insulation between the ports and freely controls both the amount of power
and direction of flow. The electrical insulation between three ports assures safety and reliability for the
power network system. The fault currents in the network system consisting of the router will be smaller
due to the use of the Y configuration router that inherently limits these currents. The DC power at any port
can be changed to three-phase AC power by connecting an AC/DC power converter unit to the port, so it
is possible to achieve power interchange among the three ports regardless of whether the power is DC or
AC. Furthermore, many types of loads, energy resources, and energy storage devices can be connected to
the routers simply by rewriting the control software.
The autonomous microgrid system utilizing the renewable energy resources in Figure 1 is only composed of a
single unit (the Y configuration power router), and the unit can be used to construct energy networks with
various topologies. This system can easily accommodate new entries by power suppliers and power consu-
mers and extensions of photovoltaic (PV) cells and battery units at very low engineering costs. Moreover, it
is possible to interchange power with other microgird systems. The three-way isolated DC/DC converter in
the system operates in two power flow patterns of A and B, as outlined in Figure 1, and the transmission
power of each port can be changed in various ways.
We fabricated a prototype three-way isolated DC/DC converter, which was rated at 400 V and 10 kW, which
was the core unit of the Y configuration power router, and tested its operation in power flow control. This
paper describes the validity of the governing equation of power flow control by using the prototype and
clarifies that the router is able to control power flow under open-loop control. Recursive multilevel wide-area
mesh networks composed of autonomous microgrid cells will enhance the resilience of future power grid
systems. We will discuss the requirements for communication between the overall grid control unit and
energy routers to achieve dynamic adjustments to energy flows in a coordinated manner as well as the
impact of the proposed power network on resilient power grid systems.

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Figure 2. Configuration for Y configuration power router.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The method of power flow control with the Y configuration
router and the experimental results for the three-way isolated DC/DC converter that is the core unit of the
Y configuration power router are described in section 2. Section 3 explains the application to power grid
systems and discusses the layered control framework. Section 4 concludes the paper.

2. Power Flow Control of Y Configuration Router

2.1. Components of Y Configuration Power Router
Figure 2 outlines the structure of the Y configuration power router that controls power flow to any of the
directions of the three branches regardless of DC or AC. It is composed of a three-way isolated DC/DC con-
verter and AC/DC converters connected to the end of each I/O port of the three-way converter. The power
interchanging function is performed by the three-way isolated DC/DC converter that is the core unit of the
Y configuration power router. It insulates electricity between the three I/O ports and freely controls both
the amount of power and direction of flow, thus making it possible to achieve power interchange between
the three ports. The AC/DC converter controls the AC voltage, frequency, and power factor. It is possible to
choose whether to connect the AC/DC converter or not, depending on the use case.
2.2. Method of DC Power Flow Control by Three-Way Isolated DC/DC Converter
Figure 3 shows the three-way isolated DC/DC converter that is the core component of the Y configuration
power router. The power flow of the router is determined by the converter. Here fsw (Hz); Ll1 (H), Ll2 (H),
and Ll3 (H); and Le1 (H), Le2 (H), and Le3 (H) denote the switching frequency, leakage inductances, and external
inductances connected to each port. We assumed that a power source (V ) was connected to the three-way
converter instead of pure resistance in this investigation.
When the phase of the control signal for the primary port full-bridge cell is the reference value, the phase shift
of the control signals between the primary and secondary ports is denoted as δ2 (rad), and the phase shift of
the control signals between the primary and tertiary ports is denoted as δ3 (rad).
If each DC voltage V (V) is equal and the total power loss of the circuit is neglected, the transmission power
(W) in each port is given by four equations [Zhao et al., 2008]:

δ2 ðπ δ2 ÞL3 þ δ3 ðπ δ3 ÞL2 2
P1 ¼ V ; (1)
2π 2 f sw ðL1 L2 þ L2 L3 þ L3 L1 Þ
δ2 ðδ2 π ÞL3 þ ðδ2 δ3 Þðδ2 δ3 π ÞL1 2
P2 ¼ V ; (2)
2π 2 f sw ðL1 L2 þ L2 L3 þ L3 L1 Þ

δ3 ðδ3 π ÞL2 þ ðδ2 δ3 Þðπ δ2 þ δ3 ÞL1 2

P3 ¼ V ; and (3)
2π 2 f sw ðL1 L2 þ L2 L3 þ L3 L1 Þ
P1 þ P2 þ P3 ¼ 0; (4)
where these equations are satisfied with δ2 ≥ δ3 ≥ 0 and the direction of flow for each transmission power into
the three-winding transformer is defined as positive. The P1, P2, and P3 are primary, secondary, and tertiary

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Figure 3. Three-way isolated DC/DC converter.

transmission powers. However, these equations are insufficient to represent all cases of power flows. It is
also necessary to consider the equations for δ3 ≥ δ2 ≥ 0. In addition, equations (1)–(3) have a relation to
equation (4). Power flow control based on the equations is called phase shift modulation (PSM) [Inoue and
Akagi, 2006; Kheraluwala et al., 1992; Liu et al., 2012].
We will next describe a control method for managing power flow under open-loop control. We focused on
the power flow control of P1 and P2. It is necessary to determine δ2 and δ3 that satisfy equations (1) and (2)
to achieve the demanded power P1 and P2. We need to solve a quadratic equation with two variables to

Figure 4. Experimental prototype of three-way isolated DC/DC converter rated at 400 V and 10 kW based on 1.2 kV 120-A SiC-MOSFET.

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Table 1. Ratings and Specifications for Experimental Prototype of Three- determine these parameters. The
Way Isolated DC/DC Converter quadratic equation generally has
Specifications Symbols Values four solutions at maximum. However,
DC voltage V 400 V some of these solutions pose large
DC capacitor CDC 9.4 mF resistance losses. Therefore, the
Switching frequency fsw 20 kHz three-way isolated DC/DC converter
Magnetizing inductance Lm 11.7 mH
controls the power flow with the
Leakage inductance Ll1 1.4 μH
Ll2 1.3 μH minimum resistance loss under
Ll3 1.4 μH open-loop control by selecting the
Rated power PR 10 kW numerical solution that is closest to
Number of turns n 20 the origin in the δ2-δ3 plane,
Transformer turn ratio N 1:1:1
Transformer core material Finemet 2.3. Basic Operation of Three-Way
External inductance Le1 40.6 μH
Isolated DC/DC Converter
Le2 36.0 μH
Le3 35.9 μH This section discusses our tests on
the operation of the power flow con-
trol of the three-way converter to
evaluate the validity of its methodology. We fabricated a prototype three-way isolated DC/DC converter
using silicon carbide metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (SiC-MOSFETs: 1.2 kV/120-A) by
assuming that it was rated at 20 kHz, 400 V, and 10 kW. There is a photograph of the experimental prototype
in Figure 4. Table 1 lists the ratings and specifications for the prototype.
We demonstrated control of power flow operation by using the prototype. A power source was connected to
each port of the three-way converter during the experiment. The average transmission power of I/O ports of
P1, P2, and P3 was measured using a power analyzer (Yokogawa: WT210 Digital Power Meter), and the wave-
forms for voltages of u1, u2, and u3, and currents of i1, i2, and i3 (Figure 3) were measured using an oscilloscope
(Tektronix: TDS5034B Digital Oscilloscope). The prototype was rated for 10 kW. The phase shift of δ2 was fixed
at 30°, and the phase shift of δ3 was changed by 5° from 0° to 30° to confirm theoretical equations.
Figure 5 shows the measured waveforms for voltages of u1 and u2 and currents of i1 and i2 when V = 400 V,
δ2 = 30°, and δ3 = 20°. Figure 6 plots the experimental and theoretical results for P1, P2, and P3 when δ2 was
fixed at 30° and δ3 was changed by 5° from 0° to 30°. The efficiency of the converter was achieved 96.8%
when P1 = 5.54 kW, P2 = 2.68 kW, and P3 = 2.68 kW. The measuring points of power flow correspond to
these theoretical points, so the experimental results revealed that our methodology based on the governing
equation was appropriate to achieve power flow control.

Figure 5. Measured waveforms when V = 400 V, δ2 = 30°, and δ3 = 20°.

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Figure 6. Experimental and theoretical results for P1, P2, and P3 when δ2 was fixed at 30° and δ3 was changed by 5° from 0°
to 30°.

2.4. AC Power Flow Control of Y Configuration Power Router

There is a circuit schematic of the Y configuration power router, which is an important element for configur-
ing a network, in Figure 7. This circuit includes the three-way isolated DC/DC converter and AC/DC conver-
ters connected to the end of each I/O port of the three-way converter. The DC/DC converters perform
control as was described in the previous section, varying the phase difference according to how the power
is being distributed. The AC/DC converters perform phase compensation control and frequency control of
AC bus lines. Table 2 summarizes the circuit and control parameters used in simulation. A block diagram of
the control system with the decoupling method is shown in Figure 8. The main function of the AC/DC con-
verter was that the DC voltage VDC was fixed at 400 V and reactive current iq* (see Figure 8) was set to 0 to
prevent wasteful power consumption. The three-way isolated DC/DC converter controls power flows by
controlling the phase shifts of δ2 and δ3. In addition, the direction of power flow of each transmission
power into the three-winding transformer was defined as positive. The circuit parameters were the same
for the simulation we explained in the previous section.
We simulated the process of change in the AC power flow pattern and confirmed that the AC/DC converters
and the three-way isolated DC/DC converter could control primary, secondary, and tertiary currents, trans-
mission powers, and DC link voltages. Power flow operation was simulated when the direction of power flows
was changed from flow pattern A (power flow from primary port to secondary and tertiary ports) to flow pat-
tern B (power flow from primary and secondary ports to tertiary port) within 100 ms. Tertiary transmission

Figure 7. Schematic of Y configuration power router.

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Table 2. Circuit and Control Parameters Used in Simulation power P3 was determined by giving
Circuit and Control Parameters Symbols Values demanded power P*1 and P*2 from
System voltage Vs 200 V equation (4), as described in
Rated power P 10 kW section 2.2. Tertiary transmission
DC voltage VDC 400 V power P3 changed from 6.0 kW to
Cooperation reactor LS 0.86 mH
10.0 kW when the primary and sec-
Reactor parasitic resistance RS 27 mΩ
Commercial power frequency f 50 Hz ondary demanded powers P*1 and P*2
Switching frequency fsw 20 kHz were changed from P*1 = 10.0 kW and
P*2 = 4.0 kW to P*1 = 6.0 kW
*
and P2 = 4.0 kW.
Figure 9 shows the simulated results obtained form this operation. Before power flows were changed, line-to-
line RMS voltage vu and primary line current iu1 were the same phase, and secondary line current iu2 and ter-
tiary line current iu3 were the reverse phase. After power flows were changed, vu, iu1, and iu2 were the same
phase and iu3 was the reverse phase. The transmission powers P1, P2, and P3 were changed from P1 = 10.1 kW,
P2 = 3.91 kW, and P3 = 5.89 kW to P1 = 6.08 kW, P2 = 3.99 kW, and P3 = 9.73 kW. This result converged on
the demanded values within 2.7%. Then, when the transmission powers were changed, variations in DC link
voltage ΔVDC of 2.9 V (less than 0.7%) were suppressed and the simulated results revealed that this router could
stably control power flows.

3. Application to Power Grid Systems

3.1. Autonomous Microgrid Cell and Control Layer
The Y configuration power router plays an important role in enabling microgrids with peer-to-peer electricity
sharing. There is a schematic of an autonomous DC microgrid with PV generation and battery storage using Y
configuration DC routers as power network nodes in Figure 10. The microgrid is configured as a ring topology
constructed of the three-way branching routers. HVDC 400 V bus lines can be used as power-sharing lines.
The Y configuration DC power routers can be connected to one another by performing voltage constant
control that keeps the voltage of the I/O port of the three-way router constant. Critical amounts of battery
capacity and photovoltaic (PV) power generation are determined by queuing theory to make the power out-
age rate the same as when users obtain power supply services from power companies.

Figure 8. Block diagram of control system with decoupling method.

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Figure 9. Simulated waveforms when δ2 and δ3 were adjusted to control AC power flow pattern from pattern A to B in
100 ms.

It is necessary to measure the current and voltage amplitude at each node and reflect the results in the PSM
control of the energy routers installed at various locations to work cooperatively in the implementation of
flexible power interchange between users in real time. That requires highly accurate time synchronization
of the control modules of the energy routers. The synchronization of a hardware implemented network time
protocol (HwNTP) module for digitized radio over a fiber system was recently reported [Shigeru et al., 2012].
The HwNTP client in the experiments was synchronized with the HwNTP server via an asynchronous packet
network and provided synchronization accuracy of less than 1 μs. The control of an autonomous microgrid
cell consisting of Y configuration power has a software layer, a platform layer, and a physical layer
(Figure 11). The physical layer has wired or wireless communication paths [Iwatsuki and Tsukamoto, 2015],
power lines, and power routers consisting of power devices and current and voltage sensors. The platform
layer serves as interworking between the software layer and the physical layer. It consists of a 32 bit complex
instruction set computing (CISC) processor with an IEEE 1588 industrial Ethernet function control module. The
implementation of a control protocol that can perform real-time control and compress control data is an
important goal. The prediction function for power consumption in the software layer can be trained to make

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Figure 10. Autonomous DC microgrid cell using Y configuration DC power routers.

predictions based on power consumption history and issue control commands according to the predictions.
If an abnormal value appears in the management of a state under control by the power consumption predic-
tion functions, there is a function for processing it in the software layer. Because the router can regulate vol-
tage and phase, it maintains a constant value by making corrections when the system voltage deviates from
the specified value.

3.2. Control Framework

The control framework in an autonomous microgrid cell consisting of the overall grid control unit and the
energy router control units in Figure 11 is illustrated in Figure 12, where the overall grid control unit is at

Figure 11. Control layers of autonomous microgrid cell consisting of overall grid control unit and Y configuration power
routers.

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Figure 12. Control framework in autonomous microgrid cell consisting of overall grid control unit and Y configuration power routers.

Figure 13. Control sequence in autonomous microgrid cell consisting of Y configuration power routers.

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Figure 14. Evolution from unit cell to recursive construction of multilevel wide-area grid.

the center. The calculations are performed, and control is executed by incorporating a model in which the entire
system is the target of control, so that the voltage of all nodes in the DC network is kept constant. Also, the bal-
ance between power supply and demand is managed across the entire grid system by distributed cooperative
control of the routers. Another function is the detection of fault locations and isolation of faults. The intelligent
power switches are controlled by intercommunication to isolate the location of short circuits from the network
and minimize damage. The systems that are subordinate to the isolated location are subsequently not sup-
plied with power, but the subordinate systems are put into autonomous operation mode because the router
is connected to renewable energy sources and storage batteries [Huang et al., 2011; Bragard et al., 2010].
The control sequence for the overall grid control unit and the power router control unit in Figure 12 is out-
lined in Figure 13. The amplitude and phase of the voltage and current at routers in different locations are
measured periodically, and the data are stored in the overall grid control unit via a communication channel.
The grid control unit uses the data as the basis for flow optimization calculations and issues the appropriate
control commands to the routers to implement flow control. When a router receives a control command, it
executes flow control. The result is that the power flow changes at various branches, and when a transient
phenomenon has passed and the normal state has returned, the voltage and current are measured and
the measurements are returned to the grid control unit. The control units have clocks that are synchronized
with the highly accurate technique of time synchronization that was described above [Shigeru et al., 2012],
and the control sequence is executed according to these clocks. As we can see from Figure 13, the time
required for one cycle of this control sequence is given by

Time required per one control cycle ¼ ½communication delay timeŠ  3 þ ½calculation timeŠ
þ ½signal processing timeŠ  3 þ ½signal conversion timeŠ  3
þ Latency ðe:g:; communication and interrupt latenciesÞ:

When we use an optical fiber network, the latency is compressed by time synchronization with a synchroni-
zation accuracy of less than 1 μs [Shigeru et al., 2012] and the communication delay is less than 1 ms.
Consequently, the time for one cycle is 10 ms or less when the calculation time and signal processing time
are each 1 ms. This synchronization makes real-time power flow control possible. We plan to test this opera-
tion with an actual unit cell in future work.

3.3. Recursive Construction of Multilevel Wide-Area Grid

A multilevel wide-area mesh network can be constructed by using the same microgrid cells (Figure 14). There
are only three connections from a node in the mesh structure in a hexagonal grid, which simplifies the

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Figure 15. Fundamental properties of resilience and advantages of proposed system.

transformer structure of the router and the calculation of power flow for the entire grid. The cell also serves as
the basis for overall expansion, and even after expansion, we can easily expect to make adjustments to
balance supply and demand on the overall grid. This enables construction of a power network that is robust
against earthquakes and other disasters and that can quickly recover from failures.

3.4. Prospects for Development of Resilient Power Grid Systems

Increasing the resilience of the power grid and other social infrastructure systems has been a pressing issue in
Japan since the major earthquake that occurred in eastern Japan in 2011. Seismic resilience is conceptualized
as the ability of both physical and social systems to withstand earthquake-generated forces and demands
and to cope with the effect of earthquakes through situation assessment, rapid response, and effective recov-
ery strategies [Bruneau et al., 2003]. Resilience for both physical and social systems can further be defined as
consisting of the four fundamental properties shown in Figure 15, in which the advantages of the proposed
system are also summarized. Our hope is that the distributed autonomous cooperative system, hexagonal
mesh network topology, and software-defined control router will enhance the robustness and redundancy
of the physical system. We also expect that the simplicity of use for ordinary people and the recursive struc-
ture will shorten the restoration time.

4. Conclusions
We proposed a Y configuration power router consisting of a three-way isolated DC/DC converter and AC/DC
converters. It can be used as a basic cell to easily construct various power exchanging systems. A governing
equation for power flow control of the three-way isolated DC/DC converter was developed. We made a pro-
totype of the three-way isolated DC/DC converter, which was rated at 400 V and 10 kW, and demonstrated
the operation of its power flow control. The experimental results revealed that our control method derived
from the equation was appropriate for three-way energy exchanges. We also presented a layered control
framework to ensure the cooperative operation of multiple routers within the autonomous microgrid and
a factor analysis of the time required for the overall system control to ensure cooperative operation of

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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the project
“Research and Development on Y
configuration Power Routers as A Unit
Cell Consisting of SiC and GaN Power
Devices to Construct Various Power
Delivery Systems” of the New
Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization (NEDO),
Japan. The authors would like to thank
the anonymous reviewers for their
insightful comments and suggestions
that have contributed to improve this
paper. The data used are available in the
tables and cited references.
KADO ET AL.
10.1002/2016RS006041
multiple routers within the system. We consider that real-time power control with a cycle time of 10 ms or less
is possible, and we plan to test operation with actual hardware in future work. Our findings in this study led us
to conclude that a multilevel wide-area mesh network composed of the autonomous microgrid cells has the
potential for enhancing the resilience of future power grid systems.
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Y CONFIGURATION POWER ROUTER 1246