Motors are used in a variety of applications. For high power systems, motors may be driven using a motor drive and a 3-phase alternating current (AC) source. The motor drive may include switches (e.g., transistors), which turn on and off to produce a desired voltage and current to drive the motor. In some cases, rapid switching times may cause the voltage and current transmitted through an electrical cable from the motor drive to the motor overshoot and/or undershoot. Such overshoot or undershoot of the motor voltages or currents may cause partial breakdown of the electrical isolation within the motor which may lead to a premature failure.
In an industrial setting, the motor may be located at a significant distance from the motor drive. The longer the cable, the higher is the likelihood that the high frequency noise generated by the switches may cause cable reflections. To avoid these cable reflections from generating over/undershoots, the devices that drive the motor and cable are switched slower to limit the voltage transition slew rate, thus resulting in a trade-off between switching time and switching loss.