  Fault detection and reconfiguration in fault-tolerant converters may
complicated and necessitate using all-purpose microprocessors and high-speed
sensors to guarantee the satisfactory performance of power converters.
Therefore, providing fault-clearing feature without increasing the processing
and sensing burdens and reducing the transition time between faulty to normal
state are of great importance. This research proposes a new redundant-switch
configuration to address the mentioned challenges. The proposed configuration
uses one diode and two fuses to eliminate the faulty switch and replace the
reserve one, spontaneously. Open-circuit fault in the proposed configuration is
clarified instantly. Moreover, the short-circuit fault is dealt as an
open-circuit fault by using a fuse. Thus, the fault-tolerant feature of the
proposed switch configuration is achieved without using a complex, versatile
and multifaceted fault managing unit. Resultant behaviors of the case studies
are derived using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Also, steady-state thermal distribution of
power switches which are implemented on a monolith heat sink, analyzed in
COMSOL Multi-physics environment. Finally, the viability of the proposed
configuration is demonstrated by a laboratory-scaled prototype.

Systems and Control;Systems and Control