Electrical power converter

An electrical converter for converting electrical power between a multi-phase AC input and a DC output, the electrical converter comprising:

• m=3 phase input terminals (a, b, c), a neutral terminal (N) and two output terminals (p, n),
• a first power stage comprising a bridge rectifier connected to each of the m phase input terminals and an output connected to an upper intermediate node (x) and a lower intermediate node (y), wherein the bridge rectifier comprises first active switches (Sxā, Sxb, Sxc, Sāy, Sby, Scy),
• an input filter connected between the m phase input terminals (a, b, c), the neutral terminal (N) and the first power stage,
• a second power stage comprising an upper boost stage comprising a second active switch (Sxm) connected between the upper intermediate node (x) and a common node (m), and a lower boost stage comprising a third active switch (Smy) connected between the common node (m) and the lower intermediate node (y), wherein the common node (m) is connected to the neutral terminal (N), wherein the second active switch and the third active switch each comprise an anti-parallel diode,
• an output filter comprising at least one filter capacitor (Cpm, Cmn) connected between the second power stage and the output terminals (p, n), and
• a controller operably connected to the first, second and third active switches (Sxā, Sxb, Sxc, Sāy, Sby, Scy, Sxm, Smy), wherein the controller is configured to operate according to a first mode of operation for converting the multi-phase AC input applied at the m phase input terminals to the DC output or vice versa,
• wherein the output filter comprises a midpoint node (t) and the common node (m) is not connected to the midpoint node (t), or the common node (m) is connected to the midpoint node through a fourth switch, or the output filter does not comprise a midpoint node (t), and
• wherein the controller is configured to operate according to a second mode of operation for converting a single phase AC input applied between at least one of the m phase input terminals (a, b, c) and the neutral terminal (N) to the DC output or vice versa, wherein the second active switch (Sxm) and the third active switch (Smy) are configured to assume inverse states in the second mode of operation.