generalized structure of proposed topology

new configuration for multilevel converter has been proposed, which is based on the cascaded connection of sub multilevel converters. The suggested structure extends the design flexibility and possibilities to optimize it for various objectives. The proposed topology has been optimized in this paper for utilizing a minimum number of switches and voltage sources. A comparison among the proposed converter and other topologies has been provided. It is shown that the proposed topology, not only has lower number of switches and components, compared to other topologies, but also the full-bridge converters operate at a lower voltage. This extends the applications of the proposed converter for high voltages. The operation and performance of the proposed topology has been simulated and experimentally verified on a single-phase 49-level converter prototype.