Real-time HIL simulation of the discontinuous conduction mode in voltage source PWM power converters

Abstract

Advances in FPGA technology have enabled fast real-time simulation of power converters, filters and loads. FPGA based HIL (Hardware-In-the-Loop) simulators have revolutionized control hardware and software development for power electronics. Common time step sizes in the order of 100ns are sufficient for simulating switching frequency current and voltage ripples. In order to keep the time step as small as possible, ideal switching function models are often used to simulate the phase legs. This often produces inferior results when simulating the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and disabled operational states. Therefore, the corresponding measurement and protection units cannot be tested properly. This paper describes a new solution for this problem utilizing a discrete-time PI controller. The PI controller simulates the proper DC and low frequency AC components of the phase leg voltage during disabled operation. It also retains the advantage of fast real-time execution of switch-based models when an accurate simulation of high frequency junction capacitor oscillations is not necessary.