An FPGA-based platform for the real-time simulation of high switching frequency power converters

Advances in semiconductor technology allow the increase of the efficiency and the power density of power
converters using high switching frequency converters (HSFC). The integration of such energy conversion systems
is continuously growing and in high demand for applications such as electric vehicle battery chargers, more electric
aircrafts, and distributed energy resources. However, the real-time simulation (RTS) of HSFC is challenging, since
very small time-steps — in the order of tens nanoseconds —are mandatory to achieve high fidelity. Moreover, a
real-time simulator is typically interfaced with a physical controller in a closed loop configuration, requiring from
the simulation platform very short round trip times. For the last decade, Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
have been the hardware platform of choice for the RTS of power converters. But the accurate real-time simulation
of HSFCs remains an active research topic, given the critical timing constraints imposed by the high switching
frequencies, the response times of these converters, and the susceptibility of the real-time models to instability.
This project aims at prototyping and evaluating FPGA-based RTS for a variety of high switching frequency
converter topologies with the aim of achieving high fidelity and stability. The real-time simulation results will be
validated against offline simulation results as well as experimental measurements drawn from physical converter
prototypes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tarek Ould-Bachir

Student:

Partner:

AESIM.Tech

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program: