USING FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAYS FOR HIGH-SPEED REAL-TIME SIMULATION

Abstract

Some applications of real-time simulation now require frame times that are shorter in duration than can be delivered by traditional methods such as real-time versions of Linux (RT-Linux). RT-Linux can be satisfactory for frames as short as 10μS, but there is now a need, for example in the simulation of power-electronic systems, for frame times as short as 1 μS or even less. Techniques based on the interfacing of digital signal processors (DSPs) to a Windows PC have achieved a 2 μS frame time for a typical power electronics application and less than 1 μS is shown to be possible using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Combining these high-speed techniques with simulations of the rest of the system necessitates the use of multi-rate techniques. Software tools, interfacing issues, and system architecture for a high-speed, real-time, distributed, multi-rate (HRDM) simulator are discussed.