Software support tools for high-speed real-time simulations

Frame times as low as 1-2 microseconds are needed for high-speed real-time (HSRT) simulations of power-electronic systems. To achieve such short frame times it is necessary to use special processing platforms and both digital signal processors (DSPs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have been used for this purpose. Programming these special platforms presents the simulation developer with significant problems since the currently available simulation software tools that support them are very limited. As a result early efforts to develop HSRT simulations have proved very labor intensive. Tools are now under development aimed at minimizing these problems. Mathematica and Matlab routines have been developed to convert differential-equation based math models first into the corresponding difference equations incorporating the selected integration algorithm and then into C-code. Methods of extracting the difference equations from graphical representations of circuit diagrams have also been investigated.