An FPGA-based digital control development method for power electronics

The Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) offers opportunities for improved performance and design flexibility for digital control of power electronics. However, the complexity of Hardware Description Language (HDL) coding can be a barrier for the design engineer. Presented is a system modeling and development environment for FPGA-based digital control that also has the ability to auto-generate HDL code. The method uses Altera DSP Builder technology in a MATLAB / SIMULINK environment to develop a digital power electronics controller. A full-bridge PWM converter for a solar grid-tie inverter was built and close correlation to the model was demonstrated. The method presented provides complete system simulation of power electronics, while also providing the quality and productivity benefits of auto-code generation.