ELECTRONIC DESIGN AUTOMATION (EDA) TECHNIQUES FOR THE DESIGN OF POWER ELECTRONIC CONTROL-SYSTEMS

The paper illustrates the advantages arising from the use of electronic design automation tools in the development of complex signal-processing circuits for power electronic systems. Time-critical circuits close to the waveform generation in power electronic applications may be closely simulated, giving an accurate representation of the performance of the expected hardware without recourse to physical prototyping. However, more sophisticated and flexible software solutions for the control strategy may also be developed using similar models, thus allowing an extremely high confidence in the final product before committing to experimental hardware. The `right first time' ethos, which is predominant in the integrated-circuit environment, may now be expanded to encompass power engineering digital control systems design. The process is illustrated by practical design examples implemented by the authors.