Overview of Control Algorithm Verification Methods in Power Electronics Systems

Abstract

The paper presents the existing verification methods for control algorithms in power electronics systems, including the application of model checking techniques. In the industry, the most frequently used verification methods are simulations and experiments; however, they have to be performed manually and do not give a 100% confidence that the system will operate correctly in all situations. Here we show the recent advancements in verification and performance assessment of power electronics systems with the usage of formal methods. Symbolic model checking can be used to achieve a guarantee that the system satisfies user-defined requirements, while statistical model checking combines simulation and statistical methods to gain statistically valid results that predict the behavior with high confidence. Both methods can be applied automatically before physical realization of the power electronics systems, so that any errors, incorrect assumptions or unforeseen situations are detected as early as possible. An additional functionality of verification with the use of formal methods is to check the converter operation in terms of reliability in various system operating conditions. It is possible to verify the distribution and uniformity of occurrence in time of the number of transistor switching, transistor conduction times for various current levels, etc. The information obtained in this way can be used to optimize control algorithms in terms of reliability in power electronics. The article provides an overview of various verification methods with an emphasis on statistical model checking. The basic functionalities of the methods, their construction, and their properties are indicated.

Application of Under-Impedance Criterion to Protect against Effects of Phase-to-Phase Short Circuits in Medium-Voltage Networks

“…The usefulness of this protection must be checked and confirmed by a longer-operating practice, but the high optimism about its properties results from the problems with obtaining selectivity via short-circuit overcurrent protection. Some formal verification methods applied to power electronics systems [40,41] could also be used to check the proposed concept. Computer simulations of various variants and models of networks, including those with local powerplants and reclosers, are also planned.…”

Modular Modeling and Statistical Validation for Grid-Connected FS-MPC-Controlled Matrix Converters

“…UPPAAL SMC was used, a tool which has its origin in the non-statistical model checking tool UPPAAL, and was extended with statistical analysis in 2012 [18]. In previous papers applying UPPAAL SMC to PES [4], [19], [27] the modelling was tailored to an individual controller and obtaining results from the model. In this paper we emphasize the simplifying of the model as much as possible as well as establishing interfaces between different components.…”

“…Due to the versatility of the control algorithm it has been employed in multiple power electronics converter topologies and applications [3]. For every control algorithm, performance verification plays a key role before commissioning of the converter system [4]. One of the goals of the control algorithm verification is to evaluate how disturbances and algorithm parameters affect the performance metrics of the PES, such as reference tracking or robustness with respect to parameter variations.…”

“…The conventional methods for verifying the control algorithm performance in PES [4] are by simulations and experiments. Formal verification methods, among which the most valuable are symbolic model checking and statistical model checking (SMC), are so far rarely used in the PES despite their wide success in the other domains.…”

Statistical Performance Verification of the FS-MPC Algorithm Applied to the Matrix Converter

“…Available control algorithm verification methods in power electronics systems [4] include simulations, symbolic model checking (MC), statistical model checking (SMC), hardwarein-the-loop (HiL) and experiments. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages, providing at the same time different kinds of feedback information and it is typically applied at different stages of converter system development.…”