Testing of Multi-Rate Simulations Using the ESL Simulation Language

John J. Zenor, John G. Pearce, Richard Bednar and Roy E. Crosbie

Summer Computer Simulation Conference 2007 (SCSC 2007)
San Diego, California (USA), July 15-18, 2007

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Abstract

Multi-rate simulation is useful in simulating large systems made up of subsystems with widely differing dynamic ranges. It is particularly valuable in real-time simulations that include special-purpose high-speed elements in a distributed simulation. ESL is a fully-featured continuous system simulation language (CSSL) with the additional ability to allow a simulation to be divided into segments, each with its own integration algorithm and step length. It also supports programming of the method used to communicate data between segments such as zero-order or first-order hold. ESL also has advanced discontinuity handling features that can be enabled or disabled. This allows the effect of timing errors in to be determined in applications such as power electronics which involve many switching events.

For these reasons, ESL has been used both to support the development of analytical tools for evaluating the stability of multi-rate simulations and for step-size studies during the development of high-speed real-time simulations of power electronic systems. Analytical results can be easily checked by implementing corresponding multi-rate simulations in ESL to provide experimental confirmation of analytical results. Timing errors in real-time power electronic simulations, which use fixed-step integration algorithms, are a major source of errors and it is these errors rather than the truncation errors produced by the integration algorithm that dictate the choice of step-size. The effect of timing errors can be determined by using the same fixed-step integration algorithms as are used in the real-time simulation and by comparing results with the ESL discontinuity-processing features turned on and off.

Examples are presented of the use of ESL both for supporting analytical studies and for evaluating timing errors in typical applications.

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