۱- Introduction

۲- Review

۳- The proposed architecture

۴- Case studies

۵- Implementation results

۶- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Application Specific Processors (ASPs) are used in many areas. In this paper, an application specific soft-core processor for control of switching power converters is designed and implemented. The proposed designed architecture is constructed based on fixed-point arithmetic with minimal functional units. The control algorithm, which is used in this architecture, is Finite-Set Model Predictive Control (FS-MPC). The proposed soft-core processor is coded in VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and implemented on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform. This architecture consists of minimum functional unit with only two adders and two multipliers, a control unit and a selection unit. The designed architecture is general and low cost and can be used in any type of converters. In this paper the functionality of the processor is examined by three types of converters namely three-phase inverters, dual transistor forward converter and active front end rectifier. In comparison with other controllers, output results indicate the accuracy of proposed architecture.

Introduction

General-purpose processors are capable of performing various applications and tasks. They can be inefficient in terms of implementation costs, particularly for devices that are designed to execute special operations. Moreover, general-purpose processors show low performance in computationally intensive applications. Therefore, Application Specific Processors (ASP) appeared as a solution for high performance and low-cost processors. ASPs can be found approximately in each device we use on a daily basis such as TVs, cell phones, GPSs, few to mention. An ASP is specifically designed for an application in which high performance, low cost, and low power consumption are required. There are two types of ASPs: hard-core processor and soft-core processor. A hard-core processor cannot be reconfigured after fabrication and after fabrication, all its modules are fixed. Soft-core processors, on the other hand, are systems which can be deployed on programmable logic ICs, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). In this type of systems, the processor and its surrounding peripherals are created by using the available resources on a programmable logic device and which can be modified according to any specific set of requirements. Main benefits of soft-core system are flexibility, easy for verification and visibility to signal behaviors. Famous soft-core processors are Dossmatik [1], MCL51 [2],