Digital Controllers Design Using the ESA Control Toolbox in MATLAB Simulink

While the demanded performance of power converter controllers keeps on increasing, the design time is also expected to decrease. This becomes an even more significant issue in space applications, where design quality is critical. In order to fulfill the desired performance, FGPA becomes a valuable option for implementing advanced digital controller algorithms for power converters due to its high component density, speed, and reconfigurability. However, implementing controller algorithms in FPGAs is not trivial, particularly for designers unfamiliar with VHDL. The main objective of this study is to provide a MATLAB Simulink Toolbox, i.e., library, to implement power converter controllers algorithms in FPGAs without requiring prior knowledge of VHDL or any other hardware description language. The proposed library consists of essential building blocks needed for designing these controllers, all of which are synthesizable in any FPGA. Furthermore, to facilitate the design and debugging processes, all the building blocks will be compatible with Simulink simulation. Thus, two twin descriptions for each block are provided: one in MATLAB Simulink (M-code along with basic and standard Simulink blocks) and another in VHDL language. This study compares the simulation results achieved by both descriptions for two different PID controllers connected to a synchronous buck converter to assure that the results obtained from the Simulink simulation are similar to those in the FPGA implementation.