Extended Kalman Filter for AC drive Sensorless Speed Controller - FPGA-based solution or DSP-based solution

The aim of this paper is to present a Sensorless Speed Controller for a Synchronous Motor (SM). The estimation of the rotor position and speed is achieved using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), eliminating the need of their corresponding mechanical sensors. The developed controller has been implemented in a fully FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based solution on the one hand and in a fully DSP (Digital Signal Processing) based solution on the other hand. Authors have compared and quantified the impact of the timing performance, in both cases, on the speed controller dynamic behavior and bandwidth. In this paper, the experimental validation of the Fully FPGA based solution is first discussed, followed by its comparison to the DSP solution. To prop up this comparison, experimental and simulation tests have been presented.