Effective real-time simulations of event-based systems

This paper presents a set of novel tools that allow the efficient simulation, at fixed time steps, of event-based dynamic systems. The so-called RT-Events library is an innovative toolbox that can be used with the Simulink/sup TM/ graphical software and that solves the following two problems encountered in the simulations of event-based systems: (1) time consuming variable-step algorithms; and (2) inaccurate real-time simulations with fixed-step algorithms. One important application of the new RT-Events toolbox is its capability to effectively simulate automotive systems as real-time, hardware-in-the-loop systems. It is shown that the simulations performed with the new tools are more efficient than the conventional algorithms. In particular, the important problem of reset walk, which is inherent to the classical fixed-step simulation of event-based systems, is explained and its solution obtained with the use of the blocks of the new toolbox is demonstrated. Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the new simulation tools.