Comparison of Numerical Methods for Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation of Switched-Mode Power Supplies

The use of Hardware-In-the-Loop systems implemented in FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) is growing constantly because of their performance. However, hardware implementation of numerical methods to solve differential equations presents some challenges when they are applied to SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supplies). This paper shows a comparison of several numerical methods - Explicit Euler and 2
^nd
and 4
^th
order Runge-Kutta - taking into account the accuracy of the methods themselves and how they can be applied to SMPS, where the equations change depending on the state of switches. Results show that the main source of error is the mis-detection of the circuit switching, that is, not having enough resolution to detect the instant when the state of the switches changes.