System architecture basics

This section explains the basic elements of the system and their functions: Typhoon HIL FPGA Solver, System CPU and User CPU.

Typhoon HIL simulators are based on a heterogeneous multi-processor architecture depicted in Figure 1

Figure 1. Typhoon HIL simulator processing resources
The basic elements of the system and their functions are:
  1. Typhoon FPGA solver – a specialized, proprietary FPGA-based multi-core processor optimized for time-exact simulation of electrical domain models. Typhoon FPGA solver executes models with the base simulation step.
  2. System CPUs – one or more general purpose processors that are indirectly controlled by the user. They are typically used to simulate low dynamics phenomena of certain electrical domain components or to handle communication protocol stacks. A few examples of components that utilize System CPU(s) are Voltage RMS, Single Phase Constant Power Load(Source) and Single Pole MP Circuit Breaker1.
  3. User CPUs – one or more general purpose processors that are under direct user control. They execute sub-models composed of signal processing components. The simulation step(s) is (are) a multiple of the base simulation step and are user defined.
  4. Communication CPUs – one or more general purpose processors that execute applications for communication protocols.

Figure 2 illustrates how different elements of a given model are mapped to the HIL device processing resources.

Figure 2. Model mapping example
  • Components framed by the green rectangle are fully or partially simulated on System CPU.
  • Components framed by the blue rectangles are simulated on User CPU.
  • All the remaining elements are simulated on Typhoon FPGA solver.

Electrical domain modeling principles are explained in Electrical domain modeling principles and constraints.

Details about signal processing modeling are given in Signal processing modeling principles