Circuit partitioning components

This section describes the general properties of circuit properties components in Typhoon HIL's Schematic Editor, such as core couplings, device couplings, core markers, device markers, etc.

There are two different types of coupling elements, Ideal Transformer based (IT) and Transmission Line Model based (TLM). IT coupling components are ideal transformers with a transfer ratio of one. They are used to partition the complete emulated power electronics circuit into multiple sub-circuits. Consequently, each sub-circuit is assigned and executed on a separate processing core and/or separate device. In addition, this ideal transformer block introduces a time delay (0.5µs, 1 µs or 2 µs) between measured variables and corresponding controlled sources, which is negligible for most practical systems.

Note: It is very important to remember that the red side of a coupling component is a current source side, while the green side is the voltage source side. For more details about coupling placement please refer to Coupling component placement and parametrization - Ideal Transformer based couplings.

When IT coupling components are added to the circuit, topological conflicts can occur (described in Topological Conflicts). These conflicts are solved by adding snubber circuits in parallel with a coupling's current source and/or in series with a coupling's voltage source. Snubbers are embedded in coupling components. Check Core couplings - Ideal Transformer for more informations about snubbers and their usage.

IT coupling can make a model unstable, so coupling stability analysis routine is available. Coupling stability analysis checks the stability of all core coupling components in the model. If core coupling stability analysis is enabled, than during the compilation, a stability report is printed for all couplings in the circuit. For each coupling, there can be three massages: coupling element is stable, coupling element is unstable and coupling element is around stability border. For more information about stability analysis check Core couplings - Ideal Transformer.

TLM (Transmission Line Model) core coupling components are based on transmission-line links. Similar to IT coupling components, they are used to partition the complete emulated power electronics circuit into multiple sub-circuits. A coupling component can be either capacitive or inductive.

The main advantage of TLM couplings, compared to the ideal transformer based coupling components, is that TLM couplings are symmetrical components. Both sides of the TLM couplings are voltage sources behind an impedance. Because of this property, TLM coupling rotation is not important and they will not introduce any topological conflict in the circuit. The main disadvantage is that they will add some additional inductance or capacitance to the circuit. However, it is better to replace an existing inductor/capacitor with a TLM coupling in order to get better results. For more details about TLM coupling placement please refer to Coupling component placement and parametrization - TLM based couplings

The bilinear discretization method is recommended since TLM coupling is based on this approach. But, if the TLM inductance(capacitance) is relatively small, trapezoidal discretization can be used. TLM coupling is in general more robust than the Ideal Transformer coupling. TLM coupling in combination with bilinear or trapezoidal discretization method guaranties stability in the most of practical use cases, so there is no need for an additional stability analysis.

In addition to the Ideal Transformer and Transmission Line Model coupling components, a Bergeron transmission line can be used for circuit decoupling. Check Single phase Bergeron transmission line and Three phase Bergeron transmission line for more information about Bergeron models.

The current version of Schematic Editor offers a selection of the following types of circuit coupling components:

Core couplings - Ideal Transformer

Core couplings - TLM

Single phase Bergeron transmission line

Three phase Bergeron transmission line

Device couplings - Ideal Transformer

Device couplings - TLM

Core marker

Device Marker