Device Marker

Description of the Device Marker and Signal Device Marker components in Schematic Editor

There are two types of device markers available: the signal device marker and the electrical device marker. Their functionality is the same, the only difference is where they can be connected. Signal device markers are connected to the signal processing part of the model, while electrical device markers are connected to electrical part of the circuit. They are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Device marker components in Typhoon HIL Schematic Editor
component component dialog window component tabs

Device markers are used only in multiple HIL configurations (systems with more than one HIL device connected through a high speed serial link). Device markers are used to specify which part of the entire circuit is going to be emulated on which of the HIL devices in the system. The maximum number of HIL devices connected together is dependent on the type of HIL devices being connected, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Maximum HIL device paralleling support, per device
Parameter HIL404 HIL602+ HIL604 HIL606 VHIL+
Maximum number of devices in the chain 4 4 16 16 16
Note: VHIL+ is a unique Virtual HIL configuration that does not correspond to a physical HIL device. For this reason, it does not face other constraints with regards to paralleling, although it is not able to simulate models in real time and has no external IO support.

Configurations of individual HILs connected in parallel can be different, which can be set in properties window of device markers. Other factors may limit the maximum number of variables and streams you can send across devices. For more details regarding HIL paralleling and multi-HIL systems, please refer to t-ug011 (HIL paralleling guide).

HW settings

The HW settings tab, shown in Figure 1, has three properties:

  1. HIL Device ID - This parameter defines in which device the marked part of the circuit is going to be compiled. The ID values available in the HIL Device ID combo box depend on the device defined in Model -> Model settings; HW configuration ID
  2. Override global settings – if checked than for the globally set HW configuration ID will be override by HW configuration ID set in device marker.
  3. Hardware configuration id– hardware configuration ID local to the HIL.
Figure 1. HW settings tab in the Device marker properties window

Circuit Solver settings

Circuit solver settings are set globally via Schematic settings, but they can be overriden for each device in a multi-HIL system. This is done by checking the checkbox Override global solver settings shown in Figure 2. There are six properties in the Circuit Solver tab:

  1. Override global solver settings– overrides the global solver settings for the marked HIL in a multi-HIL system
  2. Discretization method– discretization method for state space equations of the model
  3. Simulation step – simulation step of the electrical part of the model
  4. Calculation method - There are two available algorithms for state space matrix calculation of the model. By default systematic elimination is used. In some extraordinary cases, constraint matrix algorithm is required
  5. Enhance stability – cancels out positive poles of the system due to numerical calculation error, which ensures stability during long simulation runtimes
  6. Enable GDS oversampling – digital inputs are oversampled by default. For more information, please refer to the GDS oversampling documentation.
Figure 2. Circuit solver settings tab in device marker properties window

Signal Processing settings

Signal processing settings are set globally via Schematic settings, but they can be overriden for each device in a multi-HIL system. This is done by checking the checkboxes Override global solver settings or Override global user SP settings shown in Figure 3. There are eight properties in the Signal Processing tab:

  1. “Override global user SP settings” - Override global settings for user signal processing part of the model
  2. “Compiler optimization level” - Customize the optimization level of the compiled binary. Full optimization ensures the smallest code size and fastest execution time, while no optimization ensures the most model stability.
  3. “Place code section in” - Target memory selection for the code program sections
  4. “Place data section in” - Target memory selection for the data program sections
  5. “Override global system SP settings” - Override global settings for system signal processing part of the model
  6. “Compiler optimization level” - Customize the optimization level of the compiled binary. Full optimization ensures the smallest code size and fastest execution time, while no optimization ensures the most model stability.
  7. “Execution rate 1” - fast execution rate for system signal processing components
  8. “Execution rate 2” - slow execution rate for system signal processing components
Figure 3. Signal processing settings tab in the Device marker properties window

An example of a HIL marker use case is shown in Figure 4. Device coupling is used to divide the full circuit into two separate circuits that should be emulated on two separate HIL devices. Device markers are used to define which part is emulated on which HIL. The rectifier part is marked with a marker set to ID=0, meaning that it is going to be emulated on the HIL with ID0. The inverter and machine part of the circuit is marked with a marker set to ID=1, so it is going to be emulated on the HIL with ID1.

Figure 4. Device marker use case