Predictive control system and method
First Claim
1. A control system for controlling the operation of a power circuit, said power circuit having N binary switches for one of providing power to and receiving power from a load circuit, the various configurations of said N binary switches being represented by a finite state machine having up to 2N switch states, the present configuration of said N binary switches being associated with a present switch state and having a plurality of next switch states according to state transition constraints of the finite state machine, said control system comprising:
- (a) an acquisition module for acquiring a set of operational signals related to the load circuit associated with the present switch state;
(b) an embedded simulator coupled to the acquisition module for estimating a set of estimated operational characteristics of the load circuit based on the set of operational signals and the present switch state;
(c) a next state contemplator coupled to said embedded simulator for estimating a set of estimated operational characteristics of the load circuit for each of the plurality of next switch states, for comparing and selecting the next switch state having estimated operational characteristics that best meet a first set of criteria, and for actuating the power circuit to change the switch configuration of the N binary switches therein to the switch configuration associated with said selected next switch state of the plurality of next states.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system and control method provides improved control of various loads by selecting the switch configuration of an associated power circuit having N binary switches, based in part on a finite state machine. The control system includes an embedded simulator, a present state contemplator and a next state contemplator to predict the operation of the load based on various switch configurations of the power circuit. The various switch states of the power circuit are modeled by the finite state machine (having up to 2N switch states) such that at any time, the power circuit switches are in a Present State and there are a plurality of Next States which are one or more switch transitions away from the Present State. The embedded simulator estimates the operating conditions of the load based on measured operational characteristics and the Present State. The present state contemplator determines, based on the operating conditions, whether a switch state transition should be contemplated. If so, then the next state contemplator determines the optimal next state based on a set of performance criterion and sends a state switch command to the power circuit.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. A control system for controlling the operation of a power circuit, said power circuit having N binary switches for one of providing power to and receiving power from a load circuit, the various configurations of said N binary switches being represented by a finite state machine having up to 2N switch states, the present configuration of said N binary switches being associated with a present switch state and having a plurality of next switch states according to state transition constraints of the finite state machine, said control system comprising:
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(a) an acquisition module for acquiring a set of operational signals related to the load circuit associated with the present switch state;
(b) an embedded simulator coupled to the acquisition module for estimating a set of estimated operational characteristics of the load circuit based on the set of operational signals and the present switch state;
(c) a next state contemplator coupled to said embedded simulator for estimating a set of estimated operational characteristics of the load circuit for each of the plurality of next switch states, for comparing and selecting the next switch state having estimated operational characteristics that best meet a first set of criteria, and for actuating the power circuit to change the switch configuration of the N binary switches therein to the switch configuration associated with said selected next switch state of the plurality of next states. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for controlling the operation of a power circuit, said power circuit having N binary switches for one of providing power to and receiving power from a load circuit, the various configurations of said N binary switches being represented by a finite state machine having up to 2N switch states, the present configuration of said N binary switches being associated with a present switch state and having a plurality of next switch states according to state transition constraints of the finite state machine, said method comprising:
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(a) acquiring a set of operational signals related to the load circuit;
(b) estimating a set of estimated operational characteristics based on the set of operational signals and on the present switch state;
(c) comparing and selecting the next switch state having estimated operational characteristics that best meet a first set of criteria; and
,(d) changing the configuration of the N binary switches to the switch configuration associated with said selected next switch state of the plurality of next switch states. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A method for determining the voltage provided by a power circuit having N switches in a circuit configuration, where each switch includes a unidirectional current element having a connected node that is coupled to a voltage source and an opposite node, each switch having a present current direction, said method comprising the steps:
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(a) for each switch that opens;
(i) determining the direction of the present current direction with respect to a free-wheeling current path of the unidirectional current element;
(ii) if the present current direction is positive with respect to the free-wheeling current path, then the voltage at the opposite node is a determined voltage and is equal to the voltage at the connected node; and
,(iii) if the present current direction is negative with respect to the free-wheeling current path, then the voltage at the opposite node is an undetermined voltage; and
(b) combining the values of all determined voltages present at the opposite nodes of each switch in accordance with the circuit configuration of the power circuit to form a vector representing the voltage provided by the power circuit.
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Specification