A programmable I/O system for real-time AC drive control applications

Abstract

This paper describes a programmable hardware structure capable of interfacing a conventional microprocessor to various sensors / actuators in a real-time AC drive control environment. The objective of the interface structure is to handle the low level data manipulation and supervisory control operations of the sensors / actuators and consequently free the resources of the host microprocessor for higher level tasks such as the real-time control algorithm of the application. The advent of high density Field Programmable Gate Arrays, executable specification and hardware compilation techniques provides an ideal path for the realisation of configurable hardware such as this interface structure. The paper illustrates the general structure of the interface and then concentrates on the design and implementation of an interface for a shaft position sensor commonly found in AC drive control applications, using the aforementioned techniques.