Automatic Circuit Partitioning for Parallel Processing of Power Electric System Simulation

Abstract

Computational efficiency is very important for reducing the system development time and cost of a power electronic (PE) system simulator. A PE system often consists of various subcircuits that convert electric energy between different combinations of AC and DC. The subcircuits are linked by DC voltages and currents with large energy storage elements of inductors and/or capacitors in most cases. The DC-link voltages and currents vary very slowly. This paper describes a parallel circuit simulation method that divides the whole system into subcircuits by applying an explicit integration formula to selected energy storage elements such as series inductors and/or parallel capacitors. A new automatic partitioning method of a system into subcircuits is proposed. The method mainly consists of three steps: detection of parallel capacitors, that of series inductors, and reconnection consideration by control circuits. The proposed method is applicable to power electronic systems. A parallel simulation was performed to investigate how the proposed method works and to demonstrate the effectiveness of circuit partitioning.