femtoCore: An Open Source Processor Architecture for Power Electronics Controls

The flexibility, high performance and determinism of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), makes them an ideal candidate for the digital control of power electronics converters. This is especially true when dealing with modular and multi-phase systems where large numbers of PWM signals and dedicated custom communication interfaces are a requirement. This paper brings forward a novel, floating point processor architecture that marries for the development speed typical of software workflows, with strong safety guarantees that fully deterministic HDL workflow can offer.