EP2047390A2

EP2047390A2 - Sensor simulation system

Info

Publication number: EP2047390A2
Application number: EP07823368A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gilles Mazeau; Christophe Vlacich
Original assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
Current assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
Priority date: 2006-07-31
Filing date: 2007-07-30
Publication date: 2009-04-15
Also published as: US20090265153A1; WO2008015333A2; JP4997290B2; US8417500B2; FR2904450B1; CN101496013B; CN101496013A; CA2657082A1; JP2009545792A; CA2657082C; RU2417428C2; FR2904450A1; BRPI0714107A2; WO2008015333A3; RU2009107049A

Abstract

The invention concerns a sensor simulation system. The simulation system (1) comprises a generator (3) that generates a digital signal by direct digital frequency synthesis, based on the following parameters: a frequency, an amplitude, a phase and amplitude shift; a digital/analog converter (4), and a means (6) that modulates the signal received from said converter (4).

Description

Sensor simulation system.

The present invention relates to a simulation system for simulating the operation of a sensor for translating physical parameters into electrical signals.

Although not exclusively, such a simulation system is particularly suitable for simulating the operation of an LVDT type sensor (for Linear Variable Differential Transformer), of the LVT (Linear Variable Transformer) type. ), type RVDT (for "Rotary Variable Differential Transformer" in English), type RVT (for "Rotary Variable Transformer" in English) or type RESOLVER. It is known that such known sensors are used to translate into electrical signals displacements (linear, angular) and angular velocities. These sensors find particular application in the aeronautical field, particularly in the following functions: extension of the cylinder rod, steering position, displacement and servovalve slide position, engine speed, ... The interest of these sensors is based on the fact that the position and / or the displacement are obtained by amplitude modulation. This technique allows in particular to have good immunity to noise and electromagnetic aggression. More precisely: an LVDT type sensor is a transformer that modulates a voltage proportionally to the displacement of a ferromagnetic core. This sensor is composed of a primary winding powered by an alternating excitation signal, and two secondary windings. The core slides within these coils, channels the flux and generates voltages in each secondary winding, the amplitudes of which depend on the position thereof; a RVDT type sensor is similar to an LVDT type sensor, but it uses a rotating ferromagnetic core;

sensors of the LVT and RVT type are respectively LVDT and RVDT type sensors, but equipped with only one secondary winding; and a sensor of the RESOLVER type comprises, in place of a ferromagnetic core, an excitation acting as a rotor, and two secondary windings which are positioned at 90 ° so as to act as stators.

These different sensors are the links of a servo chain, whose control laws are executed by a computer.

The present invention relates to a simulation system that makes it possible to simulate such a sensor and that can in particular be used to validate the aforementioned control laws, or to automate test procedures, or to test specific application boundary conditions. res that are difficult to reproduce with real sensors, such as a noise injection and phase shift or the event combination of information.

For this purpose, according to the invention, said simulation system for simulating the operation of a sensor intended to translate digitized physical parameters into electrical signals, is remarkable in that it comprises at least one simulation set which comprises:

a generator which makes it possible to generate, by direct digital frequency synthesis, a digital signal, taking into account at least the following parameters: a frequency, an amplitude, a phase and an amplitude offset;

a digital / analog converter which converts the digital signal generated by said generator into an analog signal; and

- a calculation means: Which modulates the analog signal received from said converter so as to form an electrical signal capable of simulating the operation of said sensor; and which emits the electrical signal thus formed. Thus, thanks to the invention and as specified below, there is obtained a sensor simulation system having many advantages, including:

- Obtaining an integrated and inexpensive system, which can be integrated into a programmable component or an integrated circuit type ASIC ("Application Specifies Integrated Circuit" in English);

the possibility of simulating a complete aircraft with several modules synchronized with each other;

- Achieving a high performance with in particular a frequency accuracy, an instantaneous frequency hopping and inter-channel clearance control; and

the possibility of simulating cases of equipment failures, such as the loss of a winding, harmonic distortion, intervoice attenuation, crosstalk, and a failure of generation of the excitation.

The simulation system according to the invention can in particular be used to simulate the operation of a sensor of any of the aforementioned types LVDT, LVT, RVDT, RVT and RESOLVER. However, this simulation system can also be used to simulate the operation of a sensor for measuring at least one particular parameter of an aircraft, such as wheel speed, fuel flow, vibrations and / or engine speed.

In the context of the present invention, and depending on the type of sensor that the simulation system must simulate, the latter comprises:

either a single simulation set of the aforementioned type; or a plurality of simulation assemblies of the aforementioned type, which are then connected in parallel.

In the latter case, advantageously, said simulation system comprises, in addition, a single generation means, which is capable of generating a carrier making it possible to carry out a modulation and which is connected to all the calculation means of said simulation system, as well as a means of synchronization (which realizes the synchronization of the different generators).

In a preferred embodiment, said generator of a simulation set comprises:

a phase accumulator which carries out a frequency modulation of a signal;

a phase-shifter which realizes a phase modulation of the signal received from the phase accumulator; a memory which comprises a wave table which contains the binary description of the synthesized signal, and which carries out a phase-amplitude transformation of this signal;

an attenuator which carries out an amplitude modulation of the signal received from said memory; and an adding means which makes it possible to add to the signal received from said attenuator an amplitude offset and which transmits the signal resulting therefrom.

In addition, in a particular embodiment, said generator may furthermore comprise:

a synchronization means making it possible to parallel said generator with other generators; and or

an interpolator for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the output signal of said generator; and or

a recitation means for pushing the low frequency limits on sinusoidal signals without modifying the parameters design parameters such as the size of the wave table and the frequency of the system. Thus, without modifying these two design parameters, this means is capable of reaching frequencies two to four times lower; and / or - switching means for switching an amplitude modulation source; and or

- Clipping means for performing digital clipping of the output signal of said generator.

The figures of the appended drawing will make it clear how the invention can be realized. In these figures, identical references designate similar elements.

Figures 1 and 2 are the block diagrams of a simulation system according to the invention, respectively in two different embodiments. Figure 3 is a block diagram of a basic embodiment of a generator forming part of a simulation system according to the invention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a particular embodiment of a generator forming part of a simulation system according to the invention.

The simulation system 1 according to the invention and shown schematically in different embodiments in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended to simulate the operation of a sensor (not shown) whose purpose is, generally speaking, to translate physical parameters into electrical signals.

To do this, said simulation system 1 comprises at least one simulation unit 2 as represented in FIG. 1, which comprises:

a generator 3 which makes it possible to generate, by direct digital frequency synthesis of the DDS ("Direct Digital Synthesis") type, a signal digital signal, and this taking into account at least the following parameters: a frequency, an amplitude and a phase (and generally also an amplitude offset and a gain);

- A digital-to-analog converter 4 of the usual type, which is connected via a link 5 to said generator 3 and which converts the digital signal generated by this generator 3 into an analog signal; and

a calculation means 6:

which is connected via a link 7 to said digital-to-analog converter 4; which carries out a modulation of the analog signal received from said converter 4 so as to form an electrical signal capable of simulating the operation of said sensor; and which transmits the electrical signal thus formed, via a link 8, to a user device (not shown).

Thus, thanks to the invention and as specified below, we obtain a simulation system 1 for a sensor that provides many benefits, including:

- obtaining an integrated and inexpensive system, which can be integrated in a programmable component or in an integrated circuit of the type

ASIC ("Application Specifies Integrated Circuit");

- Obtaining a high performance including a frequency accuracy, an instantaneous frequency jump and inter-channel phase shift control; and

the possibility of simulating cases of hardware failures, such as winding loss, harmonic distortion, inter-channel attenuation, crosstalk, and excitation generation failure. The simulation system 1 according to the invention can in particular be used to simulate the operation of a sensor of any of the following usual types: LVDT, LVT, RVDT, RVT and RESOLVER. It is known that: an LVDT type sensor is a transformer that modulates a voltage in proportion to the displacement of a ferromagnetic core. This sensor is composed of a primary winding powered by an alternating excitation signal, and two secondary windings. The core slides inside these coils, channels the flow and generates voltages in each secondary winding, whose amplitudes depend on the position thereof;

a RVDT type sensor is similar to an LVDT type sensor, but it uses a rotating ferromagnetic core;

sensors of the LVT and RVT type are respectively LVDT and RVDT type sensors, but equipped with only one secondary winding; and

- A RESOLVER type sensor comprises, in place of a ferromagnetic core, an excitation acting as a rotor, and two secondary windings which are positioned at 90 ° so as to act as stators. However, the simulation system 1 according to the invention can also be used to simulate sensors intended to measure particular parameters of an aircraft, such as wheel speed, fuel flow, vibrations and / or engine speed.

Said simulation system 1 which thus makes it possible to simulate a sensor can be used in particular:

to validate control laws of a control chain comprising such a sensor; and or

- to automate test procedures; and or - To test specific application boundary conditions that are difficult to reproduce with real sensors, such as noise injection and phase shift or the event combination of information. In the context of the present invention, and depending on the type of sensor that the simulation system 1 must simulate, the latter comprises:

either a single simulation unit 2 of the aforementioned type, as represented in FIG. 1;

or a plurality of simulation assemblies 2 of the aforementioned type, which are then connected in parallel, as represented in FIG. 2.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the simulation system 1 comprises two simulation sets 2 (such as the simulation set 2 represented in FIG. 1), as well as, in particular, the following elements: synchronization 9 common, which is connected via links 10 and 1 1 to each of the generators 3 of said two sets of simulation 2. This synchronization means 9, comprising for example a usual clock, realizes the synchronization of the two sets of simulation 2; and - a single generation means 12 which is connected via links 13 and 14 respectively to multiplication means 15 and 16. This generation means 12 and multiplication means 15, 16 form said calculation means 6. This generation means 12 generates a carrier Ve (t) [(for example of type Ve (t) = A.sin (W0.t) where A and WO are predetermined parameters and t represents the time)] which is multiplied by the output signal of each of the converters 4 [K1 (t) and K2 (t) respectively) so as to obtain at the output of said simulation assemblies 2 respectively the following output signals V1 (t) and V2 (t): V1 (t) = K1 (t) .A.sin (WO.t)

lV2 (t) = K2 (t) .A.sin (WO.t)

The multiplying means 15, 16 may be digital or be made by the reference inputs of the digital / analog converter.

It will be noted that the synchronization means 9 makes it possible to control the phase shift between the signals V1 (t) and V2 (t) and the simultaneous evolution of parameters such as the frequency.

In FIG. 2, rectangles 17 and 18 in dashed lines, respectively, show the digital portion and the analog portion of said simulation system 1. Of course, said simulation system 1 may comprise a different number (three, four, ...) of simulation sets 2.

Moreover, in a preferred embodiment, the generator 3 of each simulation unit 2 of the simulation system 1 according to the invention comprises, as represented in FIG. 3: a phase accumulator 20 which carries out a frequency modulation a signal;

a phase-shifter 21 which is connected via a link 22 to said phase accumulator 20 and which modulates the phase of the signal received from said phase accumulator 20; a memory 23 which is connected via a link 24 to said phase-shifter 21. This memory 23 comprises a wave table which contains the binary description of the synthesized signal. It performs a phase-amplitude transformation of the signal;

an attenuator 26 which is connected via a link 27 to said means 23 (memory) and which carries out an amplitude modulation of the signal received from said means 23; and an addition means 28 which is connected via a link 29 to said attenuator 26, which makes it possible to add to the signal received from this attenuator 26 an amplitude offset, and which transmits the resulting signal by the intermediate link 5. Said generator 3 implements an electronic function that allows the generation of an arbitrary electric waveform. The basic principle is to recite a wave table and generate an electrical signal from the following numerical parameters:

- a frequency; an amplitude;

- a phase ; and

an amplitude offset.

It will be noted that, on the generator 3 of FIG. 3, there is an input (not shown) on the means 20, 21, 23, 26 and 28, coming from outside and respectively corresponding to the aforementioned parameter (frequency, phase, description of the wave table, gain / amplitude, offset).

In the context of the present invention, the "recitation" of a wave table represents a technique of traveling the wave table. Like the reading of a page, the meaning is from top to bottom. The automaton proceeds in the same way to the reading of the wave table in order to recite the latter. The phase accumulator scans the addresses of the table from the lowest address to the highest address incrementally. The incrementation speed is a function of the frequency of the signal to be generated. The higher the frequency, the faster the recitation. At each address of the table corresponds an instantaneous amplitude of the output signal. The output signal is thus modulated in frequency.

The phase accumulator 20 is the core of said generator 3. This phase accumulator 20 is an N-bit register (N = M + T) whose incrementation speed is set by a register of M bits and a frequency Clock Fosc. The most significant bits of the phase accumulator 20 make it possible to address the memory 23.

The phase accumulator 20 receives a binary code TW (for

"Tuning Word") which corresponds to the frequency of the synthesized output signal. This binary code TW fixes the scanning speed of the phase and therefore of the frequency of the generated signal. The phase accumulator 20 performs an arithmetic addition of the binary code with respect to the result

- previous. Also, for a binary code TW and a duration n, the output of the accumulator 20 may correspond to the following value: (n -M) .TW

The output result of the accumulator 20 therefore corresponds to a ramp whose slope depends on the value of the binary code TW. The size of the output binary word of the phase accumulator 20 is further limited, for example to 32 bits. Therefore, at any time, a change (made by an operator) of the value of the TW bit code allows a change in the slope of the phase accumulator 20, and thus a change in the output frequency.

For technological reasons, the output of the phase accumulator 20 is truncated, since at each instantaneous output value corresponds a position on a trigonometric circle. Thus, only the upper part of the result of the phase accumulator 20 is preserved. The output signal is, therefore, composed of two parts:

an upper part which corresponds to the instantaneous phase of the output signal; and

- A truncated portion which is preserved for the loopback of the phase accumulator 20, to limit the effects of truncation (rounded).

In addition, the phase shifter 21 performs an addition of the upper part of the output signal of the phase accumulator 20 with a volume register. instantaneous phase so as to achieve phase modulation. The summed value φ is between 0 ° and 360 °.

Moreover, the memory 23 contains the binary description of the synthesized signal. The contents of this memory are arbitrary. The size of this memory 23 is however fixed by the size of the truncation at the output of the phase accumulator 20. Thus, the size T of the memory 23 complies with the following law:

in which: - N is the size of the TW bit code; and

M is the size of the truncated portion at the output of the phase accumulator 20.

The output of the phase shifter 21 acts as a pointer to the wave table. The path of this wave table is more or less fast depending on the value of the TW bit code at the input of the phase accumulator 20.

In addition, the amplitude modulator or attenuator 26 which is located at the output of the wave table receives, as information, from the latter, the instantaneous amplitude of the synthesis signal. This attenuator 26 carries out a multiplication between an amplitude modulation register and the output of the means 23.

The memory 23 stores a configurable waveform that is recited at the speed of the phase accumulator 20. By way of example, this waveform may be sinusoidal, triangular or of any other type.

When the generator 3 must emit at its output a signal So of the form:

So = A.sin (θt + φ) + B is formed to generate:

at the output of the phase accumulator 20 (defining the frequency), a signal θt; at the output of the phase shifter 21 (producing a phase shift of value φ), a signal θt + φ;

at the output of the means 23 (defining the waveform, for example of the sinusoidal type ["sin"]), a signal (θt + φ); at the output of the attenuator 26 (performing an amplitude modulation of value A), a signal A.sin (θt + φ); and

at the output of the addition means 28 (realizing an amplitude offset of value B), said A.sin signal (θt + φ) + B.

Moreover, in a particular embodiment shown in FIG. 4, said generator 3 furthermore comprises:

a synchronization means 30 which makes it possible to parallel said generator 3 with other generators. The available synchronization modes include: time synchronization, frequency synchronization, on events (trigger); an interpolator 31 (linear, second order, ...) which is connected, for example, via links 31A and 24 respectively to means 23 and to the phase-shifter 21 and which makes it possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio , without changing the size of the wave table. The calculation of the interpolation is based on the fractional part of the phase accumulator 20. This interpolator 31 is connected in parallel with the means 23 and is associated with a selection means 37 which is connected via links 37A , 37B and 37C respectively to the means 23, 31 and 26;

a recitation means 32 which is, for example, connected via a link 33 to said phase accumulator 20 and which makes it possible to choose several modes of recitation of the wave table, in order to push the limits in terms of low frequency on sinusoidal waveforms without changing the binary resolution of the generator 3; a switching means 34 which is, for example, connected via a link 35 to said attenuator 26 and which makes it possible to switch the amplitude modulation source, either internally (digital modulation) or by acquisition of an external voltage reference; and

a clipping means 36 which is mounted downstream of said addition means 28 (to which it is for example connected via a link 36A) and which makes it possible to perform digital clipping of the output signal, in order to to avoid jumps due to possible sign bit errors.

Claims

1. A simulation system for simulating the operation of a sensor for translating digitized physical parameters into electrical signals, said simulation system (1) comprising at least one simulation unit (2) comprising:

- A generator (3) for generating, by direct digital frequency synthesis, a digital signal, taking into account at least the following parameters: a frequency, an amplitude, a phase and an amplitude offset; a digital / analog converter (4) which converts the digital signal generated by said generator (3) into an analog signal; and

a calculation means (6):

. which modulates the analog signal received from said converter (4) so as to form an electrical signal capable of simulating the operation of said sensor; and. which emits the electrical signal thus formed, characterized in that it furthermore comprises a single generating means (12) which is capable of generating a carrier making it possible to carry out a modulation and which is connected to all the computing means (6) of said simulation system (1), as well as synchronization means (9).

2. Simulation system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of simulation assemblies (2) which are connected in parallel.

3. Simulation system according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said generator (3) of a simulation assembly (2) comprises:

a phase accumulator (20) which realizes a frequency modulation of a signal; - a phase shifter (21) which realizes a phase modulation of the signal received from the phase accumulator (20);

a memory (23) which comprises a wave table which contains the binary description of the synthesized signal, and which carries out a phase-amplitude transformation of this signal;

an attenuator (26) which carries out an amplitude modulation of the signal received from said memory (23); and

an addition means (28) which makes it possible to add to the signal received from said attenuator (26) an amplitude offset and which emits the signal as a result.

4. claim system according to claim 3, characterized in that said generator (3) further comprises a synchronization means (30) for performing a paralleling of said generator (3) with other generators (3). ).

5. claim system according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said generator (3) further comprises an interpolator (31) for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the output signal of said generator (3).

6. claim system according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that said generator (3) further comprises a recitation means (32) for pushing the low frequency limits on sinusoidal signals without for as much change the design parameters.

7. claim system according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that said generator (3) further comprises a switching means (34) for switching an amplitude modulation source.

8. claim system according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that said generator (3) further comprises a clipping means (36) for performing a digital clipping of the output signal of said generator ( 3).