FPGA Realization of Wavelet Transform for Detection of Electric Power System Disturbances

Realization of wavelet transform on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices for the detection of power system disturbances is proposed in this paper. This approach provides an integral signal-processing paradigm, where its embedded wavelet basis serves as a window function to monitor the signal variations very efficiently. By using this technique, the time information and frequency information can be unified as a visualization scheme, facilitating the supervision of electric power signals. To improve its computation performance, the proposed method starts with the software simulation of wavelet transform in order to formulate the mathematical model. This is followed by the circuit synthesis and timing analysis for the validation of the designated circuit. Then, the designated portfolio can be programmed into the FPGA chip through the download cable. The completed prototype will be tested through software-generated signals and utility-sampled signals, in which test scenarios covering several kinds of electric power quality disturbances are examined thoroughly. From the test results, they support the practicality and advantages of the proposed method for the applications.