DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 9, 11, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fox (US 20140015555 A1) in view of Koralewicz (Koralewicz, P., Gevorgian, V., Wallen, R., van der Merwe, W., & Joerg, P. (2016, September). Advanced grid simulator for multi-megawatt power converter testing and certification. In 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.).
Regarding Claim 1:
Fox teaches:
accessing, with a computing system, a reference voltage value associated with an electric power grid being simulated; (¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands.; ¶49 In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.; ¶65 voltage should return to the pre-fault value or follow some arbitrary reference voltage profile; see also Koralewicz p.3, the reference voltage is compared and updated after every half cycle of multilevel carrier.)
modifying, with the computing system, the reference voltage value based on a virtual impedance associated with a condition on the electric power grid being simulated; (¶24 Further objectives are accomplished by providing an improved VFRD to allow for LVRT and ZVRT testing of large generators to more accurately represent the testing requirements of current and future grid codes. More specifically, a system is provided that is capable of providing variable, reactive-output impedance in order to control a voltage profile, therein creating an arbitrary recovery voltage.)
the output signal being applied to a power converter being tested to simulate the condition. (¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
applying, with the computing system, a phase and magnitude compensation to the modified reference voltage value; and (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4))
controlling, with the computing system, an operation of a grid simulator such that the grid simulator generates an output signal based on the modified voltage value after the phase and magnitude compensation has been applied, (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4); see also Fox ¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency command.; ¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 3:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
applying, with the computing system, a phase compensation. (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 9:
Fox teaches:
a grid simulator configured to be electrically coupled to a power converter being tested; and (¶12 providing a grid simulation system that includes a system for emulating various conditions in an electrical grid; ¶25 an electrical grid simulation system comprising a reactive divider operatively connected to a variable frequency converter, whereby the system provides grid simulation to mimic and control both expected and unexpected parameters within an electrical grid.; ¶48 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is in control of the voltage and frequency of the power amplifier 500 and the simulated grid bus 180. It is also possible for the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to receive voltage and frequency commands from an external source as further illustrated in FIG. 2. A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands.; ¶47 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is capable of sensing the voltage and current at the converter feedback point 420; ¶28 an electrical grid simulator comprising a power converter)
a computing system communicatively coupled to the grid simulator, the computing system configured to: (¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands)
access a reference voltage value associated with an electric power grid being simulated; (¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands.; ¶49 In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.; ¶65 voltage should return to the pre-fault value or follow some arbitrary reference voltage profile; see also Koralewicz p.3, the reference voltage is compared and updated after every half cycle of multilevel carrier.)
modify the reference voltage value based on a virtual impedance associated with a condition on the electric power grid being simulated; (¶24 Further objectives are accomplished by providing an improved VFRD to allow for LVRT and ZVRT testing of large generators to more accurately represent the testing requirements of current and future grid codes. More specifically, a system is provided that is capable of providing variable, reactive-output impedance in order to control a voltage profile, therein creating an arbitrary recovery voltage.)
the output signal being applied to the power converter to simulate the condition. (¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
apply a phase and magnitude compensation to the modified reference voltage value; and (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4))
control an operation of the grid simulator such that the grid simulator generates an output signal based on the modified voltage value after the phase and magnitude compensation has been applied, (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4); see also Fox ¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency command.; ¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 11:
Claim 11 is substantially similar to claim 3, and is rejected under the same grounds.
Regarding Claim 17:
Fox teaches:
when modifying the reference voltage value, the computing system is further configured to modify the reference voltage value based on a voltage of the output signal and the virtual impedance; and (¶24 Further objectives are accomplished by providing an improved VFRD to allow for LVRT and ZVRT testing of large generators to more accurately represent the testing requirements of current and future grid codes. More specifically, a system is provided that is capable of providing variable, reactive-output impedance in order to control a voltage profile, therein creating an arbitrary recovery voltage.)
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
when applying the phase and magnitude compensation, the computing system is configured to apply the phase and magnitude compensation based on a voltage of the power converter being tested. (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 18:
Fox teaches:
a grid simulator filter electrically coupled between the grid simulator and the power converter being tested. (¶45 The power amplifier bus 140 connects to a harmonic filter 150)
Regarding Claim 19:
Fox teaches:
a power converter; (¶28 an electrical grid simulator comprising a power converter)
a grid simulator configured to be electrically coupled to a power converter being tested; (¶28 an electrical grid simulator comprising a power converter)
a grid simulator filter electrically coupled between the power converter and the grid simulator; (¶45 The power amplifier bus 140 connects to a harmonic filter 150)
an inductor electrically coupled between the grid simulator filter and the power converter; and (¶31 connecting a first variable inductor in series with a power amplifier)
a computing system communicatively coupled to the grid simulator, the computing system configured to: (¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands)
access a reference voltage value associated with an electric power grid being simulated; (¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency commands.; ¶49 In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.; ¶65 voltage should return to the pre-fault value or follow some arbitrary reference voltage profile; see also Koralewicz p.3, the reference voltage is compared and updated after every half cycle of multilevel carrier.)
modify the reference voltage value based on a virtual impedance associated with a condition on the electric power grid being simulated; (¶24 Further objectives are accomplished by providing an improved VFRD to allow for LVRT and ZVRT testing of large generators to more accurately represent the testing requirements of current and future grid codes. More specifically, a system is provided that is capable of providing variable, reactive-output impedance in order to control a voltage profile, therein creating an arbitrary recovery voltage.)
the output signal being applied to the power converter to simulate the condition. (¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
apply a phase and magnitude compensation to the modified reference voltage value; and (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4))
control an operation of the grid simulator such that the grid simulator generates an output signal based on the modified voltage value after the phase and magnitude compensation has been applied, (p.4, For small signal changes, the output is adjusted within the minimum delay time which is critical for applications like power hardware in the loop. For large signal changes, e.g. LVRT, the voltage is following a reference with a ramp in a deterministic and accurate way.; p.7, In principle the impedance control is implemented for reference frequency and allows for the compensation of the matching transformer’s impedance reference droop impedance commands voltage reference and injecting of instead. The supervisor and configures the impedance, so that the voltage on the PCC shall follow (4); see also Fox ¶48 A standard computer can be configured and operatively connected to HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 to operate as a real-time digital simulator 700 to generate voltage and frequency command.; ¶49 the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 is also capable of feeding back into a real time digital simulator 700 the voltage and current measurements from the converter feedback point 420 and the simulated grid feedback point 410. In feeding these voltage and current measurements back into the real time digital simulator 700, the real time digital simulator 700 voltage and frequency references can be adjusted based upon the power system simulation model to properly reflect the output voltage and frequency that the HIL grid simulator interface controller 400 will command to the power amplifier 500.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 20:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Koralewicz teaches:
wherein the power converter comprises a wind turbine power converter. (p.1, With this system the testing of devices in fully controllable conditions, e.g. wind turbine’s nacelles in dynamometer buildings as well as devices operating on site: wind turbines)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the signal analysis, adjustment, and control, as well as the applications and simulator features of Koralewicz to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox, in order to utilize advanced modulation and control techniques to create an unique testing platform for various multi-megawatt power converter systems (Koralewicz, Abstract).
Claims 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fox (US 20140015555 A1) in view of Koralewicz (Koralewicz, P., Gevorgian, V., Wallen, R., van der Merwe, W., & Joerg, P. (2016, September). Advanced grid simulator for multi-megawatt power converter testing and certification. In 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.), and further in view of Monti (US 20080312855 A1).
Regarding Claim 2:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Monti teaches:
monitoring, with the computing system, for unstable conditions using a rate of change of the output signal; (¶113 The watchdog is a protection device designed to disable the pulses of the PWM output channels in case the real-time simulation crushes. It is based on a free running counter and a threshold. Every time VTB-RT writes a new value on the PCI bus the watchdog is reset. If VTB-RT does not generate output for 1 ms the wathchdog is triggered and the PWM disabled. This system assures that the experiment is stopped disabling any power flow in the platform as soon as the simulation is for whatever reason interrupted.)
comparing, with the computing system, the monitored rate of change to a maximum rate of change threshold; (¶113 The watchdog is a protection device designed to disable the pulses of the PWM output channels in case the real-time simulation crushes. It is based on a free running counter and a threshold. Every time VTB-RT writes a new value on the PCI bus the watchdog is reset. If VTB-RT does not generate output for 1 ms the wathchdog is triggered and the PWM disabled. This system assures that the experiment is stopped disabling any power flow in the platform as soon as the simulation is for whatever reason interrupted.)
monitoring, with the computing system, a time period across which the monitored rate of change exceeds the maximum rate of change threshold; and (¶113 The watchdog is a protection device designed to disable the pulses of the PWM output channels in case the real-time simulation crushes. It is based on a free running counter and a threshold. Every time VTB-RT writes a new value on the PCI bus the watchdog is reset. If VTB-RT does not generate output for 1 ms the wathchdog is triggered and the PWM disabled. This system assures that the experiment is stopped disabling any power flow in the platform as soon as the simulation is for whatever reason interrupted.)
halting, with the computing system, the operation of the grid simulator when the monitored time period exceeds a predetermined time period. (¶113 The watchdog is a protection device designed to disable the pulses of the PWM output channels in case the real-time simulation crushes. It is based on a free running counter and a threshold. Every time VTB-RT writes a new value on the PCI bus the watchdog is reset. If VTB-RT does not generate output for 1 ms the wathchdog is triggered and the PWM disabled. This system assures that the experiment is stopped disabling any power flow in the platform as soon as the simulation is for whatever reason interrupted.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop testing features of Monti to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz, in order to provide an effective approach for simplifying the process of prototyping and testing of complex systems (Monti, ¶2).
Regarding Claim 10:
Claim 10 is substantially similar to claim 2, and is rejected under the same grounds.
Claims 4, 7, 8, 12, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fox (US 20140015555 A1) in view of Koralewicz (Koralewicz, P., Gevorgian, V., Wallen, R., van der Merwe, W., & Joerg, P. (2016, September). Advanced grid simulator for multi-megawatt power converter testing and certification. In 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.), and further in view of Feng (Feng, Z., Peña-Alzola, R., Seisopoulos, P., Syed, M., Guillo-Sansano, E., Norman, P., & Burt, G. (2021, October). Interface compensation for more accurate power transfer and signal synchronization within power hardware-in-the-loop simulation. In IECON 2021–47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (pp. 1-8). IEEE.).
Regarding Claim 4:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Feng teaches:
applying, with the computing system, a lead lag compensation; and applying, with the computing system, a lag compensation. (Section 1, A phase-lead compensator is employed to compensate for the magnitude attenuation and the phase lag of the power interface; Section IV.A., Lead or lag filters are both candidates to compensate for the non-ideal power interface; Section V.A., the lead filter compensates for phase lag to some extent)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop simulation features of Feng to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz, in order to compensate for the non-ideal power interface by maximizing its bandwidth, maintaining its unity-gain characteristic, and compensating for its phase-shift over the frequencies of interest (Feng, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 7:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Feng teaches:
wherein applying the phase and magnitude compensation comprises applying, with the computing system, an automatic gain control compensation. (Section I, we propose a compensation method to maximize the bandwidth of the power interface, preserve unity-gain over a wider frequency range, and compensate for the phase lag in the PHIL closed-loop.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop simulation features of Feng to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz, in order to compensate for the non-ideal power interface by maximizing its bandwidth, maintaining its unity-gain characteristic, and compensating for its phase-shift over the frequencies of interest (Feng, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 8:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Feng teaches:
wherein applying the automatic gain control compensation comprises applying, with the computing system, one or more magnitude filters and one or more magnitude gain adjustments to the modified reference voltage value. (Section IV.A., For both scenarios, the unity-gain magnitude response of the compensated filter is achieved only over certain frequencies. … In this paper, the compensator is designed to compensate for the non-unity characteristics of the output filter over its bandwidth by inverting the dominator ... The compensated filter implemented with the compensator in (15) presents unity magnitude over a wider frequency range than that of the uncompensated filter ... the compensated G′f(s) presents a unity-magnitude characteristic over a wide range of frequencies)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop simulation features of Feng to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz, in order to compensate for the non-ideal power interface by maximizing its bandwidth, maintaining its unity-gain characteristic, and compensating for its phase-shift over the frequencies of interest (Feng, Abstract).
Regarding Claims 12, 15, and 16:
Claims 12, 15, and 16 are substantially similar to claims 4, 7, and 8 respectively and are rejected under the same grounds.
Claims 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fox (US 20140015555 A1) in view of Koralewicz (Koralewicz, P., Gevorgian, V., Wallen, R., van der Merwe, W., & Joerg, P. (2016, September). Advanced grid simulator for multi-megawatt power converter testing and certification. In 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.), and further in view of Ainsworth (Ainsworth, N., Hariri, A., Prabakar, K., Pratt, A., & Baggu, M. (2016, September). Modeling and compensation design for a power hardware-in-the-loop simulation of an AC distribution system. In 2016 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.).
Regarding Claim 5:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Ainsworth teaches:
applying, with the computing system, a voltage loop control compensation. (Section III.B.2., The voltage compensation GReg in the voltage loop regulates the error between the voltage feedback signal of the measured voltage)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop simulation features of Feng to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz, in order to ensure stability and accuracy is presented (Ainsworth, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 13:
Claim 13 is substantially similar to claim 5, and is rejected under the same grounds.
Claims 6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fox (US 20140015555 A1) in view of Koralewicz (Koralewicz, P., Gevorgian, V., Wallen, R., van der Merwe, W., & Joerg, P. (2016, September). Advanced grid simulator for multi-megawatt power converter testing and certification. In 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.), and further in view of Ainsworth (Ainsworth, N., Hariri, A., Prabakar, K., Pratt, A., & Baggu, M. (2016, September). Modeling and compensation design for a power hardware-in-the-loop simulation of an AC distribution system. In 2016 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.) and Wang (Wang, Q., Ju, B., Lei, Y., Zhou, D., Yin, S., & Li, D. (2022). Design and hardware-in-the-loop validation: A fractional full feed-forward method for grid voltage in LCL grid-connected inverter systems. CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 9(5), 1720-1731.).
Regarding Claim 6:
Fox does not teach in particular, but Wang teaches:
applying, with the computing system, a resonant branch; (Fig. 2, where KP and Kr are the proportionality coefficient and resonance coefficient respectively, see also Ainsworth Section III.B.2, a resonant controller at the fundamental frequency ωF regulating the line-to-neutral voltage as described in [11]. The resonant compensator is chosen because the primary frequency of interest is the fundamental frequency.)
applying, with the computing system, a proportional branch; and (Section I, The second method primarily contains the proportional feed-forward method of grid voltage and the full feed-forward method of grid voltage [13]–[15]. The proportional feed-forward method can effectively suppress the low-frequency disturbance of grid voltage through a proportional feed-forward link of grid voltage ... The terms of the full feed-forward method consist of a proportional link)
applying, with the computing system, a feedforward branch. (Section IV last paragraph, the proposed method is to suppress the voltage harmonics through feedforward branches)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the hardware in the loop simulation features of Feng to the hardware in the loop grid simulator of Fox as modified by Koralewicz and Ainsworth, in order to improve the harmonic suppression performance, and also reduce the order of the mathematical model of the differential term in the feed-forward loop (Wang, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 14:
Claim 14 is substantially similar to claim 6, and is rejected under the same grounds.
Conclusion
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/BIJAN MAPAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2189
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