55

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS VOL. PE-2, NO. 1, JANUARY 1987

Instantaneous Torque Control of Electric Motor

Drives
MARIJA ILIC-SPONG, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE, TIMOTHY J. E. MILLER, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE,
STEPHEN R. MACMINN, MEMBER, IEEE, AND JAMES S. THORP, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE
Abstract-In the control of adjustable speed drives, the performance
of inexpensive digital integrated circuits is approaching the stage where
traditional control algorithms may be displaced by new algorithms that

better exploit their speed and the functional capabilities of their software. The concept of "instantaneous torque control" is introduced as
an objective worth pursuing in the application of such digital IC's to
drive systems. Instantaneous torque control would in principle permit
the fastest possible response and the elimination of torque ripple, along

with many other advantages not possible with conventional control algorithms, most of which are set up to control a time-averaged torque.
Some of the fundamental principles of instantaneous torque control are

developed for the switched reluctance motor, which is used as an example because, like the brushless dc permanent-magnet motor with
concentrated windings, it has the potential for rapid response, but it
can have appreciable torque ripple with unfavorable firing angles. A
reference frame transformation that would eliminate the rotor position

from the voltage and torque equations is not known for either of these
machines. This opens up a number of interesting questions as to the
generality of instantaneous torque control algorithms, and whether they
can be incorporated into the general or unified theory of electrical ma-

mutator motors and ac sine-wave motors because the instantaneous torque is ideally constant in the steady state
and is therefore indistinguishable from the average
.

torque However, there is now a great increase in the use

of drives based on motors that do not have constant instantaneous torque: for example, ac motors fed with

square-wave current or voltages; brushless dc motors with

square-wave excitation; stepper motors; and many singlev

phase ac motors with some form of electronic speed con-

trol.

This suggests the possibility of controlling the instantaneous currents or flux linkages in such a way as to produce constant instantaneous torque. In this paper the possibility for such

instantaneous torque control

is

explored for a switched reluctance (SR) motor, which is

a conventional variable-reluctance stepper motor provided with a shaft position transducer. The SR motor is

chosen because of the relative simplicity of the elementary theory describing torque production in the absence of
magnetic saturation and mutual coupling between phases.
INTRODUCTION
r HE SPEED and functionality of digital integrated cir- It is known to be susceptible to torque ripple if the firing
I cuits now suggests the development and evaluation of angles are unfavorable.
The control of torque in dc commutator motors is based
new algorithms for the control of adjustable speed drives.
This paper introduces the concept of "instantaneous on the classical theory in which torque is proportional to
torque control" as an objective worth pursuing in the ap- the vector product of armature current and flux. Under
plication of such IC's to drive systems. Instantaneous sufficiently light load the commutator maintains the spatorque control would, in principle, provide the fastest tial orthogonality of these quantities so that the vector
possible response and would permit the elimination of product becomes a scalar product. Since both the flux and
torque ripple along with a wide range of instabilities and the current are normally constant, the instantaneous torque
even shaft resonances, by software techniques alone. It is is also constant. There is ideally no torque ripple, and the
even conceivable that some of these features could be torque is varied by changing the current or the flux or
both. In sine-wave ac machines the situation is similar.
automatic.
In most ac and dc drives the control algorithms are set The actual phase currents and flux linkages are not conup to control a time-averaged torque rather than the in- stant but can be made to appear constant by means of a
reference-frame transformation that has appropriately
works well for dc co- been
called the commutator transformation; (an example
is
Park's
transformation). The instantaneous torque of an
Manuscript received September 27, 1985; revised May 5, 1986. This
paper was presented at the Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Tou- ideal sine-wave ac machine is constant and is proportional
chines.

tiseapproach
spta contaneous toq.

louse, France, June 24-28, 1985, under the title, "Nonlinear Torque ConM. Ilic-Spong is with rthe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1406 West Green

trol of Electric Motor Drives."

Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

T. J. E. Miller is with the General Electric Company, P.O. Box 43,

Room 380, Building 37, Schenectady, NY 12301, USA.

S. R. MacMinn is with the General Electric Company, Corporate Re-

search and Development, 1 River Road, Schenectady, NY 12345, USA.

J. S. Thorp is with the School of Electrical Engineering, Cornell Uni-

versity, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

IEEE Log Number 8609966.

to the vector product of current and flux linkages in the

transformed reference frame. The transformation unifies

the theory of the dc and ac systems for dc and ac drives

that have closely similar structures when viewed from the

aporteefenerm.Thspicplsreutno
aporaerfrnefae hs rnllsaept1t

practice in the so-called "vector control" of ac motor

drives.
Sic

th

SR moo.sdul

aiet

ti

adrt

ncthSRmtr1dobysle, Shaero
construct a reference frame transformation that will elim0885-8993/87/0100-0055$ 1.00 C 1987 IEEE

56

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. PE-2, NO. 1, JANUARY 1987

inate the rotor shaft position from the voltage and torque
equations. It is therefore a good vehicle for exploring
whether the use of reference-frame transformation is likely
to be of use in generalizing the principles of instantaneous
torque control to a wider class of machines. In this paper
a Floquet transformation is constructed to express the
equations of the SR motor in a rotating reference frame.
Magnetic saturation is ignored, and the motor is characterized by a piecewise linearization of its inductance
curves. While these assumptions are very restrictive, the
resulting model is proposed as only one of a number of
possible approaches, and it is hoped that others may in
the future prove more powerful.
MAIN RESULTS
Mathematical models of physical systems are usually
represented for control purposes as sets of first-order nonlinear differential equations

dti

dtdt = fi (xI,

x2,

xn; U1, U2,

* ** ,

* ** ,

dX2

Um)

, Um)

dt

dx (t)
dt = A(t) x(t) + B(t) u(t)

(6)

y (t) = C(t) x (t).

(7)
One purpose of this paper is to show that, under the assumption of constant angular velocity, the switched reluctance motor has a mathematical model of class (6), (7)
and to propose a change of variables that brings it to the
form given by (4), (5) for which control design is much
easier. Based on this model, an explicit time-varying control is proposed which allows a desired torque trajectory
generation under the changing operating conditions in the
system.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A SWITCHED RELUCTANCE
MOTOR
Voltage relations for the switched reluctance drive are
the same as for any other electrical machine, i.e., the
voltage applied to the stator terminals equals the sum of
a voltage drop due to resistive losses and the induced voltage due to flux linkage variations, i.e.,
vp

Rp

d;
d

(8)

x2, * * * , xn; ul, u2, * * * , Um). (1) p = 1, 2, * * * , P where P is the number of phases. A
dt-= fn(xI,
crucial difference between the switched reluctance motor
If we define a state vector x = [x1, X2, ... , Xnj T, an (a doubly salient machine) and nonsalient machines lies
input (control) vector u = [U1, u2,
Um] T and an in the fact that the dependence of flux linkage on the curUl, T then (1) can be rent does not vary sinusoidally with the rotor position 0;
output vector y = [ Yl,
in general it could be any periodic function of 0 (with
represented in a vector form
higher order harmonics). Under the commonly made asdx = f (x, u).
(2) sumption of magnetic linearity (saturation neglected) exdt
perimentally measured magnetic curves (Fig. 1) can be
The output variables are variables that one can easily approximated as
measure in the system and are related to state and input
(9)
W (0, i) = L(0) i.
variables as
Here v is the vector flux linkages and i is the vector of
y = g(x, u).
(3) stator currents. L ( 0 ) is the inductance matrix.
A much
realistic into
of the
representation
magnetic
As a result, most of the dynamical systems (2) are ap curves
takesmore
saturation
account via
a piecewise
as cre ae
auainit
conto current
i
proximated by a particular subclass ofproximated
icws
systems known
by apriuaslinearization
technique
with respect
variables.
lnear time-invariant systems for which control
tech- All results presented
in this paper can be extended to tbis
niques are well-known and implementable in real time.
while
the
computational
complexity is slightly inNote: Real-time implementation off contromeans
control means that case,
We
will
these
extensions in future pubpresent
m r s t t vcreased.
if measurements of the output vector y areifperformed
lications.
every N time units, one can,- based on the previous meaFromon
. instant
.
~~~~~~~From(2) the vector of phase currents as a function of
surement, compute control 'at'
the next sampling
' .units.
.
flux linkage vector can be expressed as
~~~~~~~~~~the
within these N time
Linear time-invariant systems have a form
i = L-1(0) AV(0, i),
(L0)
()
= Ax(t) + Bu(t)
(4) and (8) and (10) combined in a vector form obtain

Y2=

yU,]

notue:areawell-timenand
implementat

y(t) = Cx(t)

th.

(5)

with A, B, and C constant matrices. If matrices A, B, and!

or C are functions of time, this class of systems is known
as linear time-varying systems and, in general, a control
design is much harder for them. They are represented as

dt =

R(0)V~ + v

(11)

where R is the resistance matrix of the stator windings

(diagonal) and v is the vector of voltages applied to the
stator terminals. If w = Wr= constant, the normalized
equation with respect to rotor position (rather than time)

57

ILIC-SPONG et al.: TORQUE CONTROL OF ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVES

1) For every fixed dO /dt = cr > 0, T is nonsingular

and of period 2-x /s in 0 (s is the number of rotor pole
pairs).
2) T(6, c) has continuous partial derivatives with respect to 6 and W'.
Any matrix T that satisfies properties 1 and 2 is said to
be admissible and it defines an admissible reference frame
for new state variables XN (t) in (19) [2]. According to the
Floquet theory [2], an admissible matrix T always exists
such that

e constant

Fig. 1. Magnetic characteristics.

becomes
L_I(-)
+

c, L (6)w +Let us denote by A ( 0) a matrix

dH

-TAT-' _2aT,
-_o T 1

(12)

(20)

C(W)

where C(w) is not a function of a rotor position 0; ob(13) viously, if dI/dt =r = constant, the right-hand side of
A(M) -RL71(0).
Then the change of flux linkages with rotor position (20) is time invariant.
can be shown that the dynamic equation (15) exasIt
3), as
change iS defined, using (1 1) and (Idefind,usng(1)an(13,>
pressed in terms of transformed flux variables XN via T
takes on the form
dv
=

A(0)A
dt

(14)

The matrix A(6) varies with time (rotor position) even

under conditions of constant rotor velocity or. Next, it is
important for the following derivations to assume that the
mutual inductances between the phases can be neglected.
Some experiments on switched reluctance motors show
that the mutual inductance is less than seven percent of
the self-inductance. Then matrix A (0) becomes a diagonal matrix, and this is the form that we analyze in this
work.
Let us now define a state vector x here to be the vector
of flux linkages and the input vector u to be the vector of
voltage sources applied to stator terminals v. Then (14)
takes on a formn
dx(t)
( 15)
dt - A (6 ) X(t) + BU (t)
where matrix A (0) is diagonal:
A(6) = diag (-R1/L1(6),

'
,
-R2/L2(6), * -Rp/Lp(0)) (16)
and B = diag ( 1, 1, * * * ). When w = co = constant,
matrix A (0) becomes a function of time only, since
0 = 00 + Wrt
(17)
and (15) yields

d~~~~~~~~~XN
(WC(W)
dt

-d6

dt dw

T-1 xN+ vN (21)

N

and

(22)
VN = Tv.
In particular, for constant rotor velocity d2 /dt2 = 0,
which gives
d
XN = -COC(W) XN + VN.
(23)
dt
Now (23) has constant linear coefficients and a time-varying control VN and clearly belongs to the class of dynamical systems given by (4), (5).
Based on the Floquet theory and its application to rotating machinery as presented in [2], it is known that a
reference frame transformation T exists even for doubly
salient machines. A constructive procedure for obtaining
such a reference frame transformation is hard in general
if A is a full matrix. At this point we take advantage of
the fact that the model of the switched reluctance drive is
accurate enough if the matrix A is considered to be diagonal. In this case a transformation T can be obtained by
deriving it for separate decoupled phase flux linkages.
Condition (20) for any phase is in a scalar, rather than
vector, form:

a(0)a() T aTaO = (rC(&r).

(r)24

+
(18) A solution to (24) is
dtd(t) A(t) x(t) Bu(t)
T =vhO/cr(5
which is clearly the same as (6).
Next, let us introduce change of variables via a trans- with
_
.dh (6) K R 8(6
formation T so that a new state vector XN iS related to the
L0
-d
original state vector xas
XN = Tx
(19) and
a = __
where T = T(6, cor) and possesses the following proper27r Jo L(0)
ties.

(24)

(27)

58

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. PE-2, NO. 1, JANUARY 1987

Speed Loop

Wr

Torque Loop

Nq,

Tdes

v CoCordinatetFlu

TransformEsiaoSR
N~~~~~

Commutator

e~~~~~W

Fig. 2. Controller block diagram, linear case.

This transformation is unique up to a constant. Then if X

wr, the ith equation in (27) becomes

then becomes a problem of finding a

control which drives the error e ( 0 ) to zero, i.e., the prob-

dfxNNi = -axNI + VN
VNi

lem becomes to find a stabilizing control.

The proposed controller receives the following input
signals at every sampling instant: rotor position 0, values
of the phase currents i, rated angular velocity wr, and the
torque command Tdes. The motor resistance R is assumed
to be a known parameter. The output of the controller is
the value of phase currents and/or voltages, which is a
new input u to the drive. The information about the phase
currents and rotor position at any sampling instant is
transformed through a flux estimator into the value of the
phase flux linkage. Next, the estimated flux linkage x (t)
gets mapped into a corresponding flux linkage seen from
a rotating reference frame XN (t), via the transformation
T given in (25) as

dt

alNi

(28)

with

(29)
VNi e(h( )/')vi,
and finally, (28) written with respect to rotor position o
(rather than time t) is

dXNi _ N_ + VNi
(30)
XNi +
dO Note: In the case when the saturation is not neglected,
L(e) and the transformation Tdepend on current, making
ai a function of current in (29) and (30).
INSTANTANEOUS TORQUE FOLLOWING ALGORITHM
After introducing the change of state variables from x
into XN and change of controls from v into VN via the transformation T for the switched reluctance drive, we pose
the instantaneous torque following problem as a problem
of finding a control VNfin (30) which causes the resulting
closed-loop system to follow a desired torque trajectory.
A particular case of a torque following trajectory is to
follow a constant torque Tdes. A control scheme for this is
proposed in Fig. 2 where the error in the inner loop is
defined as the difference between the flux linkages seen in
the new reference frame, the one corresponding to the desired torque Tdes XN and the actual flux linkage at a given
sampling instant, i.e.,
e (0) = xN (0)- XN (09).*
(31 )
The outer loop corresponds to the control needed to obtain
a constant speed orqThe state of the art in the motor control area is such that these controls are designed indepen-

dently.
Because of decoupling in (16), one can write a scalar
version of (31) corresponding to a single phase:
e(0) = x4 (0) - XN (0)*
(32)

Finding control

VN

XN(t) = T(H, r)x(t)

(33)

Then this new flux linkage is fed into an error comparator

against the signal that comes from the desired torque information and that dictates the desired xn at the sampling
instant. The step where the original error in torque deviation is mapped onto the error in corresponding flux linkages is necessary, since from a control viewpoint, we are
given the output of the motor (torque), and we want to
stabilize the error in state variables, i.e., flux linkages.
The original problem (torque follower) is therefore reformulated as stabilization of the error in state variables.
Note that inclusion of saturation will modify the functional relationships between torque and flux linkage. Next,
based on a general expression for the error dynamics, a
corresponding control for driving the error to zero (as seen
from the new reference frame) is derived and mapped into
a control relationship to the stator reference frame, via the
inverse transformation.
We give a solution for the case when saturation is neglected. As a result, if the superposition strategy of phases
is predefined to be some function m(0) then an explicit
expression for control to keep torque at a desired value is
computed at every sampling instant. It will be shown that
a closed-form solution for this is obtainable, i.e., no nu-

59

ILIC-SPONG et al.: TORQUE CONTROL OF ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVES

merical integration is involved. At today's level of technology, a real-time implementation of this control is possible. Typically, m(6) is computed in the block named
"commutator" in Fig. 2. For the case when saturation is
neglected,

we

discuss

(0)

Phase A L (a)

in detail.

TORQUE FOLLOWING ALGORITHM WITH SATURATION

NEGLECTED

A four-phase switched reluctance drive and its associated power conditioner developed in the Power Electronics Laboratory, General Electric Company, is studied. The
information flow necessary for closed-loop control is
shown in Fig. 2.
In the linearized case, (3) is
=

and the torque is

(6, i)/L(6),

2e(8(5)2)

m()

i2 dL(O) _ ~2 dL(O)

T(t) = 2 dO - 2LM2() dc

(34)

Phase D

45 60

135 50

90 105

1X!

MB(3e5_3)B

E_i

( (

m(8)
MB
-

) = .(37)

The choice of m (6) is nonunique since many functions,

when shifted in 6 and superposed, sum up to one. Given

90)2)

where

m (H

8 (degrees)

(a)

Let the superposition strategy for phase excitation be formally defined so that a torque per phase is
T(O) = Tdes * m(H)
(36)

180

|MD(e) /Xm(e-eP)=

Imc(O)

(b)

Fig. 3. (a) Spatial distribution of inductance. (b) Spatial distribution of

a total desired torque Tdes, the corresponding desired flux

linkage x* per phase is obtained by combining (35) and
and the corresponding value of phase flux linkage is
(36) into
(40)
(6, i) =L () i.
m(O
x* = L(0) X2Tde dL(6)/d6'
(38) A reference frame transformation for flux linkages measured with respect to the stator reference frame x ( t) into
One can see from (38) that in the linear case flux linkages XN (t) seen from the rotating frame is
m (0) /dL(6) /d(O) > 0; otherwise, the conversion from
(41)
XN(t) = T(6, wr) x(t)
the desired torque Tdes to a desired flux linkage x* is not
defined. This indicates that m = 0 when dL() /d <, . with T(6, wr) defined in (25). The deviations of XN(t)
Also m = 1 when only one phase is on. In between, more from
than one possibility exists: in our control scheme we have
(t) = T(O, Wr) X* (t)
(42)
decided on exponentially rising and exponentially decreasing m (6) as the most natural for implementation. is defined as an error signal
Simulations have shown later that this choice of m (0)
(43)
produces a control u which is rather smooth. m (f) for an
e(O) = XN (t) - XN(t),
"eight-six" (eight stator poles, six rotor poles) motor is and its
dynamics are given by
illustrated in Fig. 3, given the inductance spatial distribution L (6). We are working towards some optimal
de (0) d4
dxN(44
choices of m(6) with respect to different performance cndO
d6
dO
teria that the power conditioner side of the drive needs to
satisfy. No specific results on this are available yet.
or
Co
Based on measured values of 6, i, and
at a given
de(6) _dT(6,1 Xr) X* + T(O, co dO
sampling instant, linear interpolation yields
dO
dO
0rd
-

L(f9) =L(O) + (0-f0)dL(6) O=

(39)

(~--XN+VN).

(45)

60

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. PE-2, NO. 1, JANUARY 1987

dx*/dO is found using (38):

Tdes

15.0

a*

(46)
L )j (4)
dOL~Tdes~ dL (O)/IdO L(0)l

dO df

ds [

Also from (43)

(47)

XN = XN - e().
Combining (42)-(47), we obtain

de(0)
d

dT(O, COr)
+ - (XN*

TO, Cr)

x* +

dO

- e

(0))

dx*

75

5.0I
2.5
60

90

75

Fig. 4. Torque per phase.

&
I05

(48)

VN

15.0_

de(0) =

dO

12.5

= -eo)
dx*75
FdT(O9
+
'* + T(O, Or) dO
xdT(O)
d
L dO

de (O)
de(0)
dS =

5.0

(49)

VN]

X
or

Fig.
a

--_W e(0) + ul(0,x).

(50)

u1(0, x) -Me(a),

-M(XN*-XN)= dT(0, Wr) X*

+

T(O,

Wr)ddO + -XN
'r

VN

(52)

dO

dO

XN* + M(XN - XN).

(53)

5.

~~

5~
~~
90 7560~~~~~~4
105

Flux linkage per phase.

v
150

-75

-150 _

dO450759

dT(or &.'r)
dx*
VN = d( 'r) X* + T(6, Wr)
+-

~~~~~~

This dynamical system defined via (50) will have e(0)75

0 as t X-+ o (which is proportional to 0 -X Co if X = W'r)
if
=
M > 0.
(51)
Now (50) and (51) together give an explicit form for VN
so that the error vanishes:

or

10.0

045

dO

or

or

12.5

75

90IV

&

Fig. 6. Voltage input per phase.

for clarity and simplicity for the case when saturation is

not included. A working version of this is available with
saturation included, which naturally modifies the current
and voltage waveforms and is more realistic. Note that
peak-to-peak voltage required per phase is rather high.
Additional work is needed on the choice of the function
m(0) so that, for example, peak-to-peak voltage is minimized. As mentioned earlier, some other criteria for
choosing m (69) can be defined so that the demand for control can be fully met on the power conditioner side.

Equation (53) explicitly defines the voltage control necessary to make the developed torque follow a desired
torque Tdes. The same control seen from a stationary reference frame is obtained using the inverse transformation
CONCLUSION
T' (0@, (Or), i.e., the control required in (11) is
The concept of instantaneous torque control for motor
V- ( s XrJ VN- ~case of the switched reluctance motor, which is chosen as
Typical curves for the required current, voltage, and flux an example because of the simplicity of its elementary
linkage are illustrated in Figs. 4-6. These are given again torque production theory and because it is a good vehicle
-T-

(0,

')

(54)

drives

has been introduced

and explored

for the particular

ILlIt-SPONG

61

et al.: TORQUE CONTROL OF ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVES

for exploring the possibility of generalizing the idea of ing, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Currently she is an Assistant Profesand the Cosor in the Science
Department
of Electrical
and Computer
at Urbana-Champaign,
of IllinoisEngineering
University
ordinated
Laboratory,

instantaneous torque control to a wider class of motor

drives.

The theory illustrates definite possibilities for the elimBy controlling

ination of torque ripple by control means.ination
of toqerpl ycn
instantaneous current or flux linkage, a constant instantaneous torque can, in principle, be generated. When two
or more phases are conducting current, the apportionment
of torque between them is not a unique choice. One choice
has been illustrated to produce the desired result, using a
rising and falling exponential "torque-sharing" function;
this approach produces the desired result but requires a
voltage waveform that is somewhat peaky. Other possibilities need to be investigated.
The application of a Floquet transformation succeeds in
expressing the equations of the SR motor in a rotating
reference frame, as a first step in the attempt to generalize
the concept of instantaneous torque control. As expected,
it dosnotelimiate te roor poitionfrom he cotrol

equations, but it does express the equations in a structural

form that is generally similar to that of other classes of
drive systems. Further work needs to be done to determine whether this approach to generalization is worthwhile. There will be a trade-off between the structural
different
the control
control systems applied to
of the
uniformity of
systems applied to different
drives, and the computational complexity and speed requirements necessary to achieve it. Even with these ques-

tions answered, there will always be limitations imposed

by the voltage and current capabilities of the power converter and the switching frequencies of which it is capable.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

IL. Her research interests are in the areas of control and network theory
applications to large-scale power systems and, recently, in the power elec-

electricofmachinery.
tronics Ilic-Spong
based control
AAAS and Sigma Xi.
is aofmember
lmaDr.

Timothy J. E. from
Millerthe(M'74-SM'82)
received the
University of Glasgow,
B.Sc. degree
the
Ph.D. degree from the
Glasgow, Scotland, and
University of Leeds, Leeds, England, in 1970 and
1977, respectively, both in electrical engineering.
Electrc Company Corprch staff of the General
velopment, in 1979. He has worked on the design

of permanent-magnetic ac motors and generators,

caon the control
system
for compensation,
thyristor-switched
and on
for power
system
pacitors

the development of power electronic converters and control systems for

switched reluctance motor drives. His technical work includes the analysis

of the dynamic performance of permanent-magnetic ac motors during starting and when operating from solid-state power supplies. He has designed

the world's largest permanent-magnetic generator for industrial applications. His work on switched reluctance systems includes the development

of
novel typesManager
of powerofelectronic
withControl
associated
analysis.
He
Power
Program,
Electronics
the Powerconverters
is presently
Electronics Laboratory. He is also an Instructor in the Reactive Power Con-

trol course which he helped to establish at the University of Wisconsin. He

the author of a textbook on reactive compensation for electric power
issystems,
which is the only text dealing with modem power electronic techniques. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Union College in
Schenectady, NY, where he teaches courses in electrical energy conversion

and electronic control of motor drives.

He holds six patents.

Dr. Miller is a Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

Stephen R. MacMinn (S'74-M'83-S'84-M'84)

received the B.S.E.E. degree from Lehigh Uni-

versity, 1978, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in

The authors wish to thank Professor Martyn Harris of
electrical
engineering from Cornell University,
the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, for
1981engaged
and 1984,
NY,
many
useful
and
stmulating
discussios
related
to
thisIthaca,
respectively.
_
_
He has been
in research
and developmany useful and stimulating discussions related to this
work.

REFERENCES

[I] P. J. Lawrenson, J. M. Stephenson, P. T. Blenkinsop, J. Corda, and

N. N. Fulton, "Variable speed switched reluctance motors," Proc.
Inst. Elec. Eng., vol. 127, Pt. B, pp. 253-265, July 1980.
[2] D. C. Youla and J. J. Bongiorno, "A Floquet theory of the general
linear machine," IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst., vol. CAS-27, pp. 1519, Jan. 1980.
[3] M. G. Egan, J. M. D. Murphy, P. F. Kenneally, and J. V. Lawton,
"A high performance variable reluctance drive: Achieving servomotor
control," presented at Motor-Con, Chicago, IL, 1985.
14] B. K. Bose, T. J. E. Miller, P. M. Szczesny, and W. H. Bicknell,
"Microcomputer control of switched reluctance motor," presented at
the IEEE 1985 IAS Meeting.

_
_

jMarja Ilic-Spong (S'78-M'80-SM'86) received

the Dipl.Eng. and M.E.E. degrees from University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1974 and 1977,
respectively, and the M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees in
systems science and mathematics from Washington University, St. Louis, MO, in 1979 and 1980,

_ _ _ respectively.
In 1981-1982 she was with the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel
University, Philadelphia, PA. From 1982 to 1984
she was with the School of Electrical Engineer-

ment in ac drive systems at the General Electric

Company R&D Center since 1984. He has written
or co-authored four papers in the fields of digital
control and ac drives.

James S. Thorp (S'58-M'63-SM'80) was born

in Kansas City, MO, on February 7, 1937. He received the B.E.E. degree with distinction and the
Ph.D. degree, both from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1959 and 1962, respectively.
In 1962 he joined the faculty there, where he
is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering.
From 1969 to 1979 he was a member of the Technical Staff, TRW Systems Washington-Operations. Other industrical experience includes consulting for the General Electric Company, Light
Military Electronics, Ithaca, NY, and Advanced Avionics Division, Johnson City, NY. From 1976 to 1977 he was a Faculty Intern at the American
Electric Power Service Corporation, NY, where he is currently a consultant.
Dr. Thorp is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi.
He is also a member of CIGRE Working Group 34.02 on Computer Systems for Substations.