Modelling and Implementation of an Improved
DSVM Scheme for PMSM DTC
Yi Wang and Jianguo Zhu
School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems
University of Technology, Sydney
P.O. Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Email: yiwang@eng.uts.edu.au
Abstract — The basic direct torque control (DTC) scheme may
cause undesired torque, flux and current ripples because of the
small number of applicable voltage vectors. The discrete space
vector modulation (DSVM) method was proposed for DTC to
overcome this problem by applying more vectors in one interval. In
this paper, after a brief review of the primary concept of DSVM
DTC technique, a new scheme of DSVM DTC for PMSM is
proposed with a new set of switching tables taking into account the
motor speed and the absolute values of torque and flux feedback
errors. In one fixed sampling time interval, three vectors are
applied to the motor including the two null vectors. The vector
application sequence is investigated and an optimal algorithm is
developed to reduce the switching loss and torque ripple.
Simulation and experiments on the improved DSVM DTC are
carried out and compared with those on the basic DTC scheme.
I. INTRODUCTION
The permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) has
found wide applications due to its high power density
(compactness), high efficiency, high torque-to-inertia ratio, and
high reliability. A very widely used drive strategy for PMSM is
the field oriented control (FOC), which was proposed by
Blaschke in 1971 for induction motors (IMs) [1]. However, the
FOC scheme is quite complex due to the reference frame
transformation and its high dependence upon the motor
parameters and speed. To mitigate these problems, a new
control strategy for the torque control of induction motor was
developed by Takahashi known as the direct torque control
(DTC) [2] and by Depenbrock as the direct self control (DSC)
[3]. The basic idea of DTC for induction motor is to control the
torque and flux linkage by selecting the voltage space vectors
properly, which is based on the relationship between the slip
frequency and torque.
It has been proven that the DTC scheme for induction motors
could be modified for PMSM drive. Since it does not require
any current regulator, coordinate transformation and PWM
signal generator, the DTC scheme has the advantages of
simplicity, good dynamic performance, and insensitivity to
motor parameters except the stator winding resistance.
Compared with the FOC, the major drawback of the DTC
method is the large ripples of torque and flux linkage. The
1042
Authorized licensed use limited to: DELHI TECHNICAL UNIV. Downloaded on November 16, 2009 at 22:44 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
switching state of the inverter is updated only once in every
sampling interval. The inverter keeps the same state until the
output of the hysteresis controller changes state, resulting in
relatively large torque and flux ripples. Another unwanted
feature is the non-constant inverter switching frequency, which
changes with the rotor speed, load torque and bandwidth of the
two hysteresis controllers. In the past few years, many attempts
were carried out to overcome these problems. Fixed switching
frequency and reduction of torque ripple could be obtained by
calculation of the stator flux vector variation required to exactly
compensate the flux and torque errors. The control system
should be able to generate any voltage vector, implying the use
of space vector modulation (SVM) which complicates the
control scheme. On the other hand, a discrete SVM (DSVM)
method was proposed to improve the DTC scheme, which
replaces the simple switching table by several switching tables,
to apply a combination of three voltage vectors in the same
sampling period [4]. The torque and flux ripple could be reduced
with small calculation cost although the switching frequency of
inverter is still variable.
In this paper, the DSVM DTC of PMSM is reviewed and the
choice of null-vectors and the vector selection sequence are
modified to improve the performance and reduce the inverter
switching loss. Comparisons of the basic DTC and the improved
DSVM DTC schemes are made based on the system
performance and switching loss. The novel DSVM DTC scheme
is also experimentally tested and the results show improvements
in both steady state and dynamic performance.
II. PMSM MODEL AND DTC
A. Mathematic Model
As to the widely known three-phase PMSM, the voltage
equations for the stator windings in the stationary reference
frame (a, b, c) can be written in the matrix form as
d (1)
Vabcs = rs I abcs + λabcs
dt
where Vabc the stator phase voltage,
rs the phase winding resistance,
Iabc the phase current, and
λabc the flux linkage of phase winding.
 Transformed to the d-q reference frame, which rotates with the rest six equally spaced voltage vectors with same magnitude.
the rotor, the inductances no longer depend on the rotor position, Fig.2(a) shows the voltage vectors that are usually employed in
and the voltage and flux linkage can be expressed as the DTC scheme when the stator flux vector lies in sector 1.
Vdc
⎧ dλq ψr + dψ Hysteresis
⎪⎪vq = rs iq + wr λd + dt (2)
- controller Switch
⎨ Inverter
⎪vd = rs id − wr λq + dλd Wr + + dT Hysteresis table
Controller
⎪⎩ dt
- - controller ψs
Wf
Vdc
Flux & Torque ia
⎧λd = Ld id + λM calculation ib
⎨ (3)
⎩ λq = Lq iq Encoder
1/S PMSM
The electromagnetic torque and mechanical equations can be
written as (a)

Δφ ΔT Sector 1 2 3 4 5 6
3P
Te = λM iq (4) 1 1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V1
4
1 0 V6 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5
0 1 V3 V4 V5 V6 V1 V2
dwr P
J = (Te − TL ) (5) 0 0 V5 V6 V1 V2 V3 V4
dt 2
where Vq the q-axis voltage, (b)
Vd the d-axis voltage, Fig. 1. (a) Block diagram of basic DTC scheme;
iq the q-axis current, (b) Voltage vector switching table
id the d-axis current,
rs the stator resistance,
Ld, Lq the inductance,
wr the electrical angular velocity,
λ d, λ q the d-q components of the stator flux linkage,
λM the permanent magnet rotor flux linkage,
P the number of poles,
J the mechanical inertia of motor, and
TL the load torque.
B. Principle of Basic DTC
Fig.1(a) illustrates the block diagram of the basic DTC
scheme. The instantaneous values of the flux linkage and torque
are calculated from the stator variables in the α-β frame by using
Fig. 2. (a) Voltage vectors utilised in the basic DTC when the stator flux is in
a closed loop estimator. The stator flux linkage of a PMSM can sector 1; (b) Voltage vectors obtained by using DSVM
be expressed as
It has been reported that the torque control effect of applying
the same voltage vector highly depends on the working
ϕ s = ∫ (vs − Ris )dt (6) condition of the motor [5]. The motor operation status of DSVM
could be classified based on the torque error value and the emf,
and the torque can be written as which is related to the rotor speed. Fig.2(b) shows the available
voltage vectors that can be chosen in a sampling cycle with three
3 P
Te = ⋅ (ϕα i β −ϕ β iα ) (7) equal time intervals when the stator flux is in sector 1. When the
2 2 resistance loss is negligible, the torque is maintained at its actual
value if the applied voltage vector effect coincides with the
Then the errors of torque and flux between the reference and
induced emf. If the feedback torque is close to the reference
feedback values are input to the hysteresis controllers for
value a voltage space vector indicating approximately the emf
selecting a proper voltage vector with the help of a look-up table
should be chosen. The space vectors close to the emf are used
as shown in Fig. 1(b).
for small torque error corrections. When a large torque error is
C. Improved DSVM DTC Scheme observed, the vectors such as V333, V222, V555 and V666 are
In a voltage source inverter, eight switching combinations can selected in order to compensate the deviation as fast as possible.
be obtained, two of which generate two null voltage vectors and The different levels of torque error are obtained by a new

1043

Authorized licensed use limited to: DELHI TECHNICAL UNIV. Downloaded on November 16, 2009 at 22:44 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
five-level hysteresis controller as shown in Fig.3. III. SIMULATION RESULTS
In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed DSVM
technique, a set of comparative simulation has been carried out
based on a 4-pole PMSM model. The sampling period is chosen
as 30 μs for both the basic DTC and DSVM DTC. Fig. 5 shows
the steady state performances of torque and speed in different
speed regions for the same sampling period Δt=30 μs. The
reference values are 10 Nm for torque and 0.182 Wb for the
stator flux. The rotor speed is set to 100 rpm in Figs. 5 (a) and (b)
Fig. 3. Five-level hysteresis controller and 1000 rpm in Figs. 5 (c) and (d). An appreciable reduction of
torque and speed ripples has been obtained by using the DSVM
Therefore, several switching tables are carried out depending technique.
on the value of emf voltage or rotor speed. Table I is a set of
switching tables for DSVM DTC method when the stator flux is
in sector 1 for different speed region.
TABLE I
NEW SWITCHING TABLE OF DSVM DTC FOR SECTOR 1
Torque
Speed Sector Flux
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
-1 555 5ZZ ZZZ 3ZZ 333
Low 1
+1 666 6ZZ ZZZ 2ZZ 222
-1 555 ZZZ 3ZZ 33Z 333
Medium 1
+1 666 ZZZ 2ZZ 22Z 222
-1 555 3ZZ 23Z 332 333
1-
+1 666 2ZZ 22Z 222 222
High
-1 555 3ZZ 33Z 333 333
1+
+1 666 2ZZ 22Z 222 222

Five-level Vdc
Wr + + dT
PI hysteresis
- - DSVM
Wf controller Optimal
Switch Inverter
Algorithm
ψr Table
+ dψ Hysteresis
- controller 1/Z
Wf
ψs, sector
Vdc
Flux & Torque ib
calculation ia

Encoder
1/S PMSM
Fig. 5. Steady state performance of basic DTC (BDTC) and DSVM DTC for
Fig. 4. Block diagram of improved DSVM DTC scheme PMSM (a) BDTC, 100 rpm; (b) DSVM DTC, 100 rpm;
(c) BDTC, 1000 rpm; (d) DSVM DTC, 1000 rpm
Same as the basic DTC scheme, the inverter switching
In the basic DTC and DSVM DTC schemes, the number of
frequency in the DSVM DTC system is non-constant. More
switching times per second is observed to identify the inverter
vectors are applied in one sampling cycle. Theoretically, there
operation because the switching frequency is non-constant. As
could be more switching times in one sampling period. To
three vectors are chosen for one sampling cycle, the switching
minimise this, another vector selection algorithm is developed.
frequency of the inverter is increased in the DSVM DTC method
The inverter status of previous cycle is recorded as a feedback to
for same sampling period as shown in Fig. 6. This frequency is
the vector selector. After a vector set is chosen from Table I, the
related to the sampling time interval and the hysteresis
applying sequence of these three vectors is adjusted based on the
controller band width. In this paper, the band value of the torque
previous inverter output as shown in Fig. 4. The order of the
hysteresis controller in basic DTC is set to ±0.2 while the
three vectors is changed, aiming to maintain the inverter status
five-level controller band in DSVM scheme is set to ±0.1 and
or minimise the switching number of the bridges if possible. In
±0.2. Fig. 6 shows the switching frequency of different sampling
one fixed sampling period, the system operates as an open loop
time intervals for both basic DTC and DSVM DTC schemes.
system without any feedback from the motor, so the same torque
In Fig. 6, fbdtc and fdsvm represent the switching frequency
control effect could be obtained by any applying sequence of the
of basic DTC and DSVM DTC, respectively. The switching
three vectors. Therefore, this algorithm can reduce the switching
frequency of DSVM DTC decreases towards that of the basic
frequency and the dead-time of the inverter.
DTC scheme when the sampling period increases. When the
sampling interval of DSVM DTC is larger than 40 μs, the

1044

Authorized licensed use limited to: DELHI TECHNICAL UNIV. Downloaded on November 16, 2009 at 22:44 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
sampling period does not need to be doubled in order to achieve assuming a load of 10 Nm is added to the rotor shaft at t=0.2 s.
a mean switching frequency practically equal to that obtained As shown in Fig. 7, the modified DSVM DTC scheme can
with the basic switching table as mentioned in [4]. achieve better steady and dynamic performance than the basic
DTC at the same switching frequency.
3.00E+04
Number of switching (times/second)

fdsvm fbdtc
2.50E+04
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
2.00E+04
The proposed algorithm and the basic DTC scheme are
implemented for a 1000 W surface mounted PM synchronous
1.50E+04
motor in Table II. Experiments are carried out on a dSPACE
1.00E+04 ControlDesk platform.
5.00E+03 TABLE II
RATING AND KNOWN PARAMETER OF PM SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR
0.00E+00 MODEL: IFT 6071-6AC21-2-Z
0.00E+00 2.00E-05 4.00E-05 6.00E-05 8.00E-05 1.00E-04 1.20E-04 1.40E-04 Ratings and Parameters Value Unit
Sampling period (second)
Rated power output 1000 W
Fig. 6. Number of switching per second by using BDTC and DSVM DTC Rated current 6.5 A
Rated voltage 128 V
Rated torque 4.5 Nm
Number of poles 6 poles

The sampling interval of the torque loop for improved DSVM

DTC and basic DTC schemes are both set to 600 μs. As shown
in Fig. 6, when the sampling frequency is larger than 120 μs , the
switching frequency of the improved DSVM DTC scheme is
approximately same as that of the basic DTC scheme. When it is
operating at 1000 rpm, the steady state performance of the basic
DTC and the DSVM DTC are shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9.

Fig. 7. Performance of BDTC and DSVM DTC with the same

inverter switching frequency Fig. 8. Experiment results of basic DTC scheme:
(a) BDTC, 1000 rpm, Δt=60 μs; (b) DSVM DTC, 1000 rpm, Δt=75 μs; (a) speed performance; (b) torque performance
(c) BDTC, with load step of 5 Nm at t=0.5 s, Δt=60 μs;
(d) DSVM DTC, with a load step of 5 Nm at t=0.5 s, Δt=75 μs As shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, the speed error of basic DTC is
±85 rpm and that of DSVM DTC is ±73rpm. The speed ripple of
Another comparison is made to demonstrate that the DSVM
DSVM DTC scheme is smaller than that of the basic DTC.
DTC method could achieve better performance at the same
Furthermore, the improvement of torque ripple is much more.
inverter switching frequency as the basic DTC scheme. In Fig.6,
For the basic DTC, the torque error is ±9.5 Nm and it is reduced
the sampling period of basic DTC is set to 60 μs and that of
to ±6 Nm. In Fig. 9 (b), the torque is more stable and there is less
DSVM scheme is set to 75 μs so that an approximately same
harmonic noise than that in Fig. 8 (b).
switching frequency could be obtained. The steady state
performance is simulated at 1000 rpm with a load of 10 Nm. The
dynamic response with respect to load change is simulated

1045

Authorized licensed use limited to: DELHI TECHNICAL UNIV. Downloaded on November 16, 2009 at 22:44 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

Fig. 9. Experiment results of DSVM DTC scheme:
(a) speed performance; (b) torque performance
As shown by the simulation and experimental results, the
proposed DSVM DTC scheme can effectively reduce the torque
ripple at a comparable switching frequency with the basic DTC
method.
V. CONCLUSION
The DSVM DTC method is designed to modify the basic
DTC control scheme to improve the performance of PMSM
drive system with significant reduction of torque and flux
ripples without using any complicated control algorithms. For
this purpose the DSVM technique uses prefixed time intervals
1046
Authorized licensed use limited to: DELHI TECHNICAL UNIV. Downloaded on November 16, 2009 at 22:44 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
within a sampling cycle to synthesise a higher number of voltage
vectors than the basic DTC scheme. A set of switching table is
carried out to minimise the torque error. An optimal vector
selector is developed to reduce the switching loss and make the
system more stable. The sampling period does not need to be
doubled in order to achieve a mean switching frequency
practically equal to that of the basic DTC scheme. For a
comparable performance, the switching loss of the proposed
scheme is less than that of the basic DTC method.
Simulation and experimental results of different DTC
schemes are compared with each other, and it is shown that the
new DSVM method can improve both the steady state and
dynamic performances. Even with the same switching
frequency, the torque ripple can be reduced.
REFERENCES
[1] F. Blaschke, “The principle of field orientation as applied to the new
TRANSVECTOR closed loop control system for rotating field machines,”
Siemens Review, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 217-220, 1972.
[2] I. Takahashi and T. Noguchi, “A new quick-response and high-efficiency
control strategy of an induction motor,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., Vol. 22,
No. 5, pp. 820-827, Sep./Oct. 1986.
[3] M. Depenbrock, “Direct self-control (DSC) of inverter-fed induction
machine,” IEEE Trans. Power Electronics, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 420-429,
Oct. 1988.
[4] D. Casadei, G. Serra and A, “Tani. Implementation of a direct torque
control algorithm for induction motors based on discrete space vector
modulation,” IEEE Trans. Power Electronics, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 769-777,
Jul. 2000.
[5] D. Ocen, L. Romeral, J. A. Ortega, J. Cusido and A. Garcia, “Discrete
space vector modulation applied on a PMSM motor,” Proc. 12th Int. Power
Electronics and Motion Control Conf., Portoroz, Slovenia, pp. 320-325,
Aug. 2006.