International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology

(IJARET)
Volume 7, Issue 3, MayJune 2016, pp. 8795, Article ID: IJARET_07_03_008
Available online at
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=7&IType=3
ISSN Print: 0976-6480 and ISSN Online: 0976-6499
IAEME Publication

IMPLEMENTATION OF FRACTIONAL
ORDER TRANSFER FUNCTION USING
LOW COST DSP
Sandip A. Mehta
Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Instrumentation & Control,
Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Dipak M. Adhyaru
Professor & Section Head, Dept. of Instrumentation & Control,
Nirma University, Ahmedabad, India
ABSTRACT
In this paper, different fractional order transfer functions are taken first
and discretized them using available methods and filters (i.e. Oustaloup or
modified Oustaloup). Coefficients of discretized transfer function are
calculated and scaled using Q15 number system to get the coefficients in the
range between -1 to 1, and converted into equivalent hexadecimal number.
These coefficients are entered into the Micro C code that is generated using
filter design tool of Micro C for dsPIC microcontroller. Also the simulation
results are validated using EasydsPIC4 development board.
Key words: Fractional order, IIR Filter, dsPIC, Q15, Oustaloup
Cite this article: Sandip A. Mehta and Dipak M. Adhyaru, Implementation of
Fractional Order Transfer Function Using Low Cost DSP. International
Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology, 7(3), 2016, pp
8795.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=7&IType=3

1. INTRODUCTION
Fractional calculus was first founded by Leibniz and LHopital probably in 1695.
Now days, fractional-order dynamics, which are defined based on fractional-order
differential equations plays a significant role in different control applications. For
example these dynamics have been extensively used in design and practical
implementation of controllers in modelling of real-world phenomena and in
identification of physical systems [1].
For the fractional order controller implementation part many a uthors have
implemented it using hardware in loop simulation methods [2][3][4] where the actual
control part is been done by the dedicated high cost software with the help of either a
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

87

editor@iaeme.com

Sandip A. Mehta and Dipak M. Adhyaru

laptop or personal computer(PC). However when it comes to standalone PID Control

application or other industrial grade PID Controller it is been required to find the
embedded solution for implementation of fractional order transfer function or
fractional order PID Controller. For that part the microcontroller based
implementation method is the best suited method for the implementation. In [5] the
author has proposed the PIC18F458 microcontroller method for the implementation of
fractional order PID Controller and analog realization method is also proposed. Even
some book[6] has suggested the DSP based IIR and FIR realization methods for the
implementation of fractional order PID Controller . However since then very little
effort[7][8] has been made for the implementation methods for the fractional order
PID Controller using low cost microcontroller. The problem with microcontroller
implementation is that real time signal processing is not possible where as in DSP real
time signal processing task is possible and thats why the best suitable candidate for
implementation fractional order PID Controller is the low cost DSP controller. In this
paper dsPIC30F4013 is been used for the implementation of PID algorithm. The
dsPIC30F4013 is 16 bit DSP processor and the programming software for this DSP is
Mikro C or MPLAB. The cost of this processor is around 5U$. In this paper Mikro C
software has been used for the programming the dsPIC30f4013.
Different fractional order transfer functions has been simulated using MATLAB.
d. In section 1, first it is shown how to simulate the fractional order transfer function
using appropriate approximation and discretize it using available methods. In section
2, scaling of the coefficients of discretized transfer function using Q15 number system
has been described. In section 3, design of a filter using filter design tool has been
described. In section 4, simulations of the different transfer functions are explained.
And in section 5, Implementation results of simulations are given.

2. FRACTIONAL ORDER TRANSFER FUNCTION

APPROXIMATION
There are various methods available for the approximation of fractional order transfer
function to integer form or in other words continuous time transfer function form,
these methods are described in [6]. Out of these methods the approximation methods
Oustaloup or modified Oustaloup approximation method is best suitable method for
our purpose and we have used these two methods for the approximation purpose..
Convert the resulting continuous time transfer function into discrete time transfer
function using available methods of discretization i.e. Tustin, prewarp etc.[6].

3. SCALING OF COEFFICIENTS AND FILTER DESIGN

3.1. Scaling of Coefficients
As the transfer function is discretized, next step is to scale the coefficients of the
discretized transfer function as per the binary floating point number system. In this
paper Q15 number system has been used since the 16 bit DSP microcontroller that is
used for the implementation is supporting only Q15 number system. Scaling of the
coefficients is required because the range of the fractional operator is between -1 to 1,
so the coefficients of filter must be in same range between -1 to 1. In Q15,15
represents the number of bits reserved for floating part.
The complete flow chart for the whole process is as shown in the next section. As
it is shown in the flow chart after the approximation of fractional order system in to

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

88

editor@iaeme.com

Implementation of Fractional Order Transfer Function Using Low Cost DSP

integer order domain the stability of the integer order system has been verified. For
the stability of integer order system, a MATLAB command has been used.

3.2. IIR and FIR filter

After getting the integer order transfer function, the next task is to implement the
transfer function using IIR/FIR filter format. IIR filters are digital filters with infinite
impulse response. Unlike FIR filters, they have the feedback (a recurs ive part of a
filter) and are known as recursive digital filters therefore. For this reason IIR filters
have much better frequency response than FIR filters of the same order. Below figure
clearly shows the difference between FIR and IIR filter [9].

Figure 1 IIR and FIR filter concept

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

89

editor@iaeme.com

Sandip A. Mehta and Dipak M. Adhyaru

Define transfer function

Discretize the transfer function using the filter

(i.e. Oustaloup, modified Oustaloup)

Take the new transfer function

Find the step response of the system

NO

YES
Is System is stable?

Calculate the coefficients

of transfer function

NO

YES
Is it between -1 to 1?

Scale the Coefficients using

Q15 number system

Q15 number system means scaling by 1/2 15.

<
1

s
N

If the coefficient is not in the range of -1 to 1 than divide it

to nearest integer number and convert to hexadecimal
number

.I

We cant use C function to convert hexadecimal number

-1

-1

-1

-1

These.coefficients are being used in the

code for filter design
n

-1

1
=

0
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp
r
.

90

editor@iaeme.com

Implementation of Fractional Order Transfer Function Using Low Cost DSP

Give design parameters for the filter

Appropriated C Code is written

Hex file generation from C code and

program the dsPIC4013

Observe the output waveforms on DAC

M CP4921

One can check the validity of the simulation

hex file in Easy dsPIC4 development board.
One can check the validity of the simulation hex file in Easy
dsPIC4 development board.

End

Flow Chart 1 Illustration of complete process through flow chart

There is one problem known as a potential instability that is typical of IIR filters
only. FIR filters do not have such a problem as they do not have the feedback.
According to the location of poles in the z plane, it is easy to determine whether it
refers to FIR or IIR filter. The poles of the FIR filter transfer function are located at
the origin. For IIR filter it is always necessary to check after the design process
whether the resulting IIR filter is stable or not. The recursive part of the transfer
function is actually a discrete-time system feedback. Unlike the FIR filters, the IIR
filters have feedback which enables them to have greater selectivity as well as
nonlinearity of phase characteristic than FIR filters. With filter we are using bilinear
transformation because it always makes filter stable [10][11].
For the discretization of fractional order transfer function using z-transform of the
transfer function is of great importance for IIR filters. The location of poles in the z
plane is used for testing stability of designed IIR filter. The poles of the IIR filter
transfer function must be located within the unit circle in orde r that filter is stable.
Filter Designer Tool of Mikro C allows simple and very fast design of digital filters.
User need to define the different specifications like Filter order, Sampling frequency,
Pass band cut-off frequency, and Minimum stop band attenuation etc. in filter
designer tool and it will generate the C code of the same. In the C code we need to
enter the coefficients that we have calculated for our transfer function as described in
flowchart-I.

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

91

editor@iaeme.com

Sandip A. Mehta and Dipak M. Adhyaru

3.3. Simulation and Implementation work, results and discussion

(1)

Consider the following Transfer function:

Here using the Oustaloup approximation the simulation result is as shown in the
figure2. The simulation has been done using MATLAB software.

Figure 2 Simulation of Fractional order transfer function

For the hardware implementation the Easy dsPIC development board has been
used. The Easy dsPIC board allows dsPIC microcontrollers to be interfaced with
external circuits and a broad range of peripheral devices. It comes with a
dsPIC30F4013, 40-pin microcontroller. It has its own on-board USB programmer so
user can load the program into the DSP microcontroller via the dsPICflash
programming software. The following schematic shows connection diagram of
dsPIC30F4013 to DAC MCP4921, Fig.4. The 12 bit DAC is connected to the SPI
module of dsPIC30F4013. The DAC is connected to the SPI module of
dsPIC30F401.3The C code for the IIR filter program is written and the step response
of the filter is as shown in the Figure .3

Figure 3 Step Response of the fractional order transfer function

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

92

editor@iaeme.com

Implementation of Fractional Order Transfer Function Using Low Cost DSP

Similarly fractional order PID is been simulated and implemented as shown in

Fig.5 and Fig.6. The PID transfer function is
(2)

This transfer function is simulated for the filter order of 5 with sampling time of
0.01 sec. and Tustins prewarp approximation.

Figure 4 dsPIC30F4013 connection with the DAC

Figure 5 Simulated step response of fractional PID controller

Figure 6 Step Response of the fractional order PID transfer function.

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

93

editor@iaeme.com

Sandip A. Mehta and Dipak M. Adhyaru

4. CONCLUSION
This paper proposed the methodology for the implementation of fractional order
transfer function on dsPIC microcontroller. The different fractional order transfer
functions and fractional PID controller are simulated first and then successfully
implemented using IIR filter approximation method. The fractional order operator
range is -1 to 1. The IIR filter order used in the implementation is up to 12. It has been
observed the higher the order of the filter more accurate the result. However when
filter order is greater than 12 it is difficult to calculate all the filter coefficient
accurately. Since the range of input signal is between 0 to 1 volt only, considerable
amount of noise output is observed. In future the fractional order PID can be
implemented to control the physical system

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The present work is a part of PhD research work carried out at Nirma University.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]
[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]
[10]
[11]

Podlubny, I, Fractional-order systems and PI/sup /spl lambda//D/sup /spl

mu//-controllers, Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on, 44 (1), pp.208
214, Jan. 1999
Huang Wenbo, Zhang Qiang(2012, January 1), The Hardware-in-the-loop
Simulation on the Control System of a Small Launch Vehicle, Procedia
Engineering,[Online].29(0),pp.
1867-1871,
Available:
http://www.sciencedirect. com /science /article/pii/S187770581200238X
,July 14,2014
Mukhopadhyay, S.; Yan Li; Yang-Quan Chen, Experimental Studies of a
Fractional Order Universal Adaptive Stabilizer, Mechtronic and Embedded
Systems and Applications, 2008. MESA 2008. IEEE/ASME International
Conference on , pp.591596, 12-15 Oct. 2008
Mukhopadhyay, S.; Yiding Han; Yang-Quan Chen, Fractional order
networked control systems and random delay dynamics: A hardware-in-theloop simulation study, American Control Conference, 2009. ACC '09,
pp.14181423, 10-12 June 2009.
Ivo Petras, Fractional order feedback control of dc motor , Journal of
electrical engineering, 60(3),pp.117128, 2009
C A Monge, Y Q Chen, Blas M Vinagre, Dingyu Xue and Vicente FeliuBatlle, Fractional order systems and fractional order controllerl, Springer
Science & Businees Media, 2010
Both, R.; Muresan, C.-I; Dulf, E.-H.; Dulf, F.-V, Microcontroller
implementation of digital fractional order controllers for time delay
processes," Control & Automation (MED), 2013 21st Mediterranean
Conference on pp.1445,1450, 2528 June 2013
A.K Abbes, F. Bouani, M. Ksouri,., A Microcontroller Implementation of
Constrained Model Predictive Control, International Journal of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering,5:4 2011
Dolecek, G.J. Demo Programme for Teaching the Characteristics of Low
Pass IIR Filters, IEEE Conference Publication, Pg T4E1-T4E6,October 2011.
Dooren, P. van, Numerical aspects of system and control algorithms, Journal
A, pp. 2532, 1989.
Bednar, J, On the approximation of FIR by IIR digital filters. IEEE

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

94

editor@iaeme.com

Implementation of Fractional Order Transfer Function Using Low Cost DSP

[12]
[13]
[14]

[15]

[16]
[17]

Transaction on Acoust, Speech, Signal Processing. pp. 2834. Feb. 1983

MATLAB R2010a. [Online] http://www.mathworks.com
Ch. Ravi Kumar and Dr. P.V.Ramana Rao, PSO Based Fractional Order
Automatic Generation Controller For Two Area Power System. International
Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology, 5(9), 2014, pp 1728.
Kishore Bingi and Susy Thomas, A New Chaotic Attractor Generated From
A 3-D Autonomous System with One Equilibrium And Its Fractional Order
Form. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology, 5(2),
2014, pp 5159.
Topalovic, Zoran Ristic Ivan Rajkovic Nikola. mikroElektronica.
[Online] http://www.mikroe.com.

http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/index.asp

95

editor@iaeme.com