Implementation of Goertzel-based frequency estimation for power quality monitoring in embedded measurement systems

International standards from IEC and IEEE regulate power grid parameters such as the RMS value, frequency, harmonic and interharmonic distortion, unbalance or the presence of transients, that are important to assure the quality of distributed power. Standard IEC 61000-4-30 suggests the zero crossing algorithm for the measurement of the power grid frequency, but also states that different algorithms can be used. This paper proposes a new algorithm, the Fractional Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform, FracIpDFT, to estimate the power grid frequency, suitable for implementation in resource limited embedded measurement systems. It is based on the non-integer Goertzel algorithm followed by interpolation at non-integer multiples of the DFT frequency resolution. The proposed algorithm is validated and its performance compared with other algorithms through numerical simulations. Implementation details of the FracIpDFT in an ARM Cortex M4 processor are presented along with frequency measurement results performed with the proposed algorithm in the developed system.