A control system and method selects a switch configuration for a power
circuit having N binary switches, based in part on a finite state
machine. The control system includes an embedded simulator, and present
and next state contemplators. The various switch states of the power
circuit are modeled by the finite state machine such that at any time,
the power circuit switches are in a Present State and there are a
plurality of Next States which are one or more switch transitions away
from the Present State. The embedded simulator estimates the operating
conditions of the load based on measured operational characteristics and
the Present State. The present state contemplator determines, based on
the operating conditions, whether a switch state transition should be
contemplated. If so, the next state contemplator determines the optimal
next state based on performance criteria and sends a state switch command
to the power circuit.