  We introduce the construction of a orthogonal wavepacket basis set, using the
concept of stroboscopic time propagation, tailored to the efficient description
of non-equilibrium extended electronic systems. Thanks to three desirable
properties of this basis, significant insight is provided into non-equilibrium
processes (both time-dependent and steady-state), and reliable physical
estimates of various many-electron quantities such as density, current and spin
polarization can be obtained. The use of this novel tool is demonstrated for
time-dependent switching-on of the bias in quantum transport, and new results
are obtained for current-induced spin accumulation at the edge of a 2D doped
semiconductor caused by edge-induced spin-orbit interaction.
