Book Image

Architecting High-Performance Embedded Systems

By : Jim Ledin
4 (1)
Book Image

Architecting High-Performance Embedded Systems

4 (1)
By: Jim Ledin

Overview of this book

Modern digital devices used in homes, cars, and wearables contain highly sophisticated computing capabilities composed of embedded systems that generate, receive, and process digital data streams at rates up to multiple gigabits per second. This book will show you how to use Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high-speed digital circuit design to create your own cutting-edge digital systems. Architecting High-Performance Embedded Systems takes you through the fundamental concepts of embedded systems, including real-time operation and the Internet of Things (IoT), and the architecture and capabilities of the latest generation of FPGAs. Using powerful free tools for FPGA design and electronic circuit design, you’ll learn how to design, build, test, and debug high-performance FPGA-based IoT devices. The book will also help you get up to speed with embedded system design, circuit design, hardware construction, firmware development, and debugging to produce a high-performance embedded device – a network-based digital oscilloscope. You’ll explore techniques such as designing four-layer printed circuit boards with high-speed differential signal pairs and assembling the board using surface-mount components. By the end of the book, you’ll have a solid understanding of the concepts underlying embedded systems and FPGAs and will be able to design and construct your own sophisticated digital devices.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
1
Section 1: Fundamentals of High-Performance Embedded Systems
5
Section 2: Designing and Constructing High-Performance Embedded Systems
10
Section 3: Implementing and Testing Real-Time Firmware

Summary

This chapter began with a discussion on the effective use of FPGAs in real-time embedded system architectures and continued with a description of standard FPGA devices and the low-level components they contain. The range of FPGA design languages, including HDLs, block diagram methods, and popular software programming languages such as C/C++, was introduced. An outline of the FPGA development process was presented. The chapter concluded with a complete example of an FPGA development cycle, starting with a statement of requirements and ending with a functional system implemented on a low-cost FPGA development board.

Having completed this chapter, you should know how FPGAs can be applied effectively in real-time embedded system architectures and understand the components inside an FPGA integrated circuit. You have learned about the programming languages used in the design of FPGA algorithms, the steps in the FPGA development cycle, and understand the sequence of steps in the...