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 of best practices for high-performance embedded system development

This section contains a series of recommendations intended to help developers of high-performance embedded systems achieve success. While by no means exhaustive, this list should provide a good starting point for your next development effort.

Designing for test

One of the most constructive things you can do during the design process for a complex embedded system is to, at all stages, include features that enable easy testing of the system. By doing this, system designers enable the efficient evaluation of system performance and the rapid completion of system testing.

Designing for test may involve the addition of test points on printed circuits or the use of processor or FPGA chips that support enhanced debugging features. Regardless of the specific technologies involved in the design-for-test process, the goal must be to make the internal behavior of the system as visible as possible during testing...