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

FPGA implementation languages

Implementing a design for an FPGA ultimately comes down to using one or more software-programming-like languages to define the functionality of the device. The traditional languages used for FPGA development are VHDL and Verilog. Current-generation FPGA development tools generally support both of these languages together with the ability to define system configurations using block diagramming techniques. Some tool suites also support the definition of FPGA functionality using the traditional C and C++ programming languages.

VHDL

VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL), where VHSIC stands for Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit, has syntax reminiscent of the Ada programming language. VHDL was developed under the guidance of the US Department of Defense beginning in 1983.

Like Ada, VHDL tends to be quite verbose and rigidly structured. In programming language terms, VHDL is strongly typed. The language contains a predefined set of base data types...