Using System-on-a-Programmable-Chip Technology to Design Embedded Systems

This paper describes the tools, techniques, and devices used to design embedded products with system–on-a-chip (SoC) type solutions using a large Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with an internal processor core. This new FPGA-based approach is called system-on-a-programmable-chip (SoPC ). The performance tradeoffs present in SoPC systems is compared to more traditional design approaches. Commercial devices, processor cores, and CAD tool flows are described. The issues in SoPC hardware/software design tradeoffs are examined and three example SoPC designs are presented as case studies

THE APPLICATION OF REAL-TIME SOFTWARE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LOW-COST SATELLITE RETURN LINKS

Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) have evolved to a level where it is feasible for digital modems with relatively low data rates to be implemented entirely with software algorithms. With current technology it is still necessary for analogue processing between the RF input and a low frequency IF but, as DSP technology advances, it will become possible to shift the interface between analogue and digital domains ever closer towards the RF input. The software radio concept is a long-term goal which aims to realise software-based digital modems which are completely flexible in terms of operating frequency, bandwidth, modulation format and source coding. The ideal software radio cannot be realised until DSP, Analogue to Digital (A/D) and Digital to Analogue (D/A) technology has advanced sufficiently. Until these advances have been made, it is often necessary to sacrifice optimum performance in order to achieve real-time operation. This Thesis investigates practical real-time algorithms for carrier frequency synchronisation, symbol timing synchronisation, modulation, demodulation and FEC. Included in this work are novel software-based transceivers for continuous-mode transmission, burst-mode transmission, frequency modulation, phase modulation and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Ideal applications for this work combine the requirement for flexible baseband signal processing and a relatively low data rate. Suitable applications for this work were identified in low-cost satellite return links, and specifically in asymmetric satellite Internet delivery systems. These systems employ a high-speed (>>2Mbps) DVB channel from service provider to customer and a low-cost, low-speed (32-128 kbps) return channel. This Thesis also discusses asymmetric satellite Internet delivery systems, practical considerations for their implementation and the techniques that are required to map TCP/IP traffic to low-cost satellite return links

FLEXIBLE LOW-COST HW/SW ARCHITECTURES FOR TEST, CALIBRATION AND CONDITIONING OF MEMS SENSOR SYSTEMS

During the last years smart sensors based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMS) are widely spreading over various fields as automotive, biomedical, optical and consumer, and nowadays they represent the outstanding state of the art. The reasons of their diffusion is related to the capability to measure physical and chemical information using miniaturized components. The developing of this kind of architectures, due to the heterogeneities of their components, requires a very complex design flow, due to the utilization of both mechanical parts typical of the MEMS sensor and electronic components for the interfacing and the conditioning. In these kind of systems testing activities gain a considerable importance, and they concern various phases of the life-cycle of a MEMS based system. Indeed, since the design phase of the sensor, the validation of the design by the extraction of characteristic parameters is important, because they are necessary to design the sensor interface circuit. Moreover, this kind of architecture requires techniques for the calibration and the evaluation of the whole system in addition to the traditional methods for the testing of the control circuitry. The first part of this research work addresses the testing optimization by the developing of different hardware/software architecture for the different testing stages of the developing flow of a MEMS based system. A flexible and low-cost platform for the characterization and the prototyping of MEMS sensors has been developed in order to provide an environment that allows also to support the design of the sensor interface. To reduce the reengineering time requested during the verification testing a universal client-server architecture has been designed to provide a unique framework to test different kind of devices, using different development environment and programming languages. Because the use of ATE during the engineering phase of the calibration algorithm is expensive in terms of ATE’s occupation time, since it requires the interruption of the production process, a flexible and easily adaptable low-cost hardware/software architecture for the calibration and the evaluation of the performance has been developed in order to allow the developing of the calibration algorithm in a user-friendly environment that permits also to realize a small and medium volume production. The second part of the research work deals with a topic that is becoming ever more important in the field of applications for MEMS sensors, and concerns the capability to combine information extracted from different typologies of sensors (typically accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers) to obtain more complex information. In this context two different algorithm for the sensor fusion has been analyzed and developed: the first one is a fully software algorithm that has been used as a means to estimate how much the errors in MEMS sensor data affect the estimation of the parameter computed using a sensor fusion algorithm; the second one, instead, is a sensor fusion algorithm based on a simplified Kalman filter. Starting from this algorithm, a bit-true model in Mathworks Simulink(TM) has been created as a system study for the implementation of the algorithm on chip

Aplicações De Métodos De Sensoriamento De Vibração Baseados Em Técnicas

Orientadores: Fabiano Fruett, Claudio FloridiaTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Sensores à fibra óptica distribuídos têm sido empregados para monitorar vários parâmetros, tais como temperatura, vibração, tensão mecânica, campo magnético e corrente elétrica. Quando comparados a outras técnicas convencionais, tais sensores são vantajosos devido a suas pequenas dimensões, imunidade a interferências eletromagnéticas, alta adaptabilidade, robustez a ambientes nocivos, dentre outros. Sensores acústicos distribuídos em particular são interessantes devido a sua capacidade em serem usados em aplicações tais como monitoração de saúde de estruturas e vigilância de perímetros. Através da análise em frequência da estrutura, por exemplo uma aeronave, uma ponte, um edifício ou mesmo máquinas em uma fábrica, é possível avaliar sua condição e detectar danos e falhas em um estágio primário. Tais soluções podem cobrir ambas as aplicações de detecção de intrusão e monitoração estrutural com mínimas adaptações no sistema sensor. Desta forma, vibrações e distúrbios pequenas estruturas com resolução de dezenas de centímetros e em grandes estruturas ou perímetros com alguns metros de resolução espacial e centenas de quilômetros de alcance podem ser detectadas. Outra característica útil desta solução baseada em fibra óptica é a possibilidade de ser combinada com técnicas de processamento digital de sinais, permitindo a detecção e localização de perturbações rápidas, reconhecimento de padrões de intrusão em tempo real e multiplexação de dados de superfícies estruturais para aplicações SHM. O principal objetivo desta tese é fazer uso desses recursos para empregar técnicas de DAS como soluções de tecnologias- chave para várias aplicações. Neste trabalho, as técnicas de phase-OTDR foram estudadas e as principais contribuições da tese focaram em trazer soluções inovadoras e validações para aplicações de vigilância e vigilância. Este doutorado teve um período sanduíche nas instalações da RISE Acreo AB, Estocolmo, Suécia, onde experimentos foram realizados e foi parte da 42ª Chamada CISB/Saab/CNPqAbstract: Distributed optical fiber sensors have been increasingly employed for monitoring several parameters, such as temperature, vibration, strain, magnetic field and current. When compared to other conventional techniques, these sensors are advantageous due to their small dimensions, lightweight, immunity to electromagnetic interference, high adaptability, robustness to hazardous environments, less complex data multiplexing, the feasibility to be embedded into structures with minimum invasion, the capability to extract data with high resolution from long perimeters using a single optical fiber and detect multiple events along the fiber. In particular, distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) based on optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR), are of high interest, due to their capability to be used in applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM) and perimeter surveillance. Through the frequency analysis of a structure, for instance an aircraft, a bridge, a building or even machines in a workshop, it is possible to evaluate its condition and detect damages and failures at an early stage. Also, OTDR based solutions for vibration monitoring can be easily adapted with minimum setup modifications to detect intrusion in a perimeter, a useful tool for surveillance of military facilities, laboratories, power plants and homeland security. The same OTDR technique can be used as a non-destructive diagnostic tool to evaluate vibrations and disturbances on both small structures with some dozens of centimeters¿ resolution and in big structures or perimeters with some meters of spatial resolution and hundreds of kilometers of reach. Another useful feature of this optical fiber based solution is the possibility to be combined with high-performance digital signal processing techniques, enabling fast disturbance detection and location, real-time intrusion pattern recognition and fast data multiplexing of structure surfaces for SHM applications. The main goal of this thesis is to make use of these features to employ DAS techniques as key enabling technologies solutions for several applications. In this work, OTDR based techniques were studied and the thesis main contributions were focused on bringing innovative solutions and validations for SHM and surveillance applications. This PhD had a sandwich period at Acreo AB, Stockholm, Sweden, where experimental tests were performed and it was part of the 42ª CISB/Saab/CNPq CalDoutoradoEletrônica, Microeletrônica e OptoeletrônicaDoutora em Engenharia Elétrica202816/2015-0CAPESCNP

Data acquisition and data analysis for the gravitational-wave detector GEO 600

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Hardware-Software Co-Design, Acceleration and Prototyping of Control Algorithms on Reconfigurable Platforms

Differential equations play a significant role in many disciplines of science and engineering. Solving and implementing Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) and partial Differential Equations (PDEs) effectively are very essential as most complex dynamic systems are modeled based on these equations. High Performance Computing (HPC) methodologies are required to compute and implement complex and data intensive applications modeled by differential equations at higher speed. There are, however, some challenges and limitations in implementing dynamic system, modeled by non-linear ordinary differential equations, on digital hardware. Modeling an integrator involves data approximation which results in accuracy error if data values are not considered properly. Accuracy and precision are dependent on the data types defined for each block of a system and subsystems. Also, digital hardware mostly works on fixed point data which leads to some data approximations. Using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), it is possible to solve ordinary differential equations (ODE) at high speed. FPGA also provides scalable, flexible and reconfigurable features. The goal of this thesis is to explore and compare implementation of control algorithms on reconfigurable logic. This thesis focuses on implementing control algorithms modeled by second and fourth order PDEs and ODEs using Xilinx System Generator (XSG) and LabVIEW FPGA module synthesis tools. Xilinx System Generator for DSP allows integration of legacy HDL code, embedded IP cores, MATLAB functions, and hardware components targeted for Xilinx FPGAs to create complete system models that can be simulated and synthesized within the Simulink environment. The National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW FPGA Module extends LabVIEW graphical development to Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) on NI Reconfigurable I/O hardware. This thesis also focuses on efficient implementation and performance comparison of these implementations. Optimization of area, latency and power has also been explored during implementation and comparison results are discussed