Abstract:
A portable architectural design strategy is
described for the implementation of reconfigurable virtual
instrumentation based on programmable Systems-on-Chip
integrating microprocessors and FPGA in the same physical
device. The key role is played by a general purpose communication
block as a means to efficiently separate the activities carried out in
the microprocessor and in the FPGA. Both parts interact
according to simple logic protocols by reading and writing data on
the common memory resources of the communication block. The
architecture of the proposed communication system can be easily
implemented in practically any modern programmable System-on-
Chip. With the proposed strategy, the porting of embedded
software programs and associated FPGA designs among different
device families and vendors is facilitated. A structured
methodology is proposed for handling complex real-time systems
based on these programmable Systems-on-Chip. We described a
concrete communication block that has been successfully
implemented and utilized for a quick implementation of a data
acquisition system based on a Xilinx Zynq-7030 FPGA Mezzanine
Card (FMC) and a custom FMC module with an 8-bit 500 MSPS
ADC.
