Dubey R. Introduction to Embedded System Design Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays

Springer, 2009. — 154 p. — ISBN: 978-1-84882-015-9.The realm of embedded systems is quite large and is predominantly carried out around the general purpose processor and microcontrollers. The use of field programmable gate array (FPGA) in microprocessor-based embedded systems is often for glue logic or for off-loading the processor from tasks that require fast updates. The motivation for writing this text is to present a single source of information that can be used to understand how a FPGA and the Hardware Description Language (HDL) can be used in the design of embedded digital systems.
Digital design methodology has undergone several changes over the past three decades. The use of FPGA and HDL for implementing digital logic has become widespread in the last decade. The use ofFPGA in embedded systems is still in its nascent stage. The majority of the embedded applications are divided between an 8-bit microcontroller implementation and a 32-bit processor-based real time operating system (RTOS) implementation. This text provides a starting point for the design of embedded system using FPGA and HDL. To give the text a common thread of thought from the application point of view, a design example of a hypothetical industrial robot controller is taken up. Different chapters of the text provide the necessary background on FPGA and HDL along with its use in designing an industrial robot controller.