[Design View / Design Solution]
Programming FPGA Systems Doesn't Have To Be Difficult
The latest C-based tools let you speed up developing algorithm-intensive applications without having to become an expert in hardware design.
DESIGN VIEW is the summary of the complete DESIGN SOLUTION contributed article, which begins on Page 2.
Hardware designers have taken to FPGA computing for high-performance DSP solutions because it offers throughput gains on the order of 10 to 100 times faster than PC- or single-board-computer (SBC) systems. Previously, the advantages of powerful FPGA solutions weren't available to software design teams not skilled on the hardware side. Today, however, C-based solutions bring the power of FPGAs to software designers without a steep learning curve. These C-based tools significantly reduce design time versus HDL-based hardware design.
Because of these advantages, FPGA technology has evolved to the point where these chips can do much more than serve as front ends to I/O devices. FPGAs now handle the bulk of the actual processing in high-bandwidth and compute-intensive applications.
In addition, FPGAs are closely coupled with on-board memory, so multiple devices can reside on one board. And, FPGA boards can communicate via emerging serial communications standards, such as RapidIO or PCIX. With these advances, it's possible to deliver FPGA-based systems with an order-of-magnitude higher price/performance ratio over existing multi-CPU or DSP systems. As a result, FPGAs are now being used in lieu of CPUs or DSPs for algorithm-intensive, high-bandwidth applications.
This article shows designers how to move their signal-processing application to an FPGA-based system by using software tools that implement the C programming language. It outlines the process in a step-by-step fashion, taking the developer through the process of moving an algorithm-intensive, signal-processing application to a multi-FPGA system. Using C to program an example FPGA computing solution, the software application's execution dropped from about 12 minutes to approximately 2 seconds.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Porting to Hardware Via C
When designing an algorithm-intensive signal-processing application, first determine which algorithms to accelerate from your C-based code. Then create an FPGA design on paper to accelerate the code's functions. Each algorithm must be analyzed.
Determining Resources
The amount of FPGA resources to accommodate the code must be ironed out. You can partition or divide the code to run across multiple FPGAs for greater throughput.
Simulating the Environment
The simulation environment provides full bit-true/cycle-true simulations and faithfully simulates the FPGA implementation. Output from the design can be compared with the original C software version to test for accuracy. The simulation also reports actual operating speed.
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