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.
Full article begins on Page 2