基于TotalRecall技术ASIC的FPGA原型验证

芯片设计中一个非常重要的环节是验证.随着FPGA技术的迅速发展使基于FPGA的原型验证被广泛的用于ASIC的开发过程,FPGA原型验证是ASIC有效的验证途径,但传统FPGA原型验证的可视性非常差.为了解决传统FPGA原型验证可视性的问题,验证工程师采用了结合TotalRecall技术的FPGA原型验证方法对一款鼠标芯片进行验证.获得该方法不仅能提供100％的可视性,还确保FPGA原型验证以实时硬件速度运行.该方法创新了ASIC的验证方法学.     

A Co-Design Methodology for Telecommunication Systems: A Case Study of an Acoustic Echo Canceller

The acoustic echo cancellation with large adaptive filters is a computationally intensive problem and needs real time cost effective solution. To deal with these challenges, designers have increasingly turned to mixed Hardware/Software (HW/SW) implementation of echo canceller algorithms. This paper presents a co-design methodology and environment for both hardware and software modules. We describe how High Level Synthesis (HLS) tools like GAUT and SYNDEX can be efficiently used for rapid prototyping of heterogeneous architecture based on DSP TMS320C40 and ASIC. The HW/SW interface synthesis task is especially discussed since it constitutes a key issue of the whole design. As an illustration, we present a mixed implementation of the GMDF alpha algorithm, an adaptive filter well suited to acoustic echo cancellation, on both ASIC and TMS320C40 DSP.     

Implementation of a Communications Channelizer using FPGAs and RNS Arithmetic

Field-programmable logic (FPL), often grouped under the popular name field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), are on the verge of revolutionizing sectors of digital signal processing (DSP) industry as programmable DSP microprocessor did nearly two decades ago. Historically, FPGAs were considered to be only a rapid prototyping and low-volume production technology. FPGAs are now attempting to move into the mainstream DSP as their density and performance envelope steadily improve. While evidence now supports the claim that FPGAs can accelerate selected low-end DSP applications (e.g., FIR filter), the technology remains limited in its ability to realize high-end DSP solutions. This is due primarily to systemic weaknesses in FPGA-facilitated arithmetic processing. It will be shown that in such cases, the residue number system (RNS) can become an enabling technology for realizing embedded high-end FPGA-centric DSP solutions. This thesis is developed in the context of a demonstrated RNS/FPGA synergy and the application of the new technology to communication signal processing.     

FPGA in the software radio

As new radio standards are deployed without substantially supplanting existing ones, the need for multimode multiband handsets and infrastructure increases. This article describes how emerging FPGA technology's unique combination of size and power efficiency plus field programmability offers a transition of FPCAs from ASIC prototyping to embedded products. Software-defined receiver examples suggest an enlarged role for FPGAs in pragmatic paths toward the productization of software radio technology     

Glitch and Laser Fault Attacks onto a Secure AES Implementation on a SRAM-Based FPGA

Programmable devices are an interesting alternative when implementing embedded systems on a low-volume scale. In particular, the affordability and the versatility of SRAM-based FPGAs make them attractive with respect to ASIC implementations. FPGAs have thus been used extensively and successfully in many fields, such as implementing cryptographic accelerators. Hardware implementations, however, must be protected against malicious attacks, e.g. those based on fault injections. Protections have been usually evaluated on ASICs, but FPGAs can be vulnerable as well. This work presents thus fault injection attacks against a secured AES architecture implemented on a SRAM-based FPGA. The errors are injected during the computation by means of voltage glitches and laser attacks. To our knowledge, this is one of the first works dealing with dynamic laser fault injections. We show that fault attacks on SRAM-based FPGAs may behave differently with respect to attacks against ASIC, and they need therefore to be addressed by specific countermeasures, that are also discussed in this paper. In addition, we discuss the different effects obtained by the two types of attacks.     

A regular fabric design methodology for applications requiring specific layout-level design rules

Regular fabrics have been introduced as an approach to bridge the gap between ASICs and FPGAs in terms of cost and performance. Indeed, compared to an ASIC, by predefining most of the manufacturing masks, they highly reduce time-to-market, non-recoverable engineering costs and lithography hazards. Also, thanks to hardwired configuration and interconnections their performance is closer to those of ASICs than those of FPGAs. They are therefore well suited to many applications requiring low to medium volume applications or higher performance than those provided by FPGAs.In this paper, we evaluate the interest of using a regular fabric to reduce time and design cost significantly in applications involving specific transistor level design (radiative/spacial conditions, side-channel attacks, NMR environment, etc.). With this aim in view, after a broad state of the art overview with an emphasis on architectures and design flows, we develop our approach of a regular fabric designed to limit layout level design, ad-hoc tools and technological migration cost. Then, we evaluate its performance in a 65 nm process versus FPGA and standard cell based ASIC implementations. For sequential designs, our proposed solution is on average 2.5×slower and 2.3×bigger than a standard cell implantation, but also on average 13×faster than a FPGA.     

基于DSP-FPGA的通用数字信号处理模块的设计

充分利用现代大规模集成电路和雷达数字信号处理技术,结合FPGA和DSP芯片的特点,详细介绍了运用多个DSP和FPGA来构成通用数字信号处理模块的一种设计方法。运用该模块构建的机载雷达信号处理系统具有架构灵活、可编程性好、可扩展性强及可靠性高等特点。     

Field programmable gate arrays in space

The use of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in satellite and other spacecraft is on the rise. They are increasingly competitive when compared to traditional application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). However, exposure to space radiation produces the same physical effects on both FPGAs and ASICs. How these radiation effects can translate to circuit malfunctions and how these problems can be prevented or mitigated is a complex, multifaceted issue that depends on the specific technology and the device's internal architecture. First and foremost, designers should implement a reliable ASIC/FPGA development methodology for the definition, design, verification, physical implementation and validation phases of any ASIC/FPGA to be flown as part of the spacecraft platform or critical payload. This should be contractually enforced. The European Space Agency (ESA) will continue to make available its own internal standard or any other equivalent methodology proposed by the contractor. As soon as the new ECSS standard on this subject is available, ESA will start using it as an applicable document in all projects where ASICs or FPGAs are to be developed.     

Multitier Wireless Communications

Next-generation computing systems will be highly integrated using wireless networking. The Rice Everywhere NEtwork (RENÉ) project is exploring the integration of WCDMA cellular systems, high speed wireless LANs, and home wireless networks to produce a seamless multitier network interface. We are currently developing a simulation acceleration testbed and a multitier network interface card (mNIC) consisting of DSP processors, custom VLSI ASICs, and FPGAs for baseband signal processing to interact with the various RF units and the host processor. This testbed will also allow us to explore high performance algorithm alternatives through computer aided design tools for rapid prototyping and hardware/software co-design of embedded systems.     

基于可重构FPGA技术的自适应FIR滤波器的实现

有限冲激响应(FIR)滤波器设计遇到的难题是滤波要进行大量乘法运算,即使是在全定制的专用集成电路中也会导致过大的面积与功耗.对于用硬件实现系数是常量的专用滤波器,可以通过分解系数变为应用加、减和移位而实现乘法.FIR滤波器的复杂性主要由用于系数乘法的加法器/减法器的数量决定.而对于自适应FIR滤波器,大多数场合下可用数字信号处理器(DSP)或CPU通过软件编程的方法来实现,但是对于要求高速运算的场合,VLSI实现是很好的选择.基于这一考虑,可以用符号数的正则表示(CSD)码表示系数, 再利用可重构现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)技术实现.可重构结构的应用,能保证系统的其余部分同时处于运行状态时实现FIR滤波器系数的更新.文中利用CSD码和可重构思想,提出了用FPGA实现自适应FIR滤波器的一种方案.     

DA算法结构改进及其实现

在FPGA的DSP处理中，传统上基于FPGA查找表(LUT)算法在关键通道上存在一个或多个进位传播链，对速度性能形成较大影响。就如何减小或取消FPGA上基于LUT的DA算法关键通道上进位传播作探讨，并提出新的算法，这种方法大大加速了基于DA算法的DSP处理，有较高的性价比。     

Word-Length Aware DSP Hardware Design Flow Based on High-Level Synthesis

Multimedia applications such as video and image processing are often characterized as computation intensive applications. For these applications the word-length of data and instructions is different throughout the application. Generating hardware architectures is not a straightforward task since it requires a deep word-length analysis in order to properly determine what hardware resources are needed. In this paper we suggest an automated design methodology based on high-level synthesis which takes care of data word-length and interconnection resource cost in order to generate area and power efficient fixed-point architectures for DSP applications. Both ASIC and FPGA technologies are targeted. Experimental results show that our proposed approach reduces area by 6% to 42% on FPGA technology and by 9% to 48 % on ASIC compared to previous approaches. Power saving can reach up to 44% on FPGA technology and 36% on ASIC.     

Features, Design Tools, and Application Domains of FPGAs

In the past two decades, advances in programmable device technologies, in both the hardware and software arenas, have been extraordinary. The original application of rapid prototyping has been complemented with a large number of new applications that take advantage of the excellent characteristics of the latest devices. High speed, very large number of components, large number of supported protocols, and the addition of ready- to-use intellectual property cores make programmable devices the preferred choice of implementation and even deployment in mass production quantities. This paper surveys the advanced features, design tools, and application domains for field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The main characteristics and structure of modern FPGAs are first described to show their versatility and abundance of available design resources. Software resources are also discussed, as they are the main enablers for the efficient exploitation of the design capabilities of these devices. Current application domains are described, such as configurable computing, dynamically reconfigurable systems, rapid system prototyping, communication processors and interfaces, and signal processing. This paper also presents the authors' prospective view of how FPGAs will evolve to enter new application domains in the future.     

A Low-Power Heterogeneous Multiprocessor Architecture for Audio Signal Processing

This paper describes a low-power programmable DSP architecture that targets audio signal processing. The architecture can be characterized as a heterogeneous multiprocessor consisting of small instruction set processors called mini-cores as well as standard DSP and CPU cores that communicate using message passing. The mini-cores are tailored for different classes of filtering algorithms (FIR, IIR, N-LMS etc.), and in a typical system the communication among processors occur at the sampling rate only.The mini-cores are intended as soft-macros to be used in the implementation of system-on-chip solutions using a synthesis-based design flow targeting a standard-cell implementation. They are parameterized in word-size, memory-size, etc. and can be instantiated according to the needs of the application. To give an impression of the size of a mini-core we mention that one of the FIR mini-cores in a prototype design has 16 instructions, a 32-word × 16-bit program memory, a 64-word × 16-bit data memory and a 25-word × 16-bit coefficient memory.Results obtained from the design of a prototype chip containing mini-cores for a hearing aid application, demonstrate a power consumption that is only 1.5–1.6 times larger than a hardwired ASIC and more than 6–21 times lower than current state of the art low-power DSP processors. This is due to: (1) the small size of the processors and (2) a smaller instruction count for a given task.     

Implementation of a new adaptive slicing algorithm for the rapid prototyping manufacturing system

Rapid prototyping is an automated manufacturing process that quickly builds physical models from three-dimensional (3-D) prototype computer-aided design files. It dramatically speeds up design and manufacturing processes and substantially reduces the cost. This paper presents a new adaptive slicing algorithm for rapid prototyping (RP) processes. The proposed adaptive slicing approach determines the layer thickness based on comparing the contour circumference or the center of gravity of the contour with those of the adjacent layer. Most commercial rapid prototyping systems use uniform slicing procedures with a fixed layer thickness to build parts. To implement the adaptive slicing algorithm, we developed a thermal extrusion based RP mechatronics system equipped with a linear planar servo motor. The RP material is wax. The XYZ table is controlled using a PC based multi-axis DSP motion controller. The RP material flow rate for the thermal extrusion head is controlled using a dc servo motor and motion controller. The Taguchi method was used to analyze the process parameters for the proposed RP system to improve the quality of the RP part. Based on the experimental results, the proposed RP mechatronics system can produce good quality RP parts with the adaptive slicing algorithm. The proposed RP system also implements the high-precision exterior, high-speed interior slicing strategy for STL models.     

Security Path: An Emerging Design Methodology to Protect the FPGA IPs Against Passive/Active Design Tampering

Modern FPGAs have a great market share in hardware prototyping, massive parallel systems and reconfigurable architectures. Although the field-programmability of FPGAs is an effective feature in the growth and diversity of their applications; it has caused security concerns for IPs/Designs on FPGAs. Recent researches show that a reliable mechanism is required to protect the IPs/applications on FPGAs against malicious manipulations during all stages of design lifecycle, especially when they are operating in the field. In this paper, we propose a new tamper-resistant design methodology (Security Path methodology) and a revised security-aware FPGA architecture. This methodology protects the configured design against tampering attacks in parallel with the normal operation of the circuit. When the attack is discovered, the normal data flow is obfuscated and the circuit is blocked. Experimental results show that this methodology provides near full coverage in tampering detection with overhead of 12.32 % in power, 12 % in delay and 38 % in area.     

Altera Stratix25DSP开发套件在数字信号处理系统设计实验教学中的应用

现场可编程门阵列FPGA的并行性和高度灵活性使得它相较于传统的DSP处理器在数字信号处理领域取得日益广泛使用。本文重点介绍Altera公司Stratix25DSP开发套件的硬件系统,简要介绍了与该开发套件对应的集成开发环境DSP Builder,并进一步讨论了在此套件基础上所开设的一系列DSP实验内容。从实验效果来看,该开发套件为设计者提供了一个完善的开发平台,大大简化了基于FPGA的DSP系统设计,是一套非常好用的进行数字信号处理系统设计实验教学及开发的工具。     

Programmable interconnects speed system verification

A family of CMOS integrated circuits called field programmable interconnect components (FPICs) that can provide designers with the high-density interconnect architectures for making programmable hardware a reality is discussed. The FPIC devices address a broad spectrum of interconnect needs, including system prototypes and breadboards, user-specific/configurable printed circuit boards (PCBs), application configurable processors, test interfaces, and programmable connector and switching matrix applications. Using FPIC devices for system prototyping, in conjunction with other programmable components (programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP, and programmable memory) enhance the design verification process, allowing faster, more flexible, and thorough product integration. Field programmable circuit boards (FPCBs) designed to take advantage of the high density interconnect and observability of FPIC devices and a FPIC/FPCB development environment are described     

基于Zynq7020的组合导航处理平台软硬件系统的设计与实现

提出一种基于Zynq处理平台的组合导航系统设计及实现方案,Zynq7020作为新近发展的可扩展处理平台,集成了大规模可编程逻辑器件(FPGA)、低功耗高性能先进ARM处理器,两者通过内部总线互联与通信,满足高集成度、高性能数据处理的应用需求.基于Zynq处理器设计并实现组合导航处理平台,替代原有的FPGA+DSP+ARM导航解算模式,单芯片完成IMU信号采集,信号处理和导航解算等功能,降低整机设计的复杂度和成本.