INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS LABORATORY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2017/2018
- Teacher
- CRISTIAN ZAMBELLI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
Training objectives
- The course provides the necessary elements for prototyping and design of integrated electronic systems using reconfigurable devices (FPGAs) that are commonly used in embedded environments (including mobile computing) and in computing platforms. The course provides, through laboratory activities assisted by the teacher, the competencies in creating electronic systems that span the Whole spectrum of digital electronics, analog electronics, and mixed-signal systems.
The main goal of the course consists in providing the basic elements for the development and design of integrated electronic systems with heterogeneous components by considering constraints in terms of performance, power consumption, and functionality of the designed concept.
The main knowledge gained will be:
• basic elements of an FPGA
• knowledge of a hardware description language (VHDL) oriented to the simulation and implementation of an electronic system
• knowledge of an integrated development environment (Xilinx Vivado) for FPGA
• knowledge related to the constraints of area occupation, memory, and power consumption of an electronic system implemented on FPGA
• basic knowledge of communication protocols like SPI and I2C for external devices such as off-chip memories, human interface devices, ADCs, DACs, accelerometers, and displays
• basic knowledge for the realization of an analog electronic system (filters, VCO, and PLL) on board prototyping
• interfacing an analog electronic system with a digital electronic system to build and process a signal using the mixed-signal paradigm
The main skills (the ability to apply knowledge acquired) will be:
• implement an integrated electronic system using a FPGA
• identify the design constraints that determine the design of an electronic system
• assess the communication protocol or the device most suitable for a given application
• use of prototyping systems that includes both analog and digital components to embody in embedded environments or high performance computing Prerequisites
- To follow the course you should have understood the concepts of the courses:
- Digital systems electronics
- Circuits for analog signal processing
- Architecture of Digital Systems
- Design of electronic systems
During the lectures some calls to these courses will ease the understanding of specific topics of the course. To take the exam is not necessary to have passed the examinations associated. Since this is a laboratory course it is required a basic understanding of the basic concepts of instrumentation laboratory ( bench power supply, function generator, and oscilloscope). Course programme
- Since the course is an educational workshop for students, we have 3 introductory lessons (7.5 hours) to the integrated electronic systems topic and 18 lab sessions (48 hours) in which we will address various topics. The remaining 7.5 hours can be used to provide assistance to students in the realization of complex laboratory exercises. The main topics of the course are:
- Introduction to the integrated electronic systems: the concept of analog, digital and mixed-signal electronic systems, possible scenarios of integration, design constraints (power consumption, area occupied, cost), design flow, prototyping systems and boards
- The programmable logic (FPGA): macro-block structure, integrated implementation of an FPGA, programming an FPGA using a hardware description language (VHDL), synthesis and implementation of a design, the board Digilent Basys3
- The IDE Xilinx Vivado: how to make a first project in VHDL of an integrated electronic system, difference between simulation (test bench) and implementation, communications with the board Digilent Basys3 with its peripherals (LED, switches and push button)
- Construction of a hierarchical integrated electronic system: example of a hardware adder, entity concept and module in VHDL, reuse of resources, an example of a PWM modulator
- Management of the I/O board Digilent Basys3: multiplexing I/O with other devices, driving and acquisition of signals using ADC integrated in FPGA, communication with the human interface device (HID) through the USB port
- Communication protocols in electronic systems: example and implementation of a simple Point-to-Point communication protocol between FPGAs, the UART protocol, SPI protocol (construction and simulation of a SPI controller), I2C (construction and simulation an I2C controller)
- The device 3-axis accelerometer from Analog Devices ADXL345: circuit diagram, reference manual, interfacing with the board Digilent Basys3, processing of the signals coming from the accelerometer
- The device Organic LED Graphic Display: circuit diagram, reference manual, interfacing with the board Digilent Basys3
- The device Serial PCM, 128 Mbit: reference manual, communication with the memory and interfacing with the board Digilent Basys3
- RISC processor instantiated on FPGA via picoBlaze: introduction to computing on FPGA, compiler for RISC, handling interrupts, implementation and verification of operations
- The analog prototyping board TI ASLKPRO: structure and schematic, realization of circuits based on operational amplifiers in an inverting and non-inverting configuration
- Use the integrated DAC on board TI ASLKPRO: drive the DAC using FPGA, examples of interfacing between analog and digital prototyping boards
- PLL and VCO: realization on the TI ASLKPRO board
- Design of a programmable function generator: using the skills learned in the course we will design an integrated electronic system that will use both prototyping boards and all the concepts learned in previous sessions of the workshop, starting from the design of the system up to its implementation Didactic methods
- 3 Class lectures
18 Laboratory sessions on dedicated stations using FPGA (Digilent Basys3) and analog system training kit (TI ASLKPRO) development boards Learning assessment procedures
- The exam consists in the presentation of a project of an integrated electronic system that includes the use of both the development boards used during the course and optionally the peripherals used throughout the course. The project can be common among students who share the same desk in the laboratory. In this case the evaluation will take place individually to understand the individual contribution of each student to the project . There are no time constraints related to the project's presentation, as the exam can be taken at any time by appointment with the teacher.
Passing the final exam is the proof that knowledge and abilities outlined in the training objectives of the course have been achieved.
The language used for the final exam can be english upon request from the student. Reference texts
- Slides provided by the teacher and reference manuals of the prototyping boards Digilent Basys3 and TI ASLKPRO.
Also will be made available all the datasheets of the devices and components used in laboratory exercises
