VHDL tutorial - combining clocked and sequential logic
In an earlier article on VHDL programming ("VHDL tutorial" and "VHDL tutorial - part 2 - Testbench", I described a design for providing a programmable clock divider for a ADC sequencer. In this example, I showed how to generate a clock signal (ADCClk), that was to be programmable over a series of fixed rates (20MHz, 10MHz, 4MHz, 2MHz, 1MHz and 400KHz), given a master clock rate of 40MHz. A reader of that article had written to ask if it was possible to extend the design to...
Designing Embedded Systems with FPGA-2
In last part, we created hardware design of basic system. The next step is to generate (compile) hardware design. Compiled hardware design is known as bit-stream andstored in *.bit file. To compile hardware, use hardware->generate hardware tab. The complete hardware design generation takes several seconds to several minutes depending on computer speed and design complexity. In back ground, the whole design process involves many different steps including synthesis, placement, routing and...
VHDL tutorial - part 2 - Testbench
In an earlier article I walked through the VHDL coding of a simple design. In this article I will continue the process and create a test bench module to test the earlier design. The Xilinx ISE environment makes it pretty easy to start the testing process. To start the process, select "New Source" from the menu items under "Project". This launches the "New Source Wizard". From within the Wizard select "VHDL Test Bench" and enter the name of the new module (click 'Next' to...
Designing Embedded System with FPGA - 1
With the introduction of soft processors and related tools (like EDK from Xilinx), implementation of basic embedded system in FPGA is made easy. This requires very little or almost no knowledge of VHDL programming. Actually that’s how I started. If user is interested in taking full advantage of FPGA and its parallel processing power, then yes, detail understanding of soft processor, its peripheral bus and VHDL programming is required.
I will start with...
Coding Step 2 - Source Control
Articles in this series:
- Coding Step 0 - Development Environments
- Coding Step 1 - Hello World and Makefiles
- Coding Step 2 - Source Control
- Coding Step 3 - High-Level Requirements
- Coding Step 4 - Design
When I first started out in programming, version control was not an introductory topic. Not in the least because it required a 'server' (ie, a computer which a teenaged me couldn't afford) but because it seemed difficult and only useful to teams rather than...
How to Arduino - a video toolbox
I've begun producing a new series of video tutorials for the hobbyist new to the Arduino or microcontrollers in general. My videos are very pragmatic - I prefer to answer the question "what is the quickest, simplest and most affordable way to accomplish this?". The videos are meant to be a quick source of "how to" knowledge for the hobbyist that is using an LCD display, ultrasonic sensor or accelerometer for the first time, for example. I hope you enjoy this series of...
C++ on microcontrollers 3 – a first shot at an hc595 class with 8 output pins
This blog series is about the use of C++ for modern microcontrollers. My plan is to show the gradual development of a basic I/O library. I will introduce the object-oriented C++ features that are used step by step, to provide a gentle yet practical introduction into C++ for C programmers. Reader input is very much appreciated, you might even steer me in the direction you find most interesting.
In the first part of...
Intro to Microcontrollers Part 2: AVR Microcontrollers
IntroductionThis is part 2 of my playing around with AVR microcontrollers. Last time, I had a basic setup which could program an AVR using the Arduino ISP. I used it to drive a simple 7-segment, multiplexed 4-digit LED display. This is a follow up where I try out some of the other features the ATTiny24A has to offer. I also decided to invest some money in an AVR Dragon programmer/debugger so I'll go over some basic playing and setup with this device. I'll also discuss some of the problems...
Tracing code and checking timings
Debugging resource limited systemsApplications writers that write code on large systems have it easy. Well, perhaps not easy, but certainly easier. There are some things that they don't have to worry about and there is a huge array of tools available to them when it comes time to debug. The have choices in their toolsets, lots of choices. They also have a large selection of available methods for getting debugging information out to them such as log files, proc entries, pop up dialog boxes or...
Hidden Gems from the Embedded Online Conference Archives - Part 1
Discussion of a "hidden gem" from the Embedded Online Conference archives!
Layout recomendations and tips for best performance against EMC
When making the layout of the circuit diagram, it is interesting to perform a preliminary analysis of several issues in order to minimize problems arising from electromagnetic compatibility.The analysis consists in:
Identify / Analyze components: This section will analyze the integrated components, as well as any recommendations it may have the manufacturer. We must also analyze the encapsulation possibilities which have the component.
Intro to Microcontrollers Part 2: AVR Microcontrollers
IntroductionThis is part 2 of my playing around with AVR microcontrollers. Last time, I had a basic setup which could program an AVR using the Arduino ISP. I used it to drive a simple 7-segment, multiplexed 4-digit LED display. This is a follow up where I try out some of the other features the ATTiny24A has to offer. I also decided to invest some money in an AVR Dragon programmer/debugger so I'll go over some basic playing and setup with this device. I'll also discuss some of the problems...
