Systematic considerations for the application of FPGAs in industrial applications

Abstract

From the functionality point of view, FPGAs became very interesting for industrial applications. Reasons are the constantly decreasing costs of microelectronics and improvements in the corresponding design tools as well as the increasing need of complex real-time functionalities in these applications. However, other non-functional requirements have to be considered. Therefore, the potentials of FPGAs for industrial applications are considered in this paper on basis of hardware attributes representing the contribution of these systems to system qualities as for example performance, reliability and marketability.

Aspect-Oriented Model-Driven Engineering for FPGA/VHDL Based Embedded Real-Time Systems

“…• ModifyConstructor: This adaptation instantiates the clock divider component (see appendix A, lines 61-68); 2 An active object executes autonomously its behaviors in parallel with other active objects. A passive object only executes its behaviors in response to method calls from other objects either active or passive.…”

“…FPGAs have been used not only for simulation and rapid prototyping, but also for the delivered system [1] [2]. VHDL is a popular language used to describe hardware architecture and its behavior, which may be synthesized to an FPGA device.…”

On Generating VHDL Descriptions from Aspect-Oriented UML/MARTE Models

“…processors and memory) into the system hardware platform. Programmability, flexibility and performance are some of the reasons to add a FPGA device to perform some tasks in the final embedded systems [1] [2].…”

Design of a Redundant FPGA-Based Safety System for Railroad Vehicles

“…In fact, Griessnig et al [7] observe that both FPGAs and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) require minor software development due to the small amount of RAM and the possibility to avoid using on-board microprocessors, which would require online and startup tests. Salewski et al highlight that system development based on hardware programmable devices can be more complex in safety industrial applications, but it offers clear benefits due to their performance and the parallel nature of these components [8]. Dalpez et al employed an FPGA to achieve the required performance in the design of safety-related functions in industrial machinery [9].…”

“…Dalpez et al employed an FPGA to achieve the required performance in the design of safety-related functions in industrial machinery [9]. In the specific context of railway applications, Dobias and Kubatova developed an FPGA-based safety system for railway interlocking equipment, to be employed at the crossing gate [8]. Conmy and Bate show how to derive the failure properties to be used in a possible safety analysis [6].…”