The miniaturisation of complex RFID devices (some are smaller than a grain of sand) has made microchipping of live animals commonplace, and since they do not have to be invasive to be secure, these microchips are now being widely considered for human use. Advances in PCB design and digital signal processing has led to a new generation of low-cost mobile hand scanners, such as pet microchip scanners.

Mobile microchip scanners are based on DSP programming technology. Newer hardware designs have improved reading distance (i.e. the distance from the scanner to the microchip) and screen out interference from other digital technology such as TVs and computers. Since the scanner is a detection device, it needs to be compatible with as many microchips on the market as possible. This is made easier by the fact that that these have become largely standardised. Two of the best known component manufacturers of microtags are Trovan and Avid.

RFID tagging technology today is compact and flexible, with low-power reconfigurable system designs, which utilise FPGA programming in place of earlier ASIC technology. Clinically, it isn’t limited to animals; recently, a new ‘Smart Sponge’ tagging system was developed to safeguard against medical swabs being left inside human patients. If you have an idea for an FPGA design or DSP programming device, we at �ۿ۴�ý Technologies can help bring it to fruition.

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Hardware design engineers are increasingly expected to have knowledge of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) programming in their repertoire. A short module in VHDL for FPGA design will provide practical guidance in VHDL coding-to-hardware flow. More advanced VHDL design courses build on this, preparing ASIC design engineers for powerful, complex, and hierarchical projects. It also covers areas like re-use and upgrading, as one of the most useful aspects of this kind of programming is its re-programmability.

When considering a VHDL design course, you should ensure that at least 50% of the time is given to practical workshops. Groups are often of mixed ability, so tutors should ensure that newcomers to the field have a full grasp of VHDL language concepts before moving on to more advanced modules. The course should cover:

• Constructs and concepts essential to ASIC/ VLSI design
• Writing VHDL code for RTL (Register Transfer Level, or logic) synthesis
• Simple VHDL design test benches
• Targeting VHDL code to FPGA design architecture

By the end of the course you should be familiar with the entire flow, from simulation and synthesis to final place-and-route of electronic components on the printed circuit board, and have scripts to take away and use on your own projects.

Alternatively, you might just like to turn your VHDL design work over to us at �ۿ۴�ý Technologies. Our engineers are highly qualified and experienced in all aspects of hardware design.

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FPGA programming is nothing new. It was invented in the mid-1980s; however, the new generation of advanced CAD drafting software has seen a powerful line of FPGAs evolve as a result. These are taking over from other Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) designs, including programmable DSPs (digital signal processors).

Each FPGA design that emerges has a larger memory capacity, broader interface, faster speed and higher density than the one before. However, not all designs are suitable for every application, making it difficult for hardware designers using embedded firmware in their products to know which components to place on their engineering . To successfully make the right component choice, the PCB designer must have in-depth market information on the /s they’ve short listed, with knowledge of component features and market trends, i.e. what other applications is it being used in, and how successfully.

Many FPGA embedded firmware designs have, at their core, a programmable logic device from the component engineering company Xilinx, widely accredited with being the inventor of FPGA programming. Although they are not the only company making FPGA components, they are the most popular. Their latest range of FPGAs each has unique features with respect to power consumption, memory, speed and performance, which must be looked at carefully in order to pick the one best suited to the design in question.

We at �ۿ۴�ý Technologies offer a full range of component engineering services, including firmware development and FPGA design.

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Anyone who uses embedded firmware in their projects will use components sourced from Xilinx, or a company very much like them. As with PCB design in general, FPGA design depends on a bill of materials from specialist manufacturers. Xilinx is one of only a handful of companies in the world specialising in programmable logic devices (PLDs) and system software for CPLD and FPGA designers. CPLDs, or Complex Programmable Logic Devices, are used in simpler PCB designs.

Field programmable gate arrays cross the divide between software and hardware. The PLD at the heart of each array is uniquely programmed by the engineer building the device, i.e. it is programmed in the field rather than at source. This places FPGA devices apart from other types of PLD, which are programmed at the component factory.

FPGA design is used in all areas of technology, including communications, industrial processes, automotive engineering, aviation, defence, consumer products, data processing and digital signal processing. The industry took off with the arrival of powerful new CAD design tools, which revolutionised FPGA technology. Things that were only possible in theory two decades ago are in common use today.

FPGA design and advanced CAD visualisation are not necessarily areas in which the average mechanical engineering company has a lot of expertise. We at �ۿ۴�ý Technologies offer a full range of component engineering services, from hardware design to . We are specialists in FPGA programming.

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This means the list of obsolete semiconductors is growing, fuelled by a need to make FPGA design and printed circuit boards predominantly lead-free. Tin-lead (SnPb) finishes have given way to lead-free ones, causing major headaches in BOM management. There are certain sectors of industry exempt from the ROHS directive, under categories 8 and 9 of the ruling; for example medical instrument, environmental monitoring and military hardware design. However, few basic components these days are custom-produced (except, perhaps, at the conceptual stage of design.) Even military hardware relies on “off-the-peg” components nowadays, which are becoming obsolete. This is compounded by the fact the exemptions have a finite time span – by 2012, many lead-free alternatives will need to be found to SnPb components in use today.

Military hardware design companies in the EU have embraced the RoHS directive as best they can, using component cross reference tools and to ensure an unbroken supply line. It’s essential that military aircraft, for example, are not grounded due to poor obsolescence management (or worse, made unsafe by not replacing faulty or old components due to non-availability.)

It doesn’t hurt to adapt a military approach, even if you’re not involved in military design. We at �ۿ۴�ý Technologies have a range of high value engineering services that include BOM and part obsolescence management solutions.

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The development of the first Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) was by a company called Xilinx in 1985; however the number of gates on the chip was in the low thousands and it wasn’t catching on at the time. Realizing the limitations of

PROMs and PLDs the US Naval Surface Warfare dept. funded a project to develop a computer with reprogrammable gates, in this case, 600,000 of them. The patent for this technology was given in 1992 – after this point the FPGA took off and started to appear initially in telecoms and networking equipment but later in automotive and consumer applications. In 1997, a researcher at the University of Sussex created algorithms that would adapt the FPGA, creating evolvable hardware.

By the turn of the century, chips were starting to have millions of reprogrammable gates on them and the market share had gone from a small number of millions to billions of dollars.

There are of course some downsides over ASICs, although these are changing. Historically have been slower, less energy efficient and not had as much functionality. However, on the upside, they are easily reprogrammable to correct bugs and with the new security procedures being developed to securely load them, and the ability to correct security issues on the FPGA as an upgrade to a system, in the future we may well see FPGAs replacing ASICs more and more on a permanent basis.

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