Fixed-Point Arithmetic Unit with a Scaling Mechanism for FPGA-Based Embedded Systems

Andrzej Przybył

doi:10.3390/electronics10101164

Abstract

The work describes the new architecture of a fixed-point arithmetic unit. It is based on the use of integer arithmetic operations for which the information about the scale of the processed numbers is contained in the binary code of the arithmetic instruction being executed. Therefore, this approach is different from the typical way of implementing fixed-point operations on standard processors. The presented solution is also significantly different from the one used in floating-point arithmetic, as the decision to determine the appropriate scale is made at the stage of compiling the code and not during its execution. As a result, the real-time processing of real numbers is simplified and, therefore, faster. The described method provides a better ratio of the processing efficiency to the complexity of the digital system than other methods. In particular, the advantage of using the described method in FPGA-based embedded control systems should be indicated. Experimental tests on an industrial servo-drive confirm the correctness of the described solution.

Highlights

Embedded systems are used in devices that represent a huge market area
The experiment described concerns the implementation of selected fragments of the vector control algorithm of permanent-magnet synchronous-motor (PMSM) on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) system [14,33,34]
The paper presents a new architecture of a computational unit based on fixed-point arithmetic

Summary

Introduction

Embedded systems are used in devices that represent a huge market area. These systems are found in almost all of the household appliances around us, in industrial machines and robots, in vehicles, in specialized apparatus used by research laboratories, by the military, factories, hospitals, and in a variety of portable devices, including those for wireless communication. In many applications of embedded systems for the implementation of control, modeling or identification systems, the processing efficiency requirements are very high. A hardware solution is available on the commercial market, e.g., in the form of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) dedicated to specific applications. ASIC-based solutions provide the required parameters due to embedded hardware signal processing mechanisms. The development of such systems is impossible

Methods

Results

Conclusion