Review of Reconfigurable Virtual Instrumentation and It Implementation in Cameroon Labs

Abstract

With the exponential evolution of the complexity of reconfigurable logic circuits, the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) becomes an attractive element to realize reconfigurable virtual instruments, due to their inherent flexibility. The simple bus architecture allows us to use pre-exist IP Cores (IP Cores) in VHDL and interconnecting them, also allowed us to reuse code in all designs. Research on reconfigurable virtual instruments has continued to evolve and has become a real alternative for many research laboratories in developing countries such as Cameroon. In this paper, we present a review of the FPGA-Based Reconfigurable Virtual instrumentation and the experimental tools developed in our labs. The development of experimental sciences and engineering benefits from the ability to obtain reliable data from controlled situations and process as measurements and comparisons. This achievement invokes two parallel approaches: software development and hardware development. This has been demonstrated in our context with the implementation of a virtual oscilloscope. Indeed, with the processing of reconfigurable technological circuit, designing virtual instruments with multiple shapes is henceforth feasible. The advantages offered by this innovation are essentially the reduction of development times, the optimization of resources and the reduction of costs. Given the need for these instruments in research laboratories, their lack in universities in our countries poses a real problem. Fortunately, in recent years, research and technological innovation have largely developed to offer reconfigurable solutions in instrumentation based on SoCs. The oscilloscope described in this article can communicate directly with a PC, using a USB serial port that allows communication between the instruments and the PC.