Hardware Description Language Code Research Articles

Design and performance analysis of asynchronous network on chip for streaming data transmission on FPGA

The majority of the system on chip (SoC) uses the network on chip (NoC) as routing ports for data transfer from node-to-node with minimal power consumption and low latency and high throughput. This paper concentrates on the ability to model the asynchronous NoCs on the asynchronous circuits on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). A 3×3 NoC and its universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) protocol is designed and its simulation of the Verilog hardware description language (VHDL) code is done and tested on the Artix-7 FPGA kit, the testing processes in done using the Chipscope tool. In order to meet target requirements in terms of power consumption and latency, the label switching (LS) technique is used as routing. The proposed LS-NoC with level-encoded dual-rail (LEDR) encoding technique provides throughput by registering the packet between the different routers and it helps to improve throughput and speed. The effectiveness of the data transfer is measured and analyzed through a synthesis summary in terms of lookup table’s (LUT’s), slice registers, flip flops’s (FF’s), latency, and packet delivery ratio (PDR) for the traffic pattern generator. The proposed NoC is designed for 8×8 and each port size is 21 bits including ID’s of source and destination routers. The results can be justified by following results: improvement of LUTs is about 12%, flip-flops are 7%, improvement of throughput is 23% and delay is reduced by 26%.

KServe inference extension for an FPGA vendor-free ecosystem

KServe inference extension for an FPGA vendor-free ecosystem

Towards Maximising Hardware Resources and Design Efficiency via High-Speed Implementation of HMAC based on SHA-256 Design

Some applications, such as Message Authentication Code (MAC), rely on different hashing operations. There are various hash functions, including Message-Digest 5 (MD5), RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation Message Digest 160 (RIPEMD-160), Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1), and Secure Hash Algorithm 256 (SHA-256), among others. The network layer is the third of seven layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) concept, also known as the Internet. It handles network addressing and physical data routing. Nowadays, enhanced internet security is necessary to safeguard networks from illegal surveillance. As a result, Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) introduces secure communication across the Internet by encrypting and/or authenticating network traffic at the IP level. IPsec is an internet-based security protocol. Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH) protocols are separated into two protocols. The MAC value is stored in the authentication data files of the Authentication Header and Encapsulating Security Payload. This article analyses a fast implementation of the Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC), which uses its algorithm to ensure the validity and integrity of data to optimise hardware efficiency and design efficacy using the SHA-256 algorithm. During data transfer, HMAC is critical for message authentication. It was successfully developed using Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL) code with the implementation of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device using the Altera Quartus II Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tool to enhance the maximum frequency of the design. The accuracy of the HMAC design, which is based on the SHA-256 design, was examined and confirmed using ModelSim. The results indicate that the maximum frequency of the HMAC-SHA-256 design is approximately 195.16 MHz.

FPGA-Based Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Emulation of Power Electronics Circuit Using Device-Level Behavioral Modeling

Accurate models of power electronic converters can greatly enhance the accuracy of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulators. This can result in faster and more cost-effective design cycles in industrial applications. This paper presents a detailed hardware model of the IGBT and power diode at the device level suggested for emulating power electronic converters on a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The static visualization of the IGBT component involves an arrangement of equivalent models for both the MOSFET and bipolar transistor in a cascading configuration. The dynamic aspect is represented by inter-electrode nonlinear capacitances. In an effort to expedite the development process while still producing reliable results, the algorithm for the simulation system was built utilizing FPGA-based rapid prototyping via the HDL Coder in MATLAB software (R2019b). Essentially, the HDL Coder transforms the Simulink blocks of these devices within MATLAB into a hardware description language (HDL) suitable for implementation on an FPGA. To evaluate the suggested IGBT hardware model and the nonlinear circuit simulation technique, a chopper circuit is replicated, and an FPGA-in-the-loop simulation is carried out to compare the efficacy and accuracy of the model with both offline simulation results and real-time simulation results using MATLAB Simulink software and the Altera FPGA Cyclone IV GX development board.

FPGA-based fault analysis for 7-level switched ladder multi-level inverter using decision tree algorithm

The proposed method involves the fault analysis of the inverter switches present in the multi-level inverter (MLI) circuitry. The decision tree machine learning algorithm is incorporated for the fault analysis of the inverter switches. The multi-level inverter utilized in this work is a 7-level switched ladder multi-level inverter. There is 4 number of switches in the design of a 7-level inverter driven by the non-carrier digital pulse width modulation signals. The non-carried-based digital pulse-width modulator (DPWM) generation is generated using the event angle for the 7-level of the switched ladder inverter. The proposed method investigates the stuck-at-fault occurrences of the 4 switches in the inverter by manipulating the decision tree parameters such as entropy, information gain, and decision tree. Based on the decision tree, the very high-speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL) code is developed by making use of the behavioral modeling and validated for the power, area in the Xilinx Vivado tool. The real-time feasibility is verified for the proposed method by synthesizing the developed VHDL code in the field programmable gate array (FPGA) device.

Loop Rerolling for Hardware Decompilation

We introduce the new problem of hardware decompilation . Analogous to software decompilation, hardware decompilation is about analyzing a low-level artifact—in this case a netlist , i.e., a graph of wires and logical gates representing a digital circuit—in order to recover higher-level programming abstractions, and using those abstractions to generate code written in a hardware description language (HDL). The overall problem of hardware decompilation requires a number of pieces. In this paper we focus on one specific piece of the puzzle: a technique we call hardware loop rerolling . Hardware loop rerolling leverages clone detection and program synthesis techniques to identify repeated logic in netlists (such as would be synthesized from loops in the original HDL code) and reroll them into syntactic loops in the recovered HDL code. We evaluate hardware loop rerolling for hardware decompilation over a set of hardware design benchmarks written in the PyRTL HDL and industry standard SystemVerilog. Our implementation identifies and rerolls loops in 52 out of 53 of the netlists in our benchmark suite, and we show three examples of how hardware decompilation can provide concrete benefits: transpilation between HDLs, faster simulation times over netlists (with mean speedup of 6x), and artifact compaction (39% smaller on average).

Python-Based Circuit Design for Fundamental Building Blocks of Spiking Neural Network

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) are considered a crucial research direction to address the “storage wall” and “power wall” challenges faced by traditional artificial intelligence computing. However, developing SNN chips based on CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) circuits remains a challenge. Although memristor process technology is the best alternative to synapses, it is still undergoing refinement. In this study, a novel approach is proposed that employs tools to automatically generate HDL (hardware description language) code for constructing neuron and memristor circuits after using Python to describe the neuron and memristor models. Based on this approach, HR (Hindmash–Rose), LIF (leaky integrate-and-fire), and IZ (Izhikevich) neuron circuits, as well as HP, EG (enhanced generalized), and TB (the behavioral threshold bipolar) memristor circuits are designed to construct the most basic connection of a SNN: the neuron–memristor–neuron circuit that satisfies the STDP (spike-timing-dependent-plasticity) learning rule. Through simulation experiments and FPGA (field programmable gate array) prototype verification, it is confirmed that the IZ and LIF circuits are suitable as neurons in SNNs, while the X variables of the EG memristor model serve as characteristic synaptic weights. The EG memristor circuits best satisfy the STDP learning rule and are suitable as synapses in SNNs. In comparison to previous works on hardware spiking neurons, the proposed method needed fewer area resources for creating spiking neurons models on FPGA. The proposed SNN basic components design method, and the resulting circuits, are beneficial for architectural exploration and hardware–software co-design of SNN chips.

Mighty Macros and Powerful Parameters: Maximizing Efficiency and Flexibility in HDL Programming

This paper explores the use of macros and parameters in Hardware Description Language (HDL) programming. Macros and parameters are powerful tools that allow for efficient and reusable code, yet their full potential is often underutilized. By examining the advantages of macros and parameters, this paper aims to demonstrate how these features can enhance the flexibility, readability, and maintainability of HDL code. Additionally, the paper discusses the use cases of mixing macros and parameters in HDL programming, highlighting their applicability in a range of scenarios. Furthermore, the paper addresses the challenges that arise from the mix use of macros and parameters and provides best practices to overcome these challenges. Overall, this paper aims to encourage HDL programmers to fully explore the capabilities of macros and parameters in their code, leading to more efficient and effective hardware designs and verification.

Focus on software, data acquisition, and instrumentation

Focus on software, data acquisition, and instrumentation

Hardware implementation of neural network-based engine model using FPGA

This paper implements an artificial neural network (ANN)-based engine model using the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The developed (ANN)-based engine model will be used to estimate the engine gas emissions to mitigate the harmful effects of these emissions on human health. Getting reliable and robust FPGA-based ANNs implementations depends on the optimal choice of activation function that will provide minimal area occupation on FPGA. This study introduces, implements, and investigates FPGA-based ANN-based engine models using five different activation functions. These implemented engine models were described using MATLAB/Simulink and hardware description language coder and carried out by Spartan -3E-500.CP132 FPGA platform from Xilinx. The performance of the implemented engine models was investigated in terms of area-efficient implementation and the regression values (R) to build a robust ANN-based engine model.

Multiple Time-Scales Dynamics of a Cardiac Pacemaker Model with Application to Heart Rhythm Modeling: Theoretical Study and FPGA Implementation

The aim of this work is to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of a forced cardiac pacemaker model represented by a forced modified van der Pol oscillator by using the method of harmonic balance and the method of multiple time scales. The amplitudes of the forced harmonic, primary resonant state, super-harmonic and sub-harmonic resonant state oscillations are obtained and the effects of some system parameters on these amplitudes are investigated; hysteresis and jump phenomena are found. Three similar oscillators are then coupled together via time-delay coupling to model the heart rhythm and the effect of the coupling factor and time delay is also investigated. The overall model is then discretized using the fourth-order Runge–Kutta algorithm. A corresponding very high-speed integrated circuit hardware description language code is then written, synthesised and implemented using the Vivado-2017.4 software for the Artix7-xc7a35tftg256-1 field programmable gate array chip. The chip statistics, time series electrocardiograms and phase portraits of the model are derived; a good correlation between theoretical results (obtained with MATLAB program and Vivado software) and practical results is observed.

COMPUTER SYSTEMS SYNTHESIS INSPIRED FROM BIOLOGIC CELLS STRUCTURES

This paper deals with a synthesis method of membrane computer systems inspired from the biological cells structure. The functional concept of the computer system is based on the internal structure, chemical transformations and the way of interaction between living cells. Thus, the computer system is composed of a set of autonomous, homogeneous or heterogeneous computing cells, which communicate with each other in synchronous or asynchronous mode. The algorithmic complexity of the solved problem depends on the knowledge gained, the rules of data processing and the computer system topology. It is proposed the sequence of operations for the synthesis of membrane computer systems with implementation in reconfigurable FPGA architectures which includes: analysis of behavioural models of living organisms and their interpretation in artificial intelligence models; structure and functional description of the computing cell; cell modelling and performance evaluation using Petri nets; Van diagram of the membrane computer system topology; formal description of the membrane computer system topology by applying the JSON formatting language; validation, functional modelling and performance evaluation of the membrane computer system topology using Petri nets; Hardware Description Language (HDL) code of the cell from which the principle electrical diagram and the time diagrams are obtained; implementation of the computer system in the FPGA circuit.

FPGA Correlator for Applications in Embedded Smart Devices.

Correlation has a variety of applications that require signal processing. However, it is computationally intensive, and software correlators require high-performance processors for real-time data analysis. This is a challenge for embedded devices because of the limitation of computing resources. Hardware correlators that use Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology can significantly boost computational power and bridge the gap between the need for high-performance computing and the limited processing power available in embedded devices. This paper presents a detailed FPGA-based correlator design at the register level along with the open-source Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) code. It includes base modules for linear and multi-tau correlators of varying sizes. Every module implements a simple and unified data interface for easy integration with standard and publicly available FPGA modules. Eighty-lag linear and multi-tau correlators were built for validation of the design. Three input data sets—constant signal, pulse signal, and sine signal—were used to test the accuracy of the correlators. The results from the FPGA correlators were compared against the outputs of equivalent software correlators and validated with the corresponding theoretical values. The FPGA correlators returned results identical to those from the software references for all tested data sets and were proven to be equivalent to their software counterparts. Their computation speed is at least 85,000 times faster than the software correlators running on a Xilinx MicroBlaze processor. The FPGA correlator can be easily implemented, especially on System on a Chip (SoC) integrated circuits that have processor cores and FPGA fabric. It is the ideal component for device-on-chip solutions in biosensing.

Memory-Aware Functional IR for Higher-Level Synthesis of Accelerators

Specialized accelerators deliver orders of a magnitude of higher performance than general-purpose processors. The ever-changing nature of modern workloads is pushing the adoption of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) as the substrate of choice. However, FPGAs are hard to program directly using Hardware Description Languages (HDLs). Even modern high-level HDLs, e.g., Spatial and Chisel, still require hardware expertise. This article adopts functional programming concepts to provide a hardware-agnostic higher-level programming abstraction. During synthesis, these abstractions are mechanically lowered into a functional Intermediate Representation (IR) that defines a specific hardware design point. This novel IR expresses different forms of parallelism and standard memory features such as asynchronous off-chip memories or synchronous on-chip buffers. Exposing such features at the IR level is essential for achieving high performance. The viability of this approach is demonstrated on two stencil computations and by exploring the optimization space of matrix-matrix multiplication. Starting from a high-level representation for these algorithms, our compiler produces low-level VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) code automatically. Several design points are evaluated on an Intel Arria 10 FPGA, demonstrating the ability of the IR to exploit different hardware features. This article also shows that the designs produced are competitive with highly tuned OpenCL implementations and outperform hardware-agnostic OpenCL code.

Approximator: A Software Tool for Automatic Generation of Approximate Arithmetic Circuits

Approximate arithmetic circuits are an attractive alternative to accurate arithmetic circuits because they have significantly reduced delay, area, and power, albeit at the cost of some loss in accuracy. By keeping errors due to approximate computation within acceptable limits, approximate arithmetic circuits can be used for various practical applications such as digital signal processing, digital filtering, low power graphics processing, neuromorphic computing, hardware realization of neural networks for artificial intelligence and machine learning etc. The degree of approximation that can be incorporated into an approximate arithmetic circuit tends to vary depending on the error resiliency of the target application. Given this, the manual coding of approximate arithmetic circuits corresponding to different degrees of approximation in a hardware description language (HDL) may be a cumbersome and a time-consuming process—more so when the circuit is big. Therefore, a software tool that can automatically generate approximate arithmetic circuits of any size corresponding to a desired accuracy would not only aid the design flow but also help to improve a designer’s productivity by speeding up the circuit/system development. In this context, this paper presents ‘Approximator’, which is a software tool developed to automatically generate approximate arithmetic circuits based on a user’s specification. Approximator can automatically generate Verilog HDL codes of approximate adders and multipliers of any size based on the novel approximate arithmetic circuit architectures proposed by us. The Verilog HDL codes output by Approximator can be used for synthesis in an FPGA or ASIC (standard cell based) design environment. Additionally, the tool can perform error and accuracy analyses of approximate arithmetic circuits. The salient features of the tool are illustrated through some example screenshots captured during different stages of the tool use. Approximator has been made open-access on GitHub for the benefit of the research community, and the tool documentation is provided for the user’s reference.

ASimOV: A Framework for Simulation and Optimization of an Embedded AI Accelerator.

Artificial intelligence algorithms need an external computing device such as a graphics processing unit (GPU) due to computational complexity. For running artificial intelligence algorithms in an embedded device, many studies proposed light-weighted artificial intelligence algorithms and artificial intelligence accelerators. In this paper, we propose the ASimOV framework, which optimizes artificial intelligence algorithms and generates Verilog hardware description language (HDL) code for executing intelligence algorithms in field programmable gate array (FPGA). To verify ASimOV, we explore the performance space of k-NN algorithms and generate Verilog HDL code to demonstrate the k-NN accelerator in FPGA. Our contribution is to provide the artificial intelligence algorithm as an end-to-end pipeline and ensure that it is optimized to a specific dataset through simulation, and an artificial intelligence accelerator is generated in the end.

FPGA Data Acquisition of Electrical Parameter

A data acquisition system using a Programmable Logic Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) for visual enhancement designed for Personal Computer is shown. The data acquisition of voltage (V), current (A) and temperature ( ) signals and/or parameters transmitted at high frequency in real time via the system-on-chip (SOC) created on Spartan 6 FPGA. The system-on-chip is achieved by programming the FPGA with a high-speed hardware description language (Verilog) code written for the system, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) was designed for the system and the GUI has been created using a graphical approach utilizing LabVIEW to enable data monitoring on Personal Computer (PC) display. The FPGA requires digital input signals; therefore, an analogue to digital convertor (ADC) is required for the convert sensor data from analogue signal from sensors to digital signals. A voltage level shifter is required to normalise the voltage level standards within the circuity in between the 5V from the ADC converter and the 3.3V voltage requirement for the FPGA. The Spartan 6 FPGA receives data from the analogue sensors via the ADC, the data are wrapped up in packets and transmitted through RS-232 serial port to the PC. The three aforementioned parameters are monitored on the GUI on the PC presented in both numerical and graphical format and all data can be store in a file for backup storage, maintenance or reference purposes.

FPGA Data Acquisition of Electrical Parameter

A data acquisition system using a Programmable Logic Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) for visual enhancement designed for Personal Computer is shown. The data acquisition of voltage (V), current (A) and temperature ( ) signals and/or parameters transmitted at high frequency in real time via the system-on-chip (SOC) created on Spartan 6 FPGA. The system-on-chip is achieved by programming the FPGA with a high-speed hardware description language (Verilog) code written for the system, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) was designed for the system and the GUI has been created using a graphical approach utilizing LabVIEW to enable data monitoring on Personal Computer (PC) display. The FPGA requires digital input signals; therefore, an analogue to digital convertor (ADC) is required for the convert sensor data from analogue signal from sensors to digital signals. A voltage level shifter is required to normalise the voltage level standards within the circuity in between the 5V from the ADC converter and the 3.3V voltage requirement for the FPGA. The Spartan 6 FPGA receives data from the analogue sensors via the ADC, the data are wrapped up in packets and transmitted through RS-232 serial port to the PC. The three aforementioned parameters are monitored on the GUI on the PC presented in both numerical and graphical format and all data can be store in a file for backup storage, maintenance or reference purposes.

Cache coherency controller for MESI protocol based on FPGA

In modern techniques of building processors, manufactures using more than one processor in the integrated circuit (chip) and each processor called a core. The new chips of processors called a multi-core processor. This new design makes the processors to work simultanously for more than one job or all the cores working in parallel for the same job. All cores are similar in their design, and each core has its own cache memory, while all cores shares the same main memory. So if one core requestes a block of data from main memory to its cache, there should be a protocol to declare the situation of this block in the main memory and other cores.This is called the cache coherency or cache consistency of multi-core. In this paper a special circuit is designed using very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL) coding and implemented using ISE Xilinx software. The protocol used in this design is the modified, exclusive, shared and invalid (MESI) protocol. Test results were taken by using test bench, and showed all the states of the protocol are working correctly.

Routing Architecture and Applications of FPGA: A survey

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is established in the year 1985 and it is well liked in day to day life. FPGA is the semi-conductor device which is around by configurable logic block (CLB) with the interconnect matrix which develops the FPGA very strong and flexible. When related to the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), FPGA has simpler design cycle and by using Hardware Description Language (HDL) code or Verilog Hardware Description Language (VHDL) code creates the design faster and more efficient and also takes less manufacturing time. As compare to microcontroller, the FPGA has more flexibility and it also has high processing speed. This paper will discuss about classification of routing architecture in FPGA namely Island style FPGA and hierarchical FPGA. The recent application in the field of security system, video and image processing, medical electronics of FPGA.