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Session 3532

Efficient Resource Allocation for FPGA Demo Board Based Digital Laboratories

Chia-Jeng Tseng

Department of Electrical Engineering Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837

Abstract

Due to its low cost and convenience, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) demo board is often used in universities for teaching digital design. The major limitations of an FPGA board include a small number of input and output options and limited high-level software capability. In order to show students how to overcome the resource scarcity, we have developed several digital laboratories to help students creatively explore possible solutions. In this paper, we discuss design considerations for managing various resource limitations. Also, we present several laboratory assignments for students to practice these design considerations using an FPGA board. These laboratories not only provide students with opportunities to practice subsystem design, but also teach them various system integration techniques.

1. Introduction

FPGA boards are widely used for digital laboratories in universities12,15,16. Normally, an FPGA board contains an FPGA chip, input and output devices, a clock source, and supporting circuitry for downloading a bit-stream into the FPGA. Commonly seen input devices include dual in-line package (DIP) and push-button switches; output devices are seven-segment and bar-graph light- emitting-device (LED) displays. Some FPGA boards may contain computer, codec, and network interfaces. Since there are only a limited number of input and output options available, creative methods are required for efficient application of these resources.

In this paper, we address the issues of overcoming resource constraints normally encountered when using an FPGA demo board. Section 2 discusses considerations for exploring efficient resource allocation. Section 3 presents several laboratories for students to practice the design considerations described in Section 2. These basic laboratories were instrumental for teaching system design ideas such as stored program control, embedded systems, as well as rapid prototyping. Finally, Section 4 contains concluding remarks of the paper.

“Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2005, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Tseng, C. (2005, June), Efficient Resource Allocation For Fpga Demo Board Based Digital Laboratories Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14648