TABLE OF CONTENTS Using FPGAs to combine multiple digital avionic protocol converters in a single board
From DSP-FPGA.com
Until now, multiple avionic protocols have required a separate interface board for each protocol. Each additional board adds more components to the system resulting in a higher probability of failure, which translates into a lower system MTBF. Additionally, the resulting system has other disadvantages such as significantly higher prices as well as bigger power requirements. Combining processors with FPGAs yields an excellent and flexible single-board solution to resolve these problems.
Since its introduction in 1992, PC/104 has been the most popular embedded system architecture because of its size, rugged construction, and PC compatibility. Later, for the same reasons CompactPCI also became very popular. There is a premium for size and weight in avionics equipment, making PC/104 and CompactPCI boards very attractive solutions for implementing avionic applications and their communication protocols such as ARINC, MIL-STD-1553, AFDX, and others.
Many highly integrated CPU boards are available on the market for the above mentioned protocols. They include video, graphic processors, hard drives, and many other types of controllers. However, few of these manufacturers have also implemented embedded digital avionic I/O and protocols. The reason for this may stem from the fact that avionics is too limited a market to justify development of such a board.
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Topics of Interest
Although the x86 processor is by far the most popular CPU to be used on PC/104 boards, recent industry trends toward smaller, lower power devices have made the PC/104 platform an attractive choice for...
CompactPCI (cPCI) CompactPCI (cPCI), initiated in late 1994 by Ziatech Corporation under the auspices of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), is the newest specification for...
While the ISA bus and PC/104 continue to be popular, board-level embedded system designers are faced with the challenge of finding a replacement that can support current form factors and address...
This article describes the MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 429 standards and their differences in detail, and introduces a wide range of components, test boards, rugged embedded boards, rugged small form...
Small form factors are becoming more popular in embedded military applications, allowing reduction in size and weight for rugged embedded systems. There are many different standards for small form...
