Architecture of FPGAs and CPLDs: A Tutorial
This paper provides a tutorial survey of architectures of commercially available high-capacity field-programmable devices (FPDs). We first define the relevant terminology in the field and then describe the recent evolution of FPDs. The three main categories of FPDs are delineated: Simple PLDs (SPLDs), Complex PLDs (CPLDs) and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). We then give details of the architectures of all of the most important commercially available chips, and give examples of applications of each type of device.
Implementing video compression algorithms on reconfigurable devices
The increasing density offered by Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGA), coupled with their short design cycle, has made them a popular choice for implementing a wide range of algorithms and complete systems. In this thesis the implementation of video compression algorithms on FPGAs is studied. Two areas are specifically focused on; the integration of a video encoder into a complete system and the power consumption of FPGA based video encoders. Two FPGA based video compression systems are described, one which targets surveillance applications and one which targets video conferencing applications. The FPGA video surveillance system makes use of a novel memory format to improve the efficiency with which input video sequences can be loaded over the system bus. The power consumption of a FPGA video encoder is analyzed. The results indicating that the motion estimation encoder stage requires the most power consumption. An algorithm, which reuses the intra prediction results generated during the encoding process, is then proposed to reduce the power consumed on an FPGA video encoder’s external memory bus. Finally, the power reduction algorithm is implemented within an FPGA video encoder. Results are given showing that, in addition to reducing power on the external memory bus, the algorithm also reduces power in the motion estimation stage of a FPGA based video encoder.
Free Range VHDL
The no-frills guide to writing powerful code for you digital implementations.
FPGA-based reconfigurable on-board computing systems for space applications
The purpose of the thesis is to conceptualize an application method of ground-based reconfigurable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technologies for space systems and to apply the method to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop for the on-orbit demonstration. The Flying Laptop satellite is the first small satellite within the Stuttgart small satellite program'' in which several small satellites are developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the Universität Stuttgart. The main mission of the Flying Laptop is to demonstrate the space use of reconfigurable FPGAs for the reconfigurable computing'' on an central on-board computer aboard a spacecraft. Due to their radiation vulnerabilities reconfigurable FPGAs have not yet been employed in practical space applications with high reliability requirements. The Flying Laptop project aims to achieve the world's first orbit demonstration of a purely FPGA-based central on-board computer. Within this research firstly, application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for space systems were investigated, which are not limited to small satellites but for general space systems. The investigation is based on thorough experimental data survey and analysis of radiation effects on existing FPGA devices. Main radiation effects of single event effects and total ionizing dose effects were extensively investigated. Based on the data obtained, a combinational use of SRAM-FPGAs (multi-chip redundant) and Flash-FPGAs (voting element) for mitigating radiation effects was conceptualized. A mathematical system reliability analysis of repairable multi-redundant systems has been. The analysis illustrates that a multi-redundant system based on SRAM-FPGAs together with a Flash-FPGA based voter provides a sufficiently high reliability for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions against radiation effects. After the conceptualization of application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for the space environment, it is applied to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop. Flying Laptop is a cubic, 3-axis stabilized satellite with the edge lengths of about 600mm x 700mm x 800mm and a mass of about 120kg, which shall be launched into sun-synchronous LEO in an altitude of around 600km. A system architecture with four SRAM-FPGA based central processing nodes and one Flash-FPGA based voter was applied for the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop. This on-board computer is the central computing system aboard the satellite and shall be capable of controlling all satellite peripheral electronics. First of all, the system design of the whole satellite has been conducted within the scope of the thesis in order to allow the design of the on-board computer. Based on the established system requirements, the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop was designed and the breadboard model and partly the engineering model of its components are developed. The hardware logic (control algorithm) which shall be implemented into FPGAs can be designed by means of hardware description languages. However, it is no longer software engineering but hardware engineering for generating real hardware logics inside FPGAs which are executed in parallel in real-time. The satellite main functions are designed, developed, and implemented in FPGAs by means of the hardware description languages Handel-C and VHDL. The thesis provides development methods of the control algorithms. In addition to this, a control algorithm development facility has been established for the further design activities. Finally, the developed control algorithms are verified in a simulation and verification environment in order to prove the validities of the above described developments. First of all, an FPGA hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation environment has been established based on the Model-based Development and Verification Environment (MDVE). MDVE was established at the Institute of Space Systems supported by EADS Astrium. The communication interface between the MDVE and FPGAs are developed, including the required hardware components and the serialization algorithms of communication lines inside an FPGA. Using this simulation and verification environment, extensive simulations have been conducted and the design of the on-board computer, as well as the system design of the whole satellite are validated. At the end, an extended investigation has been conducted on formal verification methods of the hardware-logic in order to provide the way of strict design verifications. This thesis establishes the basis of principle application methods of reconfigurable FPGA technologies for reconfigurable computing'' on space systems which provides innovative solutions for high computational demands of future space applications.
How to do Math's in FPGA - Using VHDL 2008
Following the introduction of VHDL 93, which introduced the numeric_std package and the signed and unsigned types, implementing fixed point maths has been fairly straight forward. Using this package, we can implement mathematics using a fixed point representation. However, to implement a fixed point algorithm we need to understand the simple rules regarding fixed point operations.
FPGAs!? Now What?
There are numerous requests in Internet forums that go something like this: "I am new to using FPGAs. What are they? How do I start? Is there a tutorial and some cheap/free tools I can use to learn more?" The short answer is “Yes”. The long answer is this book. It will briefly describe FPGAs and then show you how to apply them to your problems using a low-cost board and some free software. My discussion will be oriented towards using Xilinx FPGAs, but most of what I'll say is applicable to other brands of FPGAs.
Numerical Solutions of Differential Equations on FPGA-Enhanced Computers
Conventionally, to speed up scientific or engineering (S&E) computation programs on general-purpose computers, one may elect to use faster CPUs, more memory, systems with more efficient (though complicated) architecture, better software compilers, or even coding with assembly languages. With the emergence of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based Reconfigurable Computing (RC) technology, numerical scientists and engineers now have another option using FPGA devices as core components to address their computational problems. The hardware-programmable, low-cost, but powerful “FPGA-enhanced computer” has now become an attractive approach for many S&E applications. A new computer architecture model for FPGA-enhanced computer systems and its detailed hardware implementation are proposed for accelerating the solutions of computationally demanding and data intensive numerical PDE problems. New FPGAoptimized algorithms/methods for rapid executions of representative numerical methods such as Finite Difference Methods (FDM) and Finite Element Methods (FEM) are designed, analyzed, and implemented on it. Linear wave equations based on seismic data processing applications are adopted as the targeting PDE problems to demonstrate the effectiveness of this new computer model. Their sustained computational performances are compared with pure software programs operating on commodity CPUbased general-purpose computers. Quantitative analysis is performed from a hierarchical set of aspects as customized/extraordinary computer arithmetic or function units, compact but flexible system architecture and memory hierarchy, and hardwareoptimized numerical algorithms or methods that may be inappropriate for conventional general-purpose computers. The preferable property of in-system hardware reconfigurability of the new system is emphasized aiming at effectively accelerating the execution of complex multi-stage numerical applications. Methodologies for accelerating the targeting PDE problems as well as other numerical PDE problems, such as heat equations and Laplace equations utilizing programmable hardware resources are concluded, which imply the broad usage of the proposed FPGA-enhanced computers.
Accelerating Gauss-Newton Filters on FPGAs
Radar tracking filters are generally computationally expensive, involving the manipulation of large matrices and deeply nested loops. In addition, they must generally work in real-time to be of any use. The now-common Kalman Filter was developed in the 1960's specifically for the purposes of lowering its computational burden, so that it could be implemented using the limited computational resources of the time. However, with the exponential increases in computing power since then, it is now possible to reconsider more heavy-weight, robust algorithms such as the original nonrecursive Gauss-Newton filter on which the Kalman filter is based[54]. This dissertation investigates the acceleration of such a filter using FPGA technology, making use of custom, reduced-precision number formats.
Memory Reduced and Fast DDS Using FPGA
Direct digital synthesis is a method of creating arbitrary waveforms of desired frequency. A general DDS system comprises analog and digital part. Phase accumulator and LUT make digital part and DAC makes analog part. This paper presents 12 bit memory reduced FPGA based architecture of DDS. Phase truncation and quadrature symmetry of sine wave are used to achieve higher ROM compression. Dither is also used to achieve error free output. This design has been implemented on SPARTAN-3E FPGA with maximum clock frequency of 50 MHz. We have used LTC2624 quad DAC with 12 bit resolution which introduces very less amount of harmonics hence LPF is not needed. This design uses only 128 memory locations. Hence it is suitable for applications where system speed, memory and size of the system are main concern. Its wide and flexible range of frequency make it useful in RF transmission, Biomedical function generators and Modulation.
Introducing the Spartan 3E FPGA and VHDL
I want to help hackers take the plunge into the world of FPGAs-- Starting at purchasing an FPGA development board, and all the way through the process of getting their first project up and running. In this eBook, we will discuss the low level details of working with FPGAs, rather than diving straight into the System on a Chip (SOAC) level.
How to do Math's in FPGA - Using VHDL 2008
Following the introduction of VHDL 93, which introduced the numeric_std package and the signed and unsigned types, implementing fixed point maths has been fairly straight forward. Using this package, we can implement mathematics using a fixed point representation. However, to implement a fixed point algorithm we need to understand the simple rules regarding fixed point operations.
Why You Should be Using Python/MyHDL as Your HDL
Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) revolutionized the digital hardware design landscape when they were introduced 30 years ago. The majority of the complex digital hardware (IC and FPGA) - that has irreversibly changed our lives - was enabled by HDLs-mainly Verilog and VHDL. Although the mainstay HDLs have had much success, they haven't fundamentally changed since their inception. The defacto HDLs, Verilog and VHDL, have evolved over time, but this is good and bad. These languages have new features but some newer language constructs don't fit well with existing constructs - not a clean design. MyHDL strives to be an HDL based on proven concepts that can be powerful yet elegantly expressed (i.e. clean design)
Accelerating Gauss-Newton Filters on FPGAs
Radar tracking filters are generally computationally expensive, involving the manipulation of large matrices and deeply nested loops. In addition, they must generally work in real-time to be of any use. The now-common Kalman Filter was developed in the 1960's specifically for the purposes of lowering its computational burden, so that it could be implemented using the limited computational resources of the time. However, with the exponential increases in computing power since then, it is now possible to reconsider more heavy-weight, robust algorithms such as the original nonrecursive Gauss-Newton filter on which the Kalman filter is based[54]. This dissertation investigates the acceleration of such a filter using FPGA technology, making use of custom, reduced-precision number formats.
Introducing the Spartan 3E FPGA and VHDL
I want to help hackers take the plunge into the world of FPGAs-- Starting at purchasing an FPGA development board, and all the way through the process of getting their first project up and running. In this eBook, we will discuss the low level details of working with FPGAs, rather than diving straight into the System on a Chip (SOAC) level.
Free Range VHDL
The no-frills guide to writing powerful code for you digital implementations.
FPGA Implementation of Digital Filters
Digital Filtering algorithms are most commonly implemented using general purpose digital signal processing chips for audio applications, or special purpose digital filtering chips and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for higher rates. This paper describes an approach to the implementation of digital filter algorithms based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The advantages of the FPGA approach to digital filter implementation include higher sampling rates than are available from traditional DSP chips, lower costs than an ASIC for moderate volume applications, and more flexibility than the alternate approaches. Since many current FPGA architectures are in-system programmable, the configuration of the device may be changed to implement different functionality if required. Our examples illustrate that the FPGA approach is both flexible and provides performance comparable or superior to traditional approaches.
FPGAs!? Now What?
There are numerous requests in Internet forums that go something like this: "I am new to using FPGAs. What are they? How do I start? Is there a tutorial and some cheap/free tools I can use to learn more?" The short answer is “Yes”. The long answer is this book. It will briefly describe FPGAs and then show you how to apply them to your problems using a low-cost board and some free software. My discussion will be oriented towards using Xilinx FPGAs, but most of what I'll say is applicable to other brands of FPGAs.
Architecture of FPGAs and CPLDs: A Tutorial
This paper provides a tutorial survey of architectures of commercially available high-capacity field-programmable devices (FPDs). We first define the relevant terminology in the field and then describe the recent evolution of FPDs. The three main categories of FPDs are delineated: Simple PLDs (SPLDs), Complex PLDs (CPLDs) and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). We then give details of the architectures of all of the most important commercially available chips, and give examples of applications of each type of device.
Implementing video compression algorithms on reconfigurable devices
The increasing density offered by Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGA), coupled with their short design cycle, has made them a popular choice for implementing a wide range of algorithms and complete systems. In this thesis the implementation of video compression algorithms on FPGAs is studied. Two areas are specifically focused on; the integration of a video encoder into a complete system and the power consumption of FPGA based video encoders. Two FPGA based video compression systems are described, one which targets surveillance applications and one which targets video conferencing applications. The FPGA video surveillance system makes use of a novel memory format to improve the efficiency with which input video sequences can be loaded over the system bus. The power consumption of a FPGA video encoder is analyzed. The results indicating that the motion estimation encoder stage requires the most power consumption. An algorithm, which reuses the intra prediction results generated during the encoding process, is then proposed to reduce the power consumed on an FPGA video encoder’s external memory bus. Finally, the power reduction algorithm is implemented within an FPGA video encoder. Results are given showing that, in addition to reducing power on the external memory bus, the algorithm also reduces power in the motion estimation stage of a FPGA based video encoder.
FPGA-based reconfigurable on-board computing systems for space applications
The purpose of the thesis is to conceptualize an application method of ground-based reconfigurable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technologies for space systems and to apply the method to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop for the on-orbit demonstration. The Flying Laptop satellite is the first small satellite within the Stuttgart small satellite program'' in which several small satellites are developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the Universität Stuttgart. The main mission of the Flying Laptop is to demonstrate the space use of reconfigurable FPGAs for the reconfigurable computing'' on an central on-board computer aboard a spacecraft. Due to their radiation vulnerabilities reconfigurable FPGAs have not yet been employed in practical space applications with high reliability requirements. The Flying Laptop project aims to achieve the world's first orbit demonstration of a purely FPGA-based central on-board computer. Within this research firstly, application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for space systems were investigated, which are not limited to small satellites but for general space systems. The investigation is based on thorough experimental data survey and analysis of radiation effects on existing FPGA devices. Main radiation effects of single event effects and total ionizing dose effects were extensively investigated. Based on the data obtained, a combinational use of SRAM-FPGAs (multi-chip redundant) and Flash-FPGAs (voting element) for mitigating radiation effects was conceptualized. A mathematical system reliability analysis of repairable multi-redundant systems has been. The analysis illustrates that a multi-redundant system based on SRAM-FPGAs together with a Flash-FPGA based voter provides a sufficiently high reliability for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions against radiation effects. After the conceptualization of application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for the space environment, it is applied to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop. Flying Laptop is a cubic, 3-axis stabilized satellite with the edge lengths of about 600mm x 700mm x 800mm and a mass of about 120kg, which shall be launched into sun-synchronous LEO in an altitude of around 600km. A system architecture with four SRAM-FPGA based central processing nodes and one Flash-FPGA based voter was applied for the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop. This on-board computer is the central computing system aboard the satellite and shall be capable of controlling all satellite peripheral electronics. First of all, the system design of the whole satellite has been conducted within the scope of the thesis in order to allow the design of the on-board computer. Based on the established system requirements, the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop was designed and the breadboard model and partly the engineering model of its components are developed. The hardware logic (control algorithm) which shall be implemented into FPGAs can be designed by means of hardware description languages. However, it is no longer software engineering but hardware engineering for generating real hardware logics inside FPGAs which are executed in parallel in real-time. The satellite main functions are designed, developed, and implemented in FPGAs by means of the hardware description languages Handel-C and VHDL. The thesis provides development methods of the control algorithms. In addition to this, a control algorithm development facility has been established for the further design activities. Finally, the developed control algorithms are verified in a simulation and verification environment in order to prove the validities of the above described developments. First of all, an FPGA hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation environment has been established based on the Model-based Development and Verification Environment (MDVE). MDVE was established at the Institute of Space Systems supported by EADS Astrium. The communication interface between the MDVE and FPGAs are developed, including the required hardware components and the serialization algorithms of communication lines inside an FPGA. Using this simulation and verification environment, extensive simulations have been conducted and the design of the on-board computer, as well as the system design of the whole satellite are validated. At the end, an extended investigation has been conducted on formal verification methods of the hardware-logic in order to provide the way of strict design verifications. This thesis establishes the basis of principle application methods of reconfigurable FPGA technologies for reconfigurable computing'' on space systems which provides innovative solutions for high computational demands of future space applications.
How to do Math's in FPGA - Using VHDL 2008
Following the introduction of VHDL 93, which introduced the numeric_std package and the signed and unsigned types, implementing fixed point maths has been fairly straight forward. Using this package, we can implement mathematics using a fixed point representation. However, to implement a fixed point algorithm we need to understand the simple rules regarding fixed point operations.
Why You Should be Using Python/MyHDL as Your HDL
Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) revolutionized the digital hardware design landscape when they were introduced 30 years ago. The majority of the complex digital hardware (IC and FPGA) - that has irreversibly changed our lives - was enabled by HDLs-mainly Verilog and VHDL. Although the mainstay HDLs have had much success, they haven't fundamentally changed since their inception. The defacto HDLs, Verilog and VHDL, have evolved over time, but this is good and bad. These languages have new features but some newer language constructs don't fit well with existing constructs - not a clean design. MyHDL strives to be an HDL based on proven concepts that can be powerful yet elegantly expressed (i.e. clean design)
Accelerating Gauss-Newton Filters on FPGAs
Radar tracking filters are generally computationally expensive, involving the manipulation of large matrices and deeply nested loops. In addition, they must generally work in real-time to be of any use. The now-common Kalman Filter was developed in the 1960's specifically for the purposes of lowering its computational burden, so that it could be implemented using the limited computational resources of the time. However, with the exponential increases in computing power since then, it is now possible to reconsider more heavy-weight, robust algorithms such as the original nonrecursive Gauss-Newton filter on which the Kalman filter is based[54]. This dissertation investigates the acceleration of such a filter using FPGA technology, making use of custom, reduced-precision number formats.
Introducing the Spartan 3E FPGA and VHDL
I want to help hackers take the plunge into the world of FPGAs-- Starting at purchasing an FPGA development board, and all the way through the process of getting their first project up and running. In this eBook, we will discuss the low level details of working with FPGAs, rather than diving straight into the System on a Chip (SOAC) level.
Free Range VHDL
The no-frills guide to writing powerful code for you digital implementations.
FPGA Implementation of Digital Filters
Digital Filtering algorithms are most commonly implemented using general purpose digital signal processing chips for audio applications, or special purpose digital filtering chips and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for higher rates. This paper describes an approach to the implementation of digital filter algorithms based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The advantages of the FPGA approach to digital filter implementation include higher sampling rates than are available from traditional DSP chips, lower costs than an ASIC for moderate volume applications, and more flexibility than the alternate approaches. Since many current FPGA architectures are in-system programmable, the configuration of the device may be changed to implement different functionality if required. Our examples illustrate that the FPGA approach is both flexible and provides performance comparable or superior to traditional approaches.
FPGAs!? Now What?
There are numerous requests in Internet forums that go something like this: "I am new to using FPGAs. What are they? How do I start? Is there a tutorial and some cheap/free tools I can use to learn more?" The short answer is “Yes”. The long answer is this book. It will briefly describe FPGAs and then show you how to apply them to your problems using a low-cost board and some free software. My discussion will be oriented towards using Xilinx FPGAs, but most of what I'll say is applicable to other brands of FPGAs.
Architecture of FPGAs and CPLDs: A Tutorial
This paper provides a tutorial survey of architectures of commercially available high-capacity field-programmable devices (FPDs). We first define the relevant terminology in the field and then describe the recent evolution of FPDs. The three main categories of FPDs are delineated: Simple PLDs (SPLDs), Complex PLDs (CPLDs) and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). We then give details of the architectures of all of the most important commercially available chips, and give examples of applications of each type of device.
Implementing video compression algorithms on reconfigurable devices
The increasing density offered by Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGA), coupled with their short design cycle, has made them a popular choice for implementing a wide range of algorithms and complete systems. In this thesis the implementation of video compression algorithms on FPGAs is studied. Two areas are specifically focused on; the integration of a video encoder into a complete system and the power consumption of FPGA based video encoders. Two FPGA based video compression systems are described, one which targets surveillance applications and one which targets video conferencing applications. The FPGA video surveillance system makes use of a novel memory format to improve the efficiency with which input video sequences can be loaded over the system bus. The power consumption of a FPGA video encoder is analyzed. The results indicating that the motion estimation encoder stage requires the most power consumption. An algorithm, which reuses the intra prediction results generated during the encoding process, is then proposed to reduce the power consumed on an FPGA video encoder’s external memory bus. Finally, the power reduction algorithm is implemented within an FPGA video encoder. Results are given showing that, in addition to reducing power on the external memory bus, the algorithm also reduces power in the motion estimation stage of a FPGA based video encoder.
FPGA-based reconfigurable on-board computing systems for space applications
The purpose of the thesis is to conceptualize an application method of ground-based reconfigurable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technologies for space systems and to apply the method to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop for the on-orbit demonstration. The Flying Laptop satellite is the first small satellite within the Stuttgart small satellite program'' in which several small satellites are developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the Universität Stuttgart. The main mission of the Flying Laptop is to demonstrate the space use of reconfigurable FPGAs for the reconfigurable computing'' on an central on-board computer aboard a spacecraft. Due to their radiation vulnerabilities reconfigurable FPGAs have not yet been employed in practical space applications with high reliability requirements. The Flying Laptop project aims to achieve the world's first orbit demonstration of a purely FPGA-based central on-board computer. Within this research firstly, application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for space systems were investigated, which are not limited to small satellites but for general space systems. The investigation is based on thorough experimental data survey and analysis of radiation effects on existing FPGA devices. Main radiation effects of single event effects and total ionizing dose effects were extensively investigated. Based on the data obtained, a combinational use of SRAM-FPGAs (multi-chip redundant) and Flash-FPGAs (voting element) for mitigating radiation effects was conceptualized. A mathematical system reliability analysis of repairable multi-redundant systems has been. The analysis illustrates that a multi-redundant system based on SRAM-FPGAs together with a Flash-FPGA based voter provides a sufficiently high reliability for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions against radiation effects. After the conceptualization of application methods of reconfigurable FPGAs for the space environment, it is applied to the on-board computer of the small satellite Flying Laptop. Flying Laptop is a cubic, 3-axis stabilized satellite with the edge lengths of about 600mm x 700mm x 800mm and a mass of about 120kg, which shall be launched into sun-synchronous LEO in an altitude of around 600km. A system architecture with four SRAM-FPGA based central processing nodes and one Flash-FPGA based voter was applied for the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop. This on-board computer is the central computing system aboard the satellite and shall be capable of controlling all satellite peripheral electronics. First of all, the system design of the whole satellite has been conducted within the scope of the thesis in order to allow the design of the on-board computer. Based on the established system requirements, the on-board computer of the Flying Laptop was designed and the breadboard model and partly the engineering model of its components are developed. The hardware logic (control algorithm) which shall be implemented into FPGAs can be designed by means of hardware description languages. However, it is no longer software engineering but hardware engineering for generating real hardware logics inside FPGAs which are executed in parallel in real-time. The satellite main functions are designed, developed, and implemented in FPGAs by means of the hardware description languages Handel-C and VHDL. The thesis provides development methods of the control algorithms. In addition to this, a control algorithm development facility has been established for the further design activities. Finally, the developed control algorithms are verified in a simulation and verification environment in order to prove the validities of the above described developments. First of all, an FPGA hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation environment has been established based on the Model-based Development and Verification Environment (MDVE). MDVE was established at the Institute of Space Systems supported by EADS Astrium. The communication interface between the MDVE and FPGAs are developed, including the required hardware components and the serialization algorithms of communication lines inside an FPGA. Using this simulation and verification environment, extensive simulations have been conducted and the design of the on-board computer, as well as the system design of the whole satellite are validated. At the end, an extended investigation has been conducted on formal verification methods of the hardware-logic in order to provide the way of strict design verifications. This thesis establishes the basis of principle application methods of reconfigurable FPGA technologies for reconfigurable computing'' on space systems which provides innovative solutions for high computational demands of future space applications.
