73032 - Reconfigurable Logic M

Academic Year 2015/2016

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Computer Engineering (cod. 0937)

Learning outcomes

The student will learn modern digital design methodologies for embedded systems based on FPGAs and ARM cores deploying High Level Synthesis tools based on C/C++ languages. The focus will be on practical applications and in particular concerned with the field of digital image processing/computer vision and soft cores.

Course contents

The course aims at describing modern digital design methodologies suited to embedded systems based on reconfigurable logic (i.e. FPGA plus ARM cores) focusing on modern tools for high level synthesis that enable to reconfigure FPGAs deploying standard programming languages such as C or C++. Lab sessions with evaluation boards or smart cameras based on FPGAs will follow seminars on specific and relevant topic in this field such as implementation of computer vision/image processing algorithms and design of embedded soft cores on reconfigurable logic. The overall assessment consists in the evaluation of a project concerned with practical applications of FPGAs.

Readings/Bibliography

Slides available online

Teaching methods

The course deals with topics concerned to modern digital design with FPGA + ARM based systems.  Each of these topics will be presented during the course with specific seminar and followed by practical experiments with FPGA based systems (made available to each student/team). Each team (2-3 students) will select one topic, according to the specifici interest in this field, and will solve a problem deploying an FPGA based system (e.g. smart camera, evaluation board).

Assessment methods

The assessment method consists in the evaluation of project, selected with the students (2-3 for each team) according to their interest in this field, and its mapping on a practical FPGA based system (e.g. smart camera, evaluation board).

Teaching tools

Xilinx's Vivado design suites. Smart camera for 2D and 3D real-time processing designed during a recent research project. Development boards based on Spartan 6 e Zynq 7000 (a single device made of reconfigurable logic plus a multicore ARM A9 processor running Linux). An evaluation board/smart camera will be available to each team  (2-3 of students) for lab sessions and the final project.

Links to further information

http://www.vision.deis.unibo.it/smatt

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Mattoccia