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Author Topic: Advice re. embedded systems, FPGA, & DSP design/career  (Read 1672 times)

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Offline OliverTopic starter

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Advice re. embedded systems, FPGA, & DSP design/career
« on: April 18, 2008, 04:22:55 AM »
Hi people,

I'm looking for some technology and career advice regarding development of embedded systems, FPGA design, and DSP programming. I am an electronic engineering grad, one year out of uni, and looking to develop my skills in the above areas.

My motivation is partly due to personal interest, and partly due to career motivation. I am currently working in HF radio design, which is not a field I would like to remain in. I would like to still be in a design role, and am considering embedded systems, which I think may still allow me to draw on my background in RF, EMI, and comms.

I did a couple of small VHDL FPGA projects in uni, which is something I have wanted to explore more, for a while. I have also thought that DSP programming would be handy to learn, as well as a general background in embedded systems.

Most of my recent programming experience is in MATLAB, and PIC assembly. A while back, I programmed in Java and ASNI C in Linux and Windows without trouble. I have been told that embedded systems designers should know how to implement Linux environments in embedded processors, and be able to write hardware drivers, for use at the various software layers. I use Linux at home for basic PC tasks, and have a basic understanding of the role of drivers, but am certainly not an expert in either aspect.

In the last few days, I attended a Xilinx promotional training session, and have been offered a discount on development kits. I am considering buying an XtremeDSP starter kit, which has an entry level development board from Xilinx using a Spartan 3A DSP FPGA (XC3SD1800A-4FGG676C). The kit comes with a programming interface, and some of the Xilinx development software (EDK).

As I am quite new to all of this, I am asking around for general guidance from people with experience in this field. Of course, I asked the Xilinx reps for their advice, but I would really like some second opinions, particularly from anyone who is actually developing products/solutions in this field.

Some personal projects which I will be exploring, are in audio signal processing (probably some open source DIY modules), though my longer term goals are really for personal/career development. For my audio projects, I will most likely need to design my own peripheral adapter, so won't necessarily need this facility on the development board. However, if I can get a pre-made audio codec adapter for the development board, then that would be an attractive prospect.

Thanks in advance for any help or sugestions.

Oliver
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Offline trekiej

Re: Advice re. embedded systems, FPGA, & DSP design/career
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2008, 02:49:13 AM »
Buy an inexpensive dev. board and a book on Verilog or VHDL.  Better yet find a nearby school that teaches it.
I hope this helps.  my two cents
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Offline Speelgoedmannetje

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Re: Advice re. embedded systems, FPGA, & DSP design/career
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2008, 04:14:17 PM »
There's a lot being done with Atmel AVR's. Veeery nice forum too, in my experience :-)
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Offline OliverTopic starter

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Re: Advice re. embedded systems, FPGA, & DSP design/career
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2008, 08:58:49 AM »
Hey,

Thanks for your responses. I most likely will buy the dev kit I mentioned, and at least one book (probably a few).

I have been using PICs for some years, and have been looking for an excuse to play with Atmels as well. Another option is the dsPICs, which have some DSP features. However, I think it may be more beneficial for me to go for a more fully featured platform, even if it has to use a soft core. I really like the flexibility of configurable logic cells, and a larger number of multiplier and accumulator cells. Of course, the downside is in getting a handle on the initial complexity of the hardware setup.

I think there is a few members here who work with embedded FPGA processors professionally, so I am really hoping to get some insight from the perspective of some idustry practitioners.

Cheers guys,

Oliver
Good good study, day day up!