Rapid development of reliable embedded systems

Developers of modern embedded systems have two main implementation options:

• They can choose to employ a “commercial off-the-shelf” (or CotS) processor.
• They can choose to implement their design using a “field-programmable gate array” (FPGA) and a “soft” processor core.

For developers interested in the CotS option, RapidiTTy™ Builder provides full support (including extensive code libraries).

As the cost of FPGAs continues to fall, the opportunity to implement embedded systems using soft processor cores is becoming of increasing interest. For developers who wish to use such cores, RapidiTTy™ FPGA has the following key features:

• Includes the PH 03 soft processor core with an architecture that is familiar to many developers.
• Provides extensive debug support (e.g. breakpoints and single-step from C), fully integrated with the IDE.
• Minimises the effort involved in precise timing analysis (including worst-case execution time measurements).
• Has a familiar, flexible RapidiTTy™ IDE, helping to ease the transition between CotS and FPGA development.

Introducing the PH 03 soft processor core

The RapidiTTy™ FPGA package includes a licence for the full VHDL source-code for the PH 03 soft processor core.

The PH 03 soft core is a 32-bit design with 32 registers and a five stage pipeline.

Features of the PH 03 core

• Compatible with the MIPS I™ instruction set architecture.
• Operates with a core frequency of up to at least 50 MHz.
• Predictable execution — single cycle per pipeline stage.
• 8 KB data memory.
• 8 KB code memory.
• Peripherals can be attached through a simple bus. Several are included:
  • Standard UART.
  • 32-bit general purpose I/O port.
  • 32-bit counter/timer.
  • Hardware debugging unit.

Further information is available from the PH product brochure.

Information about “education” versions of the PH core is available on our education page.

Applications for RapidiTTy™ FPGA

As with all products from TTE Systems, RapidiTTy™ FPGA is based on time-triggered (TT) technology. Use of TT technology helps to ensure that your applications have very predictable behaviour, and makes them easier to debug and test.

The benefits of TT technology are widely recognised, which is why this approach has been used in the aerospace industry for some 30 years. As a result of more than a decade of research (and several patent applications), the advent of the RapidiTTy™ family now means that the benefits of TT technology are available for use in a much wider range of applications.

Typical applications for RapidiTTy™ FPGA include:

• Aerospace (e.g. aircraft flight and engine control; satellite systems)
• Automotive (e.g. cruise control, steer-by-wire, engine management, roadside traffic signal)
• White goods (e.g. washing machines, dishwashers)
• Brown goods (e.g. set-top boxes)
• Medical (e.g. clinical monitoring systems)
• Industrial / factory control (e.g. robotics, control systems, condition monitoring / fault diagnosis)
• Railway (e.g. on vehicles and trackside)
• Defence (e.g. in-vehicle communications, flight control)
• Telecommunications (e.g. handsets, walkie-talkies, base stations)
• Agriculture (e.g. farm equipment, dairy systems, livestock feeding systems)
• Sports (e.g. score boards, monitoring horse racing)

Pricing

RapidiTTy™ FPGA 1.1 is priced at £995 + VAT per seat.

RapidiTTy™ FPGA 1.1 includes:

• A full copy of RapidiTTy™ FPGA 1.1 (permanent licence).
• Free on-site training (multi-seat orders only, terms and conditions apply).
• Full support for 12 months.

To place your order (or find out more), please contact us.

Take a test-drive with RapidiTTy™ FPGA Lite

You can try out some of the features of RapidiTTy™ FPGA by downloading RapidiTTy™ FPGA Lite, free of charge. RapidiTTy™ FPGA Lite is an evaluation edition of RapidiTTy™ FPGA that comes with the following restrictions:

• Licensed for non-commercial use only.
• Ships with an encrypted binary-only version of the PH 03 core.
• No full case-studies, only simple example code is included.

RapidiTTy™ FPGA Lite can be downloaded free of charge from our downloads page.

Support

The purchase price of RapidiTTy™ FPGA includes 12 months of free email support. Unofficial peer support may also be obtained through the use of our forums.

Starter kits and related hardware

A starter kit is now available for use with RapidiTTy™ FPGA Lite or RapidiTTy™ FPGA.

Forthcoming features and further information

Forthcoming additions to the RapidiTTy™ FPGA family will including support for multi-core designs. For further information, please contact us.

More information about current features can be found in the product brochure, or the user manual.