DSMC Version 2 prototyping and educational platform rollout

DSMC Version 2 prototyping and educational platform rollout

DSMC delivered and tested the 2^nd version of its prototyping and educational platform based on the Intel (ex. Altera) + ARM Cortex M3 development platform. The prototyping and educational platform is designed to facilitate students’ hands-on practice on digital system design, FPGA design, microcontroller programming and embedded system design and it is tailored to the requirements of distance learning. The platform hardware design, assembly and software development was completed in-house by Anastasios Fanariotis, DSMC research associate and HOU MSc student as part of his MSc project.

The platform is based on an in-house design of a two-layer development board with both on-board resources and breakout connector facilities to allow easy experimentation and execution of both educational as well as research projects.

Prototype board PCB design

Manufactured board

The development board is designed as a dual layered PCB with all components placed on the first layer in order o minimize assembly cost. It is equipped with a Intel/Altera Cyclon IV FPGA and a ARM Cortex-M3 MCU microcontroller that features a dual function able to serve both as a PC bridge for FPGA program downloading via a USB connection, as well as a target processor for embedded program development. The board also holds Flash EEPROM for permanent FPGA programming, on-chip crystals, power circuit and 24 LEDs connected to FPGS I/Os as well as 2×40-pin breakout connectors providing access to FPGA I/O pins for system design and experimentation. The board is Arduino pin compatible so that in future versions the Arduino IDE can be used for microcontroller programing.

DSMC X2 loader

To avoid the unnecessary cost of specialized FPGA programmers a customized version based on the open-source distribution of the Mojo Loader has been developed, which offers the capability for easy FPGA programming either as a simple bitstream Design File or a NIOS HEX software file without any external hardware (No JTAG programmer needed).

The accompanying software also includes a software utility that enables the board to be used with the professional-level IDE, KEIL-MDK, without the need for a hardware programmer. Therefore, the board provides native support for the following toolchains: KEIL-MDK ARM’s formally endorsed IDE, without the need for any additional hardware (JTAG programmer). STM32CubeMX, ST-Microelectronics development SW package that provides an easy way for the initial setup of an MCU project by means of a GUI. Arduino IDE natively supported by DSD-i1 Board (ARM Mode) through the preinstalled Maple bootloader.

DSMC Keil Loader