eltonjohn
Advanced Member level 4
automatic programming
Well i just finished evaluating the current possibilities to do automatic programming from MATLAB or other simulation enviroments. The target code will run on DSP and FPGAs ...
What i enterprised to find out ,Is if there were already enough tools out there to synthethise code or logic AUTOMATICALY.. from a mathematical model ?... The question is yes and No .. There are some good tools that help to convert DSP models to a particuliar DSP or to a particuliar FPGA ..
But when is required to integrate a complex system .. then there is always the need to go to a low level (VHDL or C )
I started my quest .. evaluating the MATLAB compiler ..the problem with the C code gnerated is that is library dependant ,.. this means that it will only run on a PC plataform ... All the matlab matrix operations are calls to libraries .. so right there is a close avenue ... Now . SIMULINK is able to produce some C independant code .. But then the problem is that you depend on the toolkits avalaible ..This code is great and a lot can be done .. if you are able to solve your model in terms of the avalaible toolkits .. I had a test project ,this was a Computer vision problem ..So big problem for me .. Although there is a image processing toolkit for matlab .there is no such thing in SIMULINK .. so i couldn't generate plataform independent C code .. The idea was to get pure C code translation and then migrate that to either a DSP architecture or to HandelC and sythetise the logic, add some RTOS modules and interface modules and i will have a complete stand alone system .
Now there is another way to solve my problem .. which still is a viable solution . my image processing routines were avalaible as matlab m functions .. So there is the possibility of migrating those routines to hardware by using a tool such as AccelFPGA .. and appending accelgpfa directives for port interfacing with this synthesized hardware .. The result is a Vhdl source code that can be instantiated .. in a Handel-c project ..
Then out of a single Matlab project is possible to SIMULINK produce C code for the SYSTEM control and then migrate it to handel C
and use the matlab code to synthethise to vhdl modules . These can be later instantiated in HandelC ..
So is already possible to use this type of methodology to synthesthise FPGA logic from a single MATLAB/SIMULINK model ..
no other Simulation enviroment(vissim,elanix.. ) allow close to this!
The only drawback is that you need to know HandelC and AccelFPGA .. very well .. and be aware of the target physical architecture to map the special resources by hand ... May be a not to far day all this will be done automatically by some tool and a pysicist or chemist will be able to design his own machines ...Today .Ouff !! welll is good news engineers we are still needed...!!
Well i just finished evaluating the current possibilities to do automatic programming from MATLAB or other simulation enviroments. The target code will run on DSP and FPGAs ...
What i enterprised to find out ,Is if there were already enough tools out there to synthethise code or logic AUTOMATICALY.. from a mathematical model ?... The question is yes and No .. There are some good tools that help to convert DSP models to a particuliar DSP or to a particuliar FPGA ..
But when is required to integrate a complex system .. then there is always the need to go to a low level (VHDL or C )
I started my quest .. evaluating the MATLAB compiler ..the problem with the C code gnerated is that is library dependant ,.. this means that it will only run on a PC plataform ... All the matlab matrix operations are calls to libraries .. so right there is a close avenue ... Now . SIMULINK is able to produce some C independant code .. But then the problem is that you depend on the toolkits avalaible ..This code is great and a lot can be done .. if you are able to solve your model in terms of the avalaible toolkits .. I had a test project ,this was a Computer vision problem ..So big problem for me .. Although there is a image processing toolkit for matlab .there is no such thing in SIMULINK .. so i couldn't generate plataform independent C code .. The idea was to get pure C code translation and then migrate that to either a DSP architecture or to HandelC and sythetise the logic, add some RTOS modules and interface modules and i will have a complete stand alone system .
Now there is another way to solve my problem .. which still is a viable solution . my image processing routines were avalaible as matlab m functions .. So there is the possibility of migrating those routines to hardware by using a tool such as AccelFPGA .. and appending accelgpfa directives for port interfacing with this synthesized hardware .. The result is a Vhdl source code that can be instantiated .. in a Handel-c project ..
Then out of a single Matlab project is possible to SIMULINK produce C code for the SYSTEM control and then migrate it to handel C
and use the matlab code to synthethise to vhdl modules . These can be later instantiated in HandelC ..
So is already possible to use this type of methodology to synthesthise FPGA logic from a single MATLAB/SIMULINK model ..
no other Simulation enviroment(vissim,elanix.. ) allow close to this!
The only drawback is that you need to know HandelC and AccelFPGA .. very well .. and be aware of the target physical architecture to map the special resources by hand ... May be a not to far day all this will be done automatically by some tool and a pysicist or chemist will be able to design his own machines ...Today .Ouff !! welll is good news engineers we are still needed...!!
