[SOLVED] New engineer seeks FPGA/General project help

[mspagon]

I'm just out of college, University of Texas - EE, and I am at a small company with no other hardware engineers and no one speaks English! I'm handed source code for a system on a PCB and need to figure it all out.

The system is quite complex. It has a communication board, FPGA, DSP, CPLD, ADCs, and whatnot. I have the source code for the DSP/FPGA/CPLD, except the previous programmer wrote it with very few (in Chinese) comments. I have spent the last 3 weeks reading all the datasheets, user guides, and software user guides for all the tools and hardware. But this hasn't helped much with understanding the system as a whole. I'm lost when it comes to the data-flow between each part. Where are the input and output signals of each module going?

What's a better way to understand the signal and data flow between modules and understand whats going on in the system?

I was wondering how they simulate such systems in industry. Is it possible to run software simulations on the combined Verilog and C code together, kind of like a higher level that incorporates both?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Michael

 

[ALERTLINKS]

http://forums.xilinx.com/t5/General...ring-the-work-done-by-someone-else/td-p/65805

**broken link removed**

 

[mspagon]

http://forums.xilinx.com/t5/General...ring-the-work-done-by-someone-else/td-p/65805

**broken link removed**

Thanks, this was perfect. Gonna be rough, but fun.

I've been keeping track, in my mind, where the signal drivers are located, where they are used, and where they go. I just need to start a block diagram and add to it until the image becomes clearer.

Thanks so much.