The VideoMultiplexer reference design demonstrates Altium Designer’s unified design and development capabilities, including the PCB, the FPGA design, and the embedded software.
The SpiritLevel reference design was developed for use in hands-on training, for engineers and embedded developers learning how to design for an FPGA with Altium Designer. Angle detection is performed by an accelerometer, the output of this is monitored by a TSK51 microprocessor in the FPGA. The current angle of inclination is displayed on a 2 line x 16 character LCD. The board interfaces to Altium Designer via a 10 way header, connecting either via an Altium J-TAG adaptor, or the User Board connector on an Altium NanoBoard.
The FPGA design demonstrates the use of a TSK51 (8051 equivalent) embedded microprocessor. An interrupt on the processor is used to time edges from the accelerometer on the PCB, and then convert that timing data into an angle.
The embedded software is written in C to run on the TSK51. The software uses a hardware interrupt on the TSK51 processor to capture edge events from the accelerometer mounted on the PCB. From this timing data the angle of inclination is calculated, and then written to the 2 line x 16 character LCD.
This download also includes FPGA and embedded projects used to test the correct operation of the SpiritLevel board during PCB assembly, testing correct operation of switches, LEDs, the LCD display, and so on. Refer to the notes included on the FPGA_51_Spirit_Level_Tester.SchDoc schematic for more information.
Altium Designer projects included in this download:
- SL1 Xilinx Spartan-IIE PQ208 Rev1.01.PrjPcb
- FPGA_51_Spirit_Level.PrjFpg
- SpiritLevel.PrjEmb
- FPGA_51_Spirit_Level_Tester.PrjFpg
- SpiritLevelTester.PrjEmb
