Sadrozinski H.F.-W., Wu J. Applications of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays in Scientific Research

CRC Press, 2010. — 151 p.The book is an introduction to applications of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in various fields of research. It covers the principle of the FPGAs and their functionality. The main thrust is to give examples of applications, which range from small one-chip laboratory systems to large-scale applications in big science. They give testimony to the popularity of the FPGA system. A primary topic of this book is resource awareness in FPGA design.
The materials are organized into several chapters: Understanding FPGA resources, Several principles and methods, Examples from applications in high-energy physics (HEP), space, and radiobiology.
There is no attempt made to identify golden design rules that will be sure choices for saving silicon resources. Instead, the purpose of this book is to remind the designers to pay attention to resources at the planning, design, and implementation stages of an FPGA application. Based on long experience, resource awareness considerations may slightly add to the load of designers’ brain work and sometimes may slightly slow down the development pace, but its saving in silicon resources and therefore direct and indirect cost is significant.
This book contains many hands-on examples taken from many different fields the authors have been working in. Its emphasis is less on the computer engineering details than on concepts and practical how-to. Based on the (sometimes painful!) experiences of the authors, sound design practices will be emphasized. The reader will be reminded constantly during the discussion of the sample applications that the resources of the FPGA are limited and need to be used prudently. The authors want to influence the design habit of the younger readers so that they keep in mind savings of silicon resources and power consumption during their design practice.
The book targets advanced students and researchers, who are interested in using FPGAs in small-scale laboratory applications, replacing commercial data acquisition systems with fixed protocols with flexible and lowcost alternatives. They will find a quick overview as to what is possible when FPGAs are used in data acquisition, signal processing, and transmission. In addition, the general public with an interest in the potential of available technologies, will get a very wide-angle snapshot of what that buzz is all about.Understanding FPGA resources.
Several principles and methods of resource usage control.
Examples of an FPGA in daily design jobs.
The ADC + FPGA structure.
Examples of FPGA in front-end electronics.
Examples of an FPGA in advanced trigger systems.
Examples of an FPGA computation.
Radiation issues.
Time-over-threshold: The embedded particle-tracking silicon microscope (EPTSM)