Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Software development kit'

This Master of Science thesis in Information Technology Engineering highlights and investigates some aspects of creating a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Scania Interactor using Microsoft .Net.

The contents of the SDK is specified, and an Interactor Development Kit (IDK), the software components of the SDK, is designed with an architecture that includes a service in order to handle data propagation and initialization, and class libraries for referencing by Interactor applications.

For the service, the traditional distributed technology .Net Remoting is compared to the new technology Windows Communication Foundation, and .Net Remoting is found to be most appropriate since it supports full type fidelity and can be integrated in the IDK in a flexible way.

The IDK supports access control in order to provide exclusive access to some of its functionality from applications developed by Scania. Access control is implemented using Microsoft strong names for assemblies, and using strong name access restricted objects, the Remoting call context, and a custom sink for the service. The part of the IDK that manages CAN data propagation is implemented together with a mechanism for parameterized subscriptions of events, something that has been requested by end users.

A sample application is also implemented that uses a modified version of the IDK, which aquires data through the old SDK instead of a future black box over IP.

Human-Computer Interaction is a rapidly expanding field, in which new implementations of ideas are consistently being released. In recent years, much of the concentration in this field has been on gesture-based control, either touch-based or camera-based. Even though camera-based gesture recognition was previously seen more in science fiction than in reality, this method of interaction is rising in popularity. There are a number of devices readily available to the average consumer that are designed to support this type of input, including the popular Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion devices. Despite this rise in availability and popularity, development for these devices is currently an arduous task, unless only the most simple of gestures is required. The goal of this thesis is to develop a Software Development Kit (SDK) with which developers can more easily develop interfaces that utilize gesture-based control. If successful, this SDK could significantly reduce the amount of work (both in effort and in lines of code) necessary for a programmer to implement gesture control in an application. This, in turn, could help reduce the intellectual barrier which many face when attempting to implement a new interface. The developed SDK has three main goals. The SDK will place an emphasis on simplicity of code for developers using it; will allow for a variety of gestures, including gestures made by single or multiple trackable objects (e.g., hands and fingers), gestures performed in stages, and continuously-updating gestures; and will be device-agnostic, in that it will not be written exclusively for a single device. The thesis presents the results of a system validation study that suggests all of these goals have been met.

Les applications modernes ont des tendances de diverger à la fois le profile I/O et les requiers du stockage. La liaison d'une application scientifique ou commerciale avec un system "general-purpose" produit probablement un résultât sous-optimale. Même sous la présence des systèmes "purpose specific" des application aux classes multiples de workloads ont encore besoin de distribuer du travail de calcul au correct system. Cependant, cette stratégie n'est pas triviale comme des plateformes différentes butent diversifier leur propos et par conséquence elles requièrent que l'application intégrée des chemins multiples de code. Le but de l'implémentation de ces chemins n'est pas trivial, il requiert beaucoup d'effort et des capacités de codage. Le problème devient vaste quand les applications ont besoin de bénéficier de plusieurs data-stores en parallèle. Dans cette dissertation, on va introduire les "storage containers" comme le prochain étape logique, mais révolutionnaire. Un "storage container" est une infrastructure virtuelle qui découple une application de ses data-stores correspondants avec la même manière que Docker découple l'application runtime des servers physiques. En particulier, un "storage container" est un middleware qui sépare des changements fait pour bouts de code des application par des utilisateurs scientifiques, de celui fait pour des actions de I/O par des développeurs ou des administrateurs.Pour faciliter le développement et déploiement d'un "storage container" on va introduire un cadre appelé Tromos. Parmi son filtre, tout qui est nécessaire pour qu'un architecte d'une application construite une solution de stockage est de modéliser l'environnement voulu dans un fichier de définition and laisser le reste au logiciel. Tromos est livré avec un dépôt de plugins parmi les quelles l'architecte peut choisir d'optimiser le conteneur pour l'application activée. Parmi des options disponibles, sont inclus des transformations des données, des politiques de placement des données, des méthodes de reconstruction des données, du management d'espace de noms, et de la gestion de la cohérence à la demande. Comme preuve de concept, on utilisera Tromos pour créer des environnements de stockage personnalisés facilement comparés à Gluster, un système de stockage bien établi et polyvalent. Les résultats vous montrent que les "storage containers" adaptés aux applications, même s'ils sont auto-produits, peuvent surpasser les systèmes "general purpose" les plus sophistiqués en supprimant simplement la surcharge inutile de fonctionnalités factices
Modern applications tend to diverge both in the I/O profile and storage requirements. Matching a scientific or commercial application with a general-purpose system will most likely yield suboptimal performance. Even in the presence of purpose-specific' systems, applications with multiple classes of workloads are still in need to disseminate the workload to the right system. This strategy, however, is not trivial as different platforms aim at diversified goals and therefore require the application to incorporate multiple codepaths. Implementing such codepaths is non-trivial, requires a lot of effort and programming skills, and is error-prone. The hurdles are getting worse when applications need to leverage multiple data-stores in parallel. In this dissertation, we introduce "storage containers" as the next logical in the storage evolution. A "storage container" is virtual infrastructure that decouples the application from the underlying data-stores in the same way Docker decouples the application runtime from the physical servers. In other words, it is middleware that separate changes made to application codes by science users from changes made to I/O actions by developers or administrators.To facilitate the development and deployment of a "storage container" we introduce a framework called Tromos. Through its lens, all that it takes for an application architect to spin-up a custom storage solution is to model the target environment into a definition file and let the framework handles the rest. Tromos comes with a repository of plugins which the architect can choose as to optimize the container for the application at hand. Available options include data transformations, data placement policies, data reconstruction methods, namespace management, and on-demand consistency handling.As a proof-of-concept we use Tromos to prototype customized storage environments which we compare against Gluster; a well-estalished and versatile storage system. The results have shown that application-tailored "storage containers", even if they are auto-produced, can outperform more mature "general-purpose" systems by merely removing the unnecessary overhead of unused features

This thesis discusses the differences of programming with the Unreal Engine 3’s visual scripting tool Kismet versus traditional programming. A simple action adventure game was developed with the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) in order to gain experience with the tool. UDK is the free version of Epic Games’ game engine Unreal Engine 3. The resulting game has a mixture of a third person behind the character default camera and fixed camera angles. The gameplay is simple; the playable character can run, investigate the level, shoot and lift and push objects. The game focused on exploration and puzzle solving. The writer found programming with Kismet to be easy to get into and highly useful. It was preferred over traditional programming for beginners. The same principles of planning ahead before writing code applied even to visual programming. It was concluded that good structure to the code was very important for larger sequences in order to have readable code. For complex gameplay classes the Unreal Engine 3’s own programming language UnrealScript was preferred. The resulting opinions of programming with a visual language are of highly subjective nature and suggestions for further studies were given.

Software testing is a very time-consuming and tedious activity and accounts for over 25% of the cost of software development. In addition to its high cost, manual testing is unpopular and often inconsistently executed. Software Testing Environments (STEs) overcome the deficiencies of manual testing through automating the test process and integrating testing tools to support a wide range of test capabilities. Most prior work on testing is in single-thread applications. This thesis is a contribution to testing of distributed applications, which has not been well explored. To address two crucial issues in testing, when to stop testing and how good the software is after testing, a statistics-based integrated test environment which is an extension of the testing concept in Quality Programming for distributed applications is presented. It provides automatic support for test execution by the Test Driver, test development by the SMAD Tree Editor and the Test Data Generator, test failure analysis by the Test Results Validator and the Test Paths Tracer, test measurement by the Quality Analyst, test management by the Test Manager and test planning by the Modeller. These tools are integrated around a public, shared data model describing the data entities and relationships which are manipulable by these tools. It enables early entry of the test process into the life cycle due to the definition of the quality planning and message-flow routings in the modelling. After well-prepared modelling and requirements specification are undertaken, the test process and the software design and implementation can proceed concurrently. A simple banking application written using Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) shows the testing process of fitting it into the integrated test environment. The concept of the automated test execution through mobile agents across multiple platforms is also illustrated on this 3-tier client/server application.

Today media centers are often cluttered with multiple devices each controlled by their own remote control. It is often hard and/or painful to manage and utilize these devices, especially for inexperienced users. Simstream wants to build an innovative smart-TV that as much as possible centralizes functions and controls.  Operating the system should be intuitive and simple, yet experienced users should have access to more advanced operations. This requires acquiring several inputs as well as integrating the communication devices that are necessary to control the attached external devices. Whenever possible, we want to efficiently process every input while minimizing latencies.  As a result, we want all the frequent operation to be as quick and lightweight as possible in order to provide a high quality user experience even under high system loads. This project takes advantage of the widespread availability of touchscreen mobile devices in order to provide an innovative means of control over the television, with remote control mobile applications running on an user’s familiar device. A remote controller will also be sold together with the television, and this remote controller will also have a touchscreen, and will propose the same capabilities as the remote control mobile applications. Finally, this platform will be open to third-party applications, and as a result this thesis project developed a software development kit which is designed to be easy and familiar enough for developers to adopt it and create applications with it. Applications will be developed together with an interface displayed on the remote controllers, in order to tailor the remote control interface to what is currently displayed on the television screen
Idag är mediecentrer ofta belamrade med många enheter som är kontrollerade av sina egna fjärrkontroller. Det är ofta svårt och / eller smärtsamt att använda dessa enheterna, särskilt för oerfarna användare. Simstream vill bygga en innovativ smart TV som centraliserar funktioner och kontroller så mycket som möjligt. Att använda systemet ska vara intuitivt och enkelt, men mer erfarna användare ska också ha tillgång till mer avancerade funktioner. Detta kräver att förvärva flera indata samt att integrera kommunikationsenheterna som är nödvändiga för att kontrollera de anslutna externa enheter. När det är möjligt vill vi behandla varje indata på ett effektivt sätt oh samtidigt minimera latenser. Det här betyder att en operation som utförs ofta skall vara så snabb och så lätt som möjligt, för att förbättra användarupplevelse även när systemet är hårt belastad. Detta projekt drar fördel av den vidsprädda tillgången till pekskärma mobila enheter för att tillföra användaren en innovativ kontroll över sin TV, direkt från sin bekanta enhet. Slutligen kommer denna plattformen att vara öppen för tredjepartsutvecklare, och som ett resultat har detta examensarbete utvecklat ett software development kit som är gjort för att vara enkelt och välbekant nog för att utvecklare ska kunna använda det och skapa applikationer med det.

The interactive nature of web applications or “web apps” makes it an excellent medium for conveying complex scientific concepts to lay audiences and creating decision support tools that harness cutting edge modeling techniques. However, the technical expertise required to develop them represents a barrier for would-be developers. The barrier can be characterized by the following hurdles that developers must overcome: (1) identify, select, and install software that meet the spatial and computational capabilities commonly required for water resources modeling; (2) orchestrate the use of multiple FOSS and FOSS4G projects and navigate their differing application programming interfaces (APIs); (3) learn the multi-language programming skills required for modern web development; and (4) develop a web-safe and fully featured web site to host the app. This research has resulted in two primary products that effectively lower the barrier to water resources web app development: (1) a literature review of free and open source software (i.e. software review) and (2) Tethys Platform. The software review included earth science web apps that were published in the peer-reviewed literature in the last decade and it was performed to determine which FOSS4G and FOSS web software has been used to develop such web apps. The review highlights 11 FOSS4G software projects and 9 FOSS projects for web development that were used to develop 45 earth sciences web apps, which constitutes a significantly reduced list of possible software projects that could be used to meet the needs of water resources web app development—greatly lowering the barrier for entry to water resources web development. While the software review addresses the hurdle of identifying FOSS software to provide a web framework and spatial data capabilities for water resources web apps, there are still other hurdles that needed to be overcome to make development more viable. Tethys Platform was developed to address these other hurdles and streamline the development of water resources web apps. It includes (1) a suite of free and open source software that address the unique data and computational needs common to water resources web app development, (2) a Python software development kit for incorporating the functionality of each software element into web apps and streamlining their development, and (3) a customizable web portal that is used to deploy the completed web apps. Tethys Platform has been used to develop a broad array of web apps for water resources modeling and decision support.

Web services provide organizations with a powerful infrastructure by which information and products may be distributed, but the task of supporting Web service systems can be difficult due to the complex nature of environment configuration and operation. Tools are needed to monitor and analyze such Enterprise environments so that appropriate engineering, quality control, or business activities can be pursued. This investigation resulted in the development of a software development kit, the WSLogA Framework, which is inspired by the vision of Cruz et al. (2003, 2004). The WSLogA Framework provides distributed Enterprise systems with a platform for comprehensive information capture and environment management. Five component groups are intended for employment to enable integrated workflows addressing monitoring and response activities, but these components may also be used individually to facilitate the phased integration of the WSLogA Framework into existing environments. The WSLogA Framework's design is portable across technology platforms (e.g., Java and .NET) and a variety of technologies may be substituted for the provided implementations to address unique system architectures. The WSLogA Framework supersedes existing logging and monitoring solutions in terms of both capability and intent. Applications based on the WSLogA Framework have an internal, real-time view of their operation and may adjust their environment based on the information provided by events related to their or system activities. The WSLogA Framework is intended as a software development kit around which system functionality may be organized and implemented, which makes the WSLogA Framework an architectural peer or complement to traditional application frameworks such as Spring's Web module. WSLogA Framework based systems should be envisioned as information appliance elements rather than traditionally scoped applications or services.

Šiuo metu viena iš labiausiai bei sparčiausiai besivystančių technologijos krypčių yra mobiliesiems telefonams, planšetiniams kompiuteriams bei multimedijos įrenginiams skirta programinė įranga. Vartotojų susidomėjimas šia sritimi bei mobiliųjų įrenginių techninės įrangos tobulėjimas skatina vis daugiau IT kompanijų plėtoti savo veiklą šioje srityje. Viena iš didžiausių klaidų, kurias yra sunkiausia ištaisyti, yra pirminėje projekto stadijoje neteisingai pasirinktos technologijos. Šiame darbe apžvelgiamos ir palyginamos trijų populiariausių, į mobiliuosius įrenginius diegiamų operacinių sistemų: Android, iOS bei Windows Phone programų kūrimo sąsajos ir nustatomi jų privalumai bei trūkumai. Vertinimai yra atliekami atsižvelgiant į operacinės sistemos architektūrą, programų kūrimo įrankius, suderinamumą su technine įranga, programų derinimo galimybėmis, saugumo užtikrinimu, grafinės vartotojo sąsajos kūrimu, daugiakalbystės palaikymu, animacijos, garsų bei video medžiagos pateikimu, HTML turinio atvaizdavimu, integracija su žemėlapiais, vartotojo buvimo vietos nustatymu, sensorių bei tinklų pasiekiamumu, foninių procesų kūrimu, duomenų išsaugojimo bei apsikeitimo su kitomis programomis galimybėmis. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad Android turi geriausias sąsajas kurti foninius procesus bei integruotis su kitomis programomis. iOS turi geriausius įrankius bei grafinės vartotojo sąsajos kūrimo priemones, o Windows Phone turi patogiausia karkasą darbui su multimedija, žemėlapiais bei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
At a present time, one of the most developing area of technology is software for mobile phones, tablets and multimedia devices. Growing numbers of users and improved hardware makes more and more companies to expand their activity in this market. One of the biggest mistakes, that is very hard to solve, is badly chosen technologies in a beginning stage of the projects. The main objective of this project is to compare three of the most popular operating systems Android, iOS and Windows Phone software development kits and to determinate their advantages and disadvantages. Analysis is made based on operating system architecture, tools, compatibility with hardware, debugging, security, graphical user interface, multilanguage support, animation, sounds, video, HTML preview, interaction with maps and user location, sensors, networks, background processes, data persistence and integration with another software. In this research was identified that Android has best interfaces to create background processes and share data between programs. iOS has best tools and components for graphical user interface and Windows Phone has best framework to work with multimedia, maps and user location services.

A wireless sensor network consists of small, limited-resource embedded systems exchanging environment data and activating controls. These networks can be deployed in hostile environments to monitor wildlife habitats, implemented in factories to locate mobile equipment, and installed in home environments to optimize the use of utilities. Each of these scenarios requires network security to protect the network data. The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is designed for WSN communication, yet the standard states that it is not responsible for defining the initialization, distribution, updating, or management of network public keys. Individuals seeking to research security topics will find that there are many 802.15.4-compliant development hardware kits available to purchase. However, these kits are not easily compared to each other without first-hand experience. Further, not all available kits are suitable for research in WSN security. This thesis evaluates a broad spectrum of 802.15.4 development kits for security studies. Three promising kits are examined in detail: Crossbow MICAz, Freescale MC1321x, and the Sun SPOT. These kits are evaluated based on their hardware, software, development environment, additional libraries, additional tools, and cost. Recommendations are made to security researchers advising which kits to use depending on their design needs and priorities. Suggestions are made to each company on how to further improve their kits for security research.

This study proposes an industrialization model, Software Factory Automation, for establishing software product lines. Major contributions of this thesis are the conceptualization of Domain Specific Kits (DSKs) and a domain design model for software product lines based on DSKs. The concept of DSK has been inspired by the way other industries have been successfully realizing factory automation for decades. DSKs, as fundamental building blocks, have been deeply elaborated with their characteristic properties and with several examples. The constructed domain design model has two major activities: first, building the product line reference architecture using DSK abstraction
and second, constructing reusable asset model again based on DSK concept. Both activities depend on outputs of feature-oriented analysis of product line domain. The outcome of these coupled modeling activities is the reference architecture and asset model of the product line. The approach has been validated by constructing software product lines for two product families. The reusability of DSKs and software assets has also been discussed with examples. Finally, the constructed model has been evaluated in terms of quality improvements, and it has been compared with other software product line engineering approaches.

This diploma thesis deals with a interface USB and FireWire cameras to a computer through a technology called DirectShow. I used mostly a development kit „MontiVision“, which cooperates with a programming environment as is e.g. Microsoft Visual C++. You find here how to use a direct pixel access, how to get singles photos from a video, how to set up and calibrate a camera and how can look a particular application of the image processing. I wrote an introduction to the stereo-vision above the frame of my task. This thesis is like a manual for students. It includes my personal experiences and experimentations too.

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Informática
A evolução tecnológica das últimas décadas generalizou o uso de software para a substituição ou suporte de múltiplos processos das empresas e, evidenciou novas perspectivas para o desenvolvimento de soluções com altos níveis de performance, disponibilidade, escalabilidade e flexibilidade. No contexto Vortal (empresa líder no mercado de contratação electrónica português com a plataforma VortalNext>), esta generalização levou à necessidade da existência mecanismos que permitam aos seus clientes a personalização/criação de áreas de trabalho dedicadas. Tendo esta necessidade como foco, são avaliados os diferentes componentes da plataforma Next>, a metodologia de desenvolvimento atualmente utilizada (Model Driven Architecture) e quais as melhores aproximações para o desenvolvimento de aplicações no âmbito de uma plataforma web, focando as suas vantagens e desvantagens a nível arquitetural e aplicacional. Concluiu-se que todas as soluções estudadas são adequados ao desenvolvimento de aplicações web, sendo o seu grau de adequação variável com o contexto de utilização. São soluções diferentes relativamente à complexidade de implementação, aos recursos necessários, aos riscos envolvidos e à simplicidade de utilização por parte do grupo de utilizadores finais. Por fim, é apresentada a arquitetura de um Software Development Kit (são estudadas outras opções, sendo esta a que oferece mais estabilidade aplicacional e mais vantagens competitivas) e a sua integração no ecossistema aplicacional e arquitetural da plataforma maximizando, não apenas a flexibilidade e funcionalidade para o cliente final, como também a segurança, robustez e fiabilidade do ecossistema da plataforma. A arquitetura definida em conjunto com o modelo de negócio apresentado formam a linha de ação indicada para garantir a existência de aplicações personalizadas a serem executadas no ecossistema VortalNext>.
The technological evolution of the last decades, widespread the use of software for the replacement or support of many company processes and highlighted new perspectives for developing solutions with high levels of performance, availability, scalability and flexibility. In the case of Vortal (leader in the Portuguese e-procurement platforms with Vortal Next>), this generalization led to the need of designing a tool that allows customers to customize/create dedicated workspaces. Focusing on this need, the different components of Vortal Next> platform are evaluated, the currently used development methodology is studied (Model Driven Architecture) as well as what are the best approaches for developing applications within a web platform, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages at the architectural and applicational level. It was concluded that all the solutions are suitable for the development of web applications, having its degree of suitability to vary according with the context of use. They are different solutions regarding the implementation complexity, the resources required, the risks involved and the simplicity of use by the group of end users. Finally, it is presented the architecture of a Software Development Kit (other options are studied, but this is the one that offers more stability and more competitive advantages) and its integration into the platform, maximizing not only the flexibility and functionality to the end customer, but also the safety, robustness and reliability of the platform ecosystem. The architecture defined along with the business model presented, form the line of action indicated to ensure the existence of custom applications to be executed in the Vortal Next> ecosystem.

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
機電整合研究所
95
According to the 196th Article of Standard for Installation of Fire Safety Equipments Based on Use and Occupancy and Approval Directions for Emergency Power Source Capacity which is issued and published in 1997 by National Fire Agency, Ministry of the Interior, engineers have to obtain each coefficient via checking the table during the initial period. Then, they one by one calculate the results to choose the most applicable power set. However, mistakes are easily emerged because of manual calculation in terms of different degrees of specialty. As a result, an effective set of software is essential to assist engineers. This research is predominantly based on the Visual Basic Programming Language as the management structure, and is collocated the operation function of Excel to develop an aided computing software to assist engineers to decide the required power of generators. About the dimension of procedure control, the engineers could naturally and smoothly follow the instructions of the windows frames and gradually finish all required settings. In the aspect of data input, the way of choosing is mainly based on direct and “Combo Box” to solve time-consuming problems on account of typing Chinese characters. From the point of choosing power set, this software could be more efficient, practical, and valuable since it provides a variety of brands of generators and could directly print out and save the data, reports, and statements. The developed software of this research had been tested and identified by experts of this field. It has been amended in terms of their suggestions and re-identified as well; thus, this software is totally qualified, practical and accurate for Fire Protection Engineers / Technicians. Finally, in order to advance the function of this computing software and make it more extensive, reliable, and practical, expecting to expand and integrate other fire-fighting equipment such as the water power computing of pump and motor power computing of smoke exhaust equipment by means of the experience of developing this software in the future. Furthermore, this software is hoping to develop into a set of tool software continuously which is completely eligible for Fire Protection Engineers / Technicians.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.
This thesis consists in design a place nder for mobile devices, speci cally locations within the campus of the Universitat Jaume I. The app will use web services for access to searched information and campus maps. The smart cities and smart campus projects are born and growing around the world. These projects are based on using the newest information and communication technologies for the bene t of citizens. The thesis is framed within the UJI Smart Campus project. Some of the UJI researchers are involved in this project in some way or another, and this app uses resources that have been produced by them. Thus some of the resources developed in this thesis will be able to be used for other purposes. Planning was made following agile [17] development methods, which have allowed us to modify and improve the application requirements as was being implemented. Throughout the development has taken into careful consideration end users, and the details of the user interface have been care so that the nal product be as usable and simple as possible. The app is open for improvements, adding new functionalities and integrating with other parts of the UJI's Smart Campus project.

Οι συστοιχίες προγραμματιζόμενων πυλών (FPGAs) αποτελούν μια σημαντική τεχνολογία, η οποία επιτρέπει στους σχεδιαστές κυκλωμάτων την παραγωγή συγκεκριμένου σκοπού ολοκληρωμένων κυκλωμάτων σε σύντομο χρόνο. Tα σημαντικότερα των χαρακτηριστικών τους είναι η αρχιτεκτονική τους και η δυνατότητα σχεδιασμού τους μέσω υπολογιστών, η χαμηλή κατανάλωση ισχύος καθώς και το μικρό χρονικό διάστημα που απαιτείται για τον επαναπρογραμματισμό τους. Τα FPGAs είναι κατάλληλα σχεδιασμένα για ψηφιακές εφαρμογές φιλτραρίσματος. Η πυκνότητα των προγραμματιζόμενων αυτών συστημάτων είναι τέτοια ώστε πολύ μεγάλος αριθμός αριθμητικών πράξεων όπως αυτές που προκύπτουν μέσω ψηφιακού φιλτραρίσματος να μπορεί να εφαρμοστεί σε μία μόνο συσκευή. Τα πλεονεκτήματα των FPGA στην υλοποίηση ψηφιακών φίλτρων είναι μεταξύ άλλων οι υψηλότεροι ρυθμοί δειγματοληψίας από παραδοσιακούς DSP chip, το χαμηλότερο κόστος από μια μέτρια ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, Kύκλωμα οριζόμενο από εφαρμογή) για εφαρμογές μεγάλου όγκου, καθώς και η μεγαλύτερη ευελιξία από όλες τις εναλλακτικές προσεγγίσεις για την υλοποίηση των FIR φίλτρων. Σπουδαιότερο όλων είναι ότι προγραμματίζονται μέσα στο σύστημα και έχουν δυνατότητα επαναπρογραμματισμού για την υλοποίηση διαφόρων εναλλακτικών λειτουργιών φιλτραρίσματος. Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής είναι να συνδυασθούν τεχνικές VLSI και ψηφιακής επεξεργασίας σήματος και μέσω κατανόησης της αρχιτεκτονικής του υπολογιστή να δημιουργηθεί μια χρήσιμη εφαρμογή. Επιλέχθηκε για τον λόγο αυτό: α) η ανάπτυξη ενός FIR φίλτρου σε γλώσσα περιγραφής υλικού, β) υλοποίησή του σε FPGA, γ) εισαγωγή αυτού σε ενσωματωμένο σύστημα και σύνδεση σε διάδρομο δεδομένων επεξεργαστή και δ) έλεγχος του φίλτρου με τη βοήθεια του επεξεργαστή μέσω γλώσσας υψηλού επιπέδου. Η συγγραφή του κώδικα του φίλτρου έγινε σε γλώσσα VHDL, με structural μεθόδους και η προσομοίωση του συστήματος στο Modelsim. Επιπροσθέτως χρησιμοποιήθηκε ο Project Navigator ISE της Xilinx για τον έλεγχο του κώδικα αλλά και τον προγραμματισμό του FPGA Spartan 3E Starter Board. Χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ακόμα τα υποπρογράμματα Plan Ahead και ChipScope Pro του ISE ώστε να ελεγχθεί η λειτουργία του κυκλώματος στο FPGA. To κύκλωμα τελικά εισάγεται σε ενσωματωμένο σύστημα με τη βοήθεια του εργαλείου σχεδίασης EDK της Xilinx και ελέγχεται η λειτουργία του προγραμματίζοντας τον επεξεργαστή Microblaze. Ακόμα ελέγχεται η λειτουργία του φίλτρου για διαφορετικούς συντελεστές FIR φίλτρων που χρησιμοποιούν διαφορετικά παράθυρα και συγκρίνονται οι «ιδανικές» τιμές που παράγονται από το Matlab με αυτές που παράγονται από το φίλτρο. Τέλος μετράται η ενέργεια (δυναμική και στατική) που καταναλώνεται κατά τη λειτουργία του κυκλώματος στο FPGA με τη βοήθεια του XPower Analyzer.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) is a technology of great importance that allows the designers to produce specific purpose integrated circuits in a limited amount of time. The most important of their characteristics are their architecture and the ability of their design with the help of computers, the low power dissipation, as well as the need of a short amount of time to be reprogrammed. FPGAs are properly designed for digital filtering applications. The density of these programmable systems is such that a great amount of numerical calculations such as those that result via digital filtering can be applied to one device only. The advantages of FPGAs as for the implementation of digital filters is between others the great rates of sampling compared to traditional DSP chips, their low cost compared to a moderate ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for applications that take up a large area, as well as the flexibility compared to alternative approaches for the implementation of FIR filters. Their most important characteristic is that they can be programmed on-chip and that they have the ability of being reprogrammed for the implementation of different filtering purposes. The aim of this thesis is to combine VLSI techniques and digital signal processing techniques and via the understanding of the computer architecture to create a useful application. To fulfill that purpose: a) a FIR filter was designed with the use of a hardware description language b) the filter was implemented by using an FPGA c) the filter was imported to an embedded system and it was connected to the bus of a microprocessor d) the filter was controlled by the microprocessor via a high-level programming language. The filter was designed using the VHDL language, specifically using structural methods, and its simulation was performed with Modelsim. Also the Project Navigator ISE of Xilinx was used to correct unwanted warnings and to program the FPGA Spartan 3E Starter Board. Some other subprograms of ISE were also used, such as Plan Ahead and ChipScope Pro in order to check the performance of the filter. The circuit is finally imported to an embedded system using the Embedded Developer’s Kit (EDK) of Xilinx. Microblaze was the microprocessor that was used to control the filter’s performance. Additionally, the performance of the filter is checked by using different coefficients of FIR filters by different windowing methods. The ideal values that are produced from Matlab are compared to those of the filter. Finally the power dissipation (static and dynamic) of the filter is measured using XPower Analyzer.