Transcript Mobile Experimentation Closing an Educational Gap for New

FPGA-based Weblab Infrastructures
Guidelines and a prototype implementation example
Authors:
Ricardo Costa (ISEP/CIETI/LABORIS)
([email protected] / http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc )
and
Gustavo Alves (ISEP/CIETI/LABORIS),
Mário Zenha-Rela (FCTUC/CISUC),
Rob Poley (Heriot-Watt University),
Campbell Wishart (Heriot-Watt University)
ICELIE'2009
Porto, 3-5
November 2009
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Presentation outline

Introduction

Architectural considerations

Remote access

Implemented prototype

Conclusions and future work
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Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Introduction
- More labs required for practical work at campus and after classes
Provide access to real
experiments through
the web
feature
status
problems
Create more labs
Solutions
allow students to interact with real
equipments from everywhere at
anytime without physically being
present in a classical lab
several hardware and
software architectures
i) - only qualified people are able to develop them;
ii) - the adopted instruments and modules (I&M) may be
expensive with many features not required;
iii) - reusing and interface I&M is not simple
solution
Cost !
use a reconfigurable
hardware infrastructure
with I&M able to share
+ Flexibility/Reuse of I&M
- Price
+ Collaboration
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Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Weblab Infrastructures
Architectural considerations I
Typical Weblab architecture:
Servidor
Web
Lab infrastructure
Instrumentation Bus
Ethernet
Instrumentation
Server
users
WEB
Web Interfaces
Robots
Database
Lab Server
to remotely control a specific
experiment
Instrument
Instrument
Instrument
Pedagogical Contents
Access Management
Experiment
Proposal:
use FPGA-based
Control / Monitorization
Boards
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Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Architectural considerations II
Benefits of using FPGAs for replacing the instruments and the
instrumentation server:
• costs will be reduced;
• reconfiguration capabilities allow implementing different measurement instruments;
• and provides modularity and flexibility in the construction of weblab infrastructures.
Internet
FPGA
UUT
users
Conceptual weblab architecture
using an FPGA
5/15
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Weblab Infrastructures
Architectural considerations III
FPGAs
FPGA
Multimeter
Dedicated
Controller
Multimeter
Function
Generator
Oscilloscope
Two solutions for using FPGAs for implementing a
Weblab infrastructure:
a) one single FPGA
accommodating several
modules/instruments
UUT
UUT
Function
Generator
FPGA
b) one FPGA for each
module/instrument
6/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Remote access I
Generic architecture:
7/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Remote access II
Suggested architectures for the Weblab infrastructures:
Hybrid
approach
SoC
approach
8/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Remote access III
Some solutions available in the market:
Hybrid
approach
SoC
approach
9/15
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Weblab Infrastructures
Implemented prototype I
Adopted devices:
Spartan-3E starter kit - XILINX
I/O ports
A/D and D/A
Lantronix module
(MicroWebserver)
Ethernet port
Ethernet port
LCD
display
I/O ports
10/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Implemented weblab infrastructure
Implemented prototype II
11/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Implemented prototype III
Physical interfaces
used to control the
function generator
Control / monitor web
interfaces for
controlling / monitoring
the function generator
Developed through a collaboration
agreement between CIETI/Laboris
and an M.Sc. Student from HeriotWatt University (Scotland)
12/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Conclusions
Adopting this architecture will:
- simplify the creation of Weblab infrastructures;
- allow sharing and reusing instruments and modules;
- increase collaboration;
- reduce costs.
13/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Future work
Some difficulties appeared during
the collaboration because…
Difficulties to understand/explain
all details…
It would be difficult to use the FG on
another Weblab infrastructure,
based on the presented architecture…
It was necessary to specify
a logical interface !
It defines a set of open, common, network-independent
communication interfaces for connecting transducers,
will facilitate the implementation and sharing of different
instruments/modules, in a compatible weblab
infrastructure.
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Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
THANKS
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Ricardo Costa
e-mail: [email protected]
webpage: http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
15/15
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Architectural considerations – extra
Benefits of using FPGAs for replacing the instruments and the
instrumentation Server:
•costs will be reduced;
•reconfiguration capabilities allow implementing different measurement instruments;
•and provides modularity and flexibility in the construction of weblab infrastructures.
Internet
FPGA
users
Conceptual weblab architecture
using an FPGA
UUT
But…other solution could be
the adoption of μps / μcs !!!
16/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Architectural considerations – extra
Why adopting
FPGA
instead of
μps / μcs ?
17/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Architectural considerations – extra
FGPA reconfiguration options
(Total or Partial Static or Partial Dynamic ?):
18/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
Architectural considerations – extra
Example of two FPGA-based Boards solutions from Xilinx:
Static-Partial-Reconfiguration
Spartan-3E
Dynamic-Partial-Reconfiguration
Virtex5
19/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
IEEE 1451.0 Std.
IEEE Standard for a Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and
Actuators—Common Functions, Communication Protocols, and
Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) Formats
(IEEE Std 1451.0™-2007)
- It is the basis to interoperate all members of the IEEE 1451 family
enabling the control of trigger and status signals, the operation modes
definitions, etc.
- all transducers must implement a TIM (transducer interface module) the Std. defines all functions performed by TIMs;
- all transducers are specified by a TEDS (Transducer Electronic Data
Sheets) - the Std. defines all functions to read/write form/to the TEDS;
- Provides a set of Application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate
communications with the TIM and with other applications through a NCAP
(Network Capable Application Processor).
20/15
FPGA-based
Weblab Infrastructures
Ricardo Costa - ICELIE’09 - November 2009
[email protected] - http://www.laboris.isep.ipp.pt/rjc
IEEE 1451.0 Std.
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