SOURCEFORGE » RALF » 2016 Channel emulation for satellite communications

h1. Next steps

Once the QPSK implementation in LabVIEW is completed, we have to integrate the DVB-S2 modems in the communication system to develop the emulator channel. In order to do this, we will port the main functions of the developed system on a FPGA. In this section, we describe how a FPGA works and the tool to program it: the LabVIEW FPGA Module. 

h2. FPGA

Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a type of logic chip that can be programmed. An FPGA is a new architecture that connects simple programmable logic blocks and supports thousands of gates with massive fabric of programmable interconnects. It is  an integrated circuit designed to be configured after designing and manufacturing in order to produce the hardwired chips for faster and better performance.

h2. LabVIEW FPGA Module.

Unlike the traditional development tools for FPGA systems which requires the use of low-level languages, this module allow us to use the LabVIEW graphical programming platform to develop software on a FPGA. This approach simplifies the task of interfacing to input-output and communicating data reducing the development time. In addition, LabVIEW provides numerous libraries developed by NI and Xilinx for a wide variety of functions and is fully equipped with debugging tools.