Hardware/Firmware Interface Design

Helps hardware engineers and firmware engineers work together to mitigate or eliminate problems that occur when hardware and firmware are not optimally compatible. This work covers topics including register layout, interrupts, timing and performance, aborts and errors. It features concepts that apply to ASICs, ASSPs, SoCs, and FPGAs.

Autorentext

Gary Stringham is the founder and president of Gary Stringham & Associates, LLC. He has 30+ years of experience in the embedded systems industry, assisting clients in their product development and engineering training. He has extensive expertise in diagnosing and resolving a broad range of engineering problems, including: helping litigation clients understand technical aspects of case; working on the design, implementation, and testing of solutions involving software, hardware, and firmware.

Gary previously worked for Hewlett-Packard Company, where he developed and maintained several device drivers controlling a variety of blocks on various ASICs and SoCs for HP LaserJet printers. This involved diagnosing chip problems when they occurred and designing and developing firmware workarounds.

Gary helped develop various tools used for the development, testing, and manufacturing of HP-UX workstation and LaserJet printer products. For a printer emulator tool, he developed the board design, the FPGA code, the firmware running on the tool, and the software running on the host computer. In one instance, the emulator reduced a 40-hour manual test to a 35-minute automated test. For a manufacturing test tool, he architected the tool, led a team of 10 engineers to develop it, and deployed it at five manufacturing sites world-wide. Gary is a Senior Member of IEEE. He holds a BSEE from Brigham Young University and an MSEE from Utah State University.

Klappentext

Hardware and firmware are at the core of electrical devices, such as cell phones and office equipment as well as electrical components in automotive, avionic, and military applications. For the first time, a book has come along that will help hardware engineers and firmware engineers work together to mitigate or eliminate problems that occur when hardware and firmware are not optimally compatible. Solving these issues will save time and money, getting products to market sooner to create more revenue. The principles and best practices presented in this book will prove to be a valuable resource for both hardware and firmware engineers. Topics include register layout, interrupts, timing and performance, aborts, and errors. Real-world cases studies will help to solidify the principles and best practices with an aim toward cleaner designs, shorter schedules, and better implementation!

Inhalt

Chapter 1 - IntroductionChapter 2 - Principles Chapter 3 - Collaboration Chapter 4 - Planning Chapter 5 - Documentation Chapter 6 - SuperblockChapter 7 - Design Chapter 8 - Registers Chapter 9 - Interrupts Chapter 10 - Aborts, etc Chapter 11 - Hooks Chapter 12 - Conclusion

Appendix A: Best Practices Appendix B: Bicycle Controller Specification Appendix C: Using this Book in a University (only available online at http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9781856176057)Appendix D: Glossary Index