Wireless data acquisition system with signal processing and control modules within Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)

Present data acquisition systems for avionics applications use microcontrollers with external filters and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) with external Analog to Digital Converters (ADC) to process the digitized data. To minimize the use of external components, we implement the digital filter and ADC in FPGA. Microcontroller based systems may get affected in adverse conditions like high-radiation environments and high-temperature variations. An FPGA based data acquisition system for space applications is proposed to resolve this issue. FPGAs can be used for reliable communication in high radiation environments and are available in extended industrial grades/space grades. We used a Flash-based FPGA which allows re-programmability. This paper discusses the system concepts for implementing a wireless FPGA based data acquisition unit with practically no external components in it. The study involves digitization of analog sensor channels, processing the digitized data, transfer of the processed data between master and slave FPGAs. There are n slave nodes in which data is processed and one master node in which data is finally received and stored. Communication between the slave nodes and the master node is facilitated by one or more wireless interfaces. Thus they communicate via a multi-drop network. The work involves simulation in MATLAB, HDL coding & simulation, prototype development, system interfacing, assembly and testing. We present the simulation results and identify possible future courses of action.