Title :
Design methods for system-on-a-chip control codecs to enhance performance and reuse
Author :
Fisher, John Sheridan ; Murphy, Edward J. ; Bibyk, Steven B.
Author_Institution :
Inf. Electron. Res. Group, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, USA
Abstract :
While the conventional concept of a signal coder-decoder (codec) is of a homogeneous device, such that the output decoding is simply an inverse of the input decoding, the heterogeneous codec developed in this paper decouples the input and output decoding; this variation generalizes the system. A control codec is an application of a heterogeneous codec, which replaces a traditional discrete analog control loop. This analog control loop includes an A/D (coder) plus a D/A (decoder), as well as other peripheral signal processing algorithms. Our application of the control codec is to improve the control of RF transponders in satellites. The codec is shown to have the ability to be optimized for a specific application as well as to be re-targeted to different fabrication lines. Because of the environmental demands on spaceborne devices several stable radiation-hardened SOI BiCMOS processes were used. The MIT Lincoln Labs AST Fully Depleted SOI deep-submicron process was also used as an example of re-targeting. Further, we develop the design for a control codec as an application of a general class of heterogeneous, process-independent codecs. The concepts for both a heterogeneous codec and a control codec are important additions to mixed-signal system design because they facilitate analog and mixed-signal block reuse. Our methodology implements a deliberate mixed-signal design decomposition, which enhances the reuse. This reuse is a major advancement in the development of evolvable hardware that uses both analog and digital signal processing in SoC applications
Keywords :
BiCMOS integrated circuits; VLSI; analogue-digital conversion; codecs; digital-analogue conversion; embedded systems; microprocessor chips; mixed analogue-digital integrated circuits; radiation hardening (electronics); sample and hold circuits; silicon-on-insulator; space vehicle electronics; transient response; transponders; ADC; DAC; RF transponders; SOI BiCMOS processes; analog block simulation; analog control loop; analog signal processing; control loop; design methods; digital signal processing; enhanced performance; enhanced reuse; evolvable hardware; fully depleted SOI deep-submicron process; heterogeneous codec; mixed-signal system design; process-independent codecs; sample and hold; satellites; spaceborne devices; stable radiation-hardened processes; system-on-a-chip control codecs; transient response; Codecs; Control systems; Decoding; Design methodology; Fabrication; Radio frequency; Satellites; Signal processing algorithms; System-on-a-chip; Transponders;
Conference_Titel :
National Aerospace and Electronics Conference, 2000. NAECON 2000. Proceedings of the IEEE 2000
Conference_Location :
Dayton, OH
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6262-4
DOI :
10.1109/NAECON.2000.894977