Automated FPGA implementation methodology of PLC programs with floating point operations

Although the performance of traditional PLC technology is adequate for the majority of industrial automation and control tasks, there exist a number of demanding applications, which need more powerful alternatives. One such alternative, which has received considerable research interest in recent years, is the implementation of control algorithms on FPGAs. An inherent difficulty of this approach is that it requires expertise in both industrial automation and FPGAs. Also, FPGAs have been traditionally suited towards fast, fixed point calculations. This paper presents an automated methodology which addresses the first problem, by using language translators and hardware behavioral or high-level synthesis. For the second problem, different approaches to support floating point operations at the behavioral domain are thoroughly investigated. Overall, an efficient methodology for design space exploration of industrial control applications is proposed, using FPGA technology. The presented experiments show that design trade-offs can be easily explored and the desired solution for each application can be efficiently selected.