Hands-On Embedded Programming with C++17

Developing for Hybrid SoC/FPGA Systems

In addition to standard CPU-based embedded systems, an increasingly common approach has been to combine CPUs in the form of SoCs with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FGPAs). This allows CPU-intensive algorithms and processing, including DSP and image processing, to be implemented on the FPGA part of the system, with the CPU side handling less intensive tasks, such as user interaction, storage, and networking.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• How to communicate with the FPGA side of a hybrid FPGA/SoC system
• Learning how a variety of algorithms are implemented in FPGA and used from the SoC side
• How to implement a basic oscilloscope on a hybrid FPGA/SoC system