Pastoral project: A communication platform between hardware and software
Real Time Operating Systems are dependant on various inter-operable functions from a variety of hardware and software applications in order to perform optimally. Often incompatibilities are experienced when communicating or downloading data caused by non-asynchronous gate arrays and logic-function failures. A research institute has come up with a new solution through the use of a Java platform to accommodate re-configurable Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) devices, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and MCUs designed in accordance with an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design flow. These devices will be in compliance with the GSM (Phase II, WB-CDMA (FDD) and TD-CDMA standards and will consist the basis for building reconfiguration capabilities. The platform serves to download software packages between hardware devices so that software applications do not suffer incompatibility problems. It derives more from the embedded field rather than the real-time field. With the increasingly evolution of wireless networks, the Java Virtual Machine of the Pastoral demonstrator nevertheless faces the challenge of adapting to the demonstrators feature to handle network services. Moreover, it is expected that user applications will not feature any real-time constraints. Another aim of the project is to acquire silicon parts in an accelerated design-cycle time via co-simulation (SDR architecture for the User Equipment (UE) and co-design methodology (physical hardware). Part of this pastoral project, the Real-Time Operating System RTOS tool will help improve software development, the specificities of the pastoral demonstrator, the needs of the SDR-CU and the capabilities of its eCos operating system. The project is suitable for "re-configurable radio systems and networks" and "advanced tools and technologies for wireless communications". It will contribute to re-configure the performance of products and provide a reference point for service providers and operators for checking on the viability of their future plans.
