Cloud-based remote virtual prototyping platform for embedded control applications: Cloud-based infrastructure for large-scale embedded hardware-related programming laboratories

The design and test of Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoCs) including software is one of the biggest challenges in today's system design. This applies in particular when short time-to-market constraints impose serious limitations on the exploration of the design space. The use of virtual platforms can help in decreasing the development cycles. In this paper, we present a cloud-based environment allowing the design of virtual platforms and prototyping of the system including complex software with prerecorded data or testbenches. Afterwards, the created design can also be synthesized for Xilinx FPGAs. Additionally, this paper presents the use of this remote virtual prototyping environment in a hardware-related programming laboratory with more than 350 participating undergraduate students. This large number of attendees leads to a lot of issues regarding the supervisory relationship as well as providing enough hardware resources in terms of boards. Nevertheless, we want to give the students hands-on experience when programming an embedded system on an FPGA-board. The cloud-based infrastructure allows us to respond to these difficulties by implementing a Software-in-the-Loop simulation based on an instruction set simulator. Doing so the students can design and implement their codes for the targeted architecture and prototype and debug it on a virtual platform. Since the course is mandatory we expect many students with limited experience about hardware-related programming. In this paper we show that especially these students will profit from the additional possibilities which are offered by a remotely available virtual prototyping platform.