Scope of digital systems increase with in system reprogrammability

Present day digital system designs are getting to be predominantly software driven. In a typical system life, there will always be revisions, upgrades, and design modifications. Conventionally, the systems have to be sent back to the vendors for upgrading, or new systems have to be bought. However, with the scope of in system reprogrammability (ISR), it is possible to reprogram the system hardware from a remote location. The upgraded design code can be remotely sent to the units to be upgraded using the in system re-programmable interface (ISR) modules. Such a capability will greatly enhance the modification of the systems on line and also cut down the costs and lead times involved in system enhancements. In this article, the authors discuss the architecture of the ISR modules and present the case studies of the ISR based digital system designs. The article also explores the ISR system capabilities and the potential of developing truly modular and expandable digital system designs such as universal serial and parallel interface systems, microcontrollers etc. What could be the need of converting a parallel port into serial and vice versa? The fast answer would be to reach longer distance with less wires. The authors have chosen this dynamic conversion to introduce the capabilities of the complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and the field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which are the modern devices for programmable digital system designs.