Software Redundancy Implementation Strategy in Reconfigurable Hardware Framework

In recent years reconfigurable hardware technology (RHT) has emerged as one of the most challenging implementation paradigm of modern digital systems. In comparison with previously used other technologies RHT exhibits a few of remarkable advantages in terms of processing speed, flexibility, implementation costs, or energy consumption. The most representative RHT-based component is the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) processor. This paper focuses on the main idea that FPGA-based digital system implementations may provide other additional facilities like the above mentioned ones. In particular, there it is emphasized that the RHT is also well fitted for software redundancy strategies implementation. In order to evidence this facility a given control algorithm has been implemented in two different RH-based software technologies that are supported on the same FPGA-based digital system. One version is linked to the VHDL (Very high speed IC's Hardware Description Language) software framework, the second one to the embedded SDK (Software Development Kit) firmware support. The result of this implementation is a high reliability control application that embeds a versatile software redundancy solution. The implemented framework may serve as a useful support and guidance for a wide range of demanding industrial applications that require high safety and reliability during their operation.