Audio DSP remote hardware prototyping and console creation

This paper presents the use of the viciLogic viciLab tool suite for prototyping of audio digital signal processing (DSP) hardware on remote or locally connected PYNQ Systems on Chip (SoCs), along with flexible computer control software interfaces. The tool suite enables rapid prototyping of DSP hardware components, including demonstration, control and visualisation of components on local or remote hardware. Hardware components can be developed directly in existing hardware description languages (HDLs) or using higher-level design interfaces such as MathWorks HDL coder. Two configurable software control interfaces are presented: a low-level console builder facilitating fast graphical user interface (GUI) creation for hardware interaction, along with script-based automation; and a high-level Python-based GUI console creator integrates audio sampling, automated DSP hardware effect selection and SoC control, audio streaming and playback, and real-time waveform graphing. The two interfaces presented in this paper are illustrated through a series of DSP examples of increasing complexity: 8- and 16-tap FIR filters (with user-created VHDL model source); distortion and tremolo DSP functions (developed MathWorks HDL coder VHDL model source); and combinations of these components.