ATLANTiS FrameWork (AFW)

Integrated System Framework Implemented in Altera FPGAs

BittWare's ATLANTiS™ FrameWork (AFW) is the next generation of ATLANTiS, taking the power of ATLANTiS to an entirely new level.

While FPGAs provide significant performance benefits, the FPGA development process can be both time-consuming and difficult. The BittWare ATLANTiS Framework (AFW) addresses these limitations by providing infrastructure that supports FPGA development at a higher abstraction level.

BittWare's AFW is the integration of validated HDL components, productivity enhancement resources, and software libraries to aid customers in developing FPGA-based applications using BittWare's boards.

Using these valuable resources, AFW customers can move quickly and confidently from design to deployment.

AFW raises the FPGA abstraction level

• Follows a System On a Chip software methodology
• Don't have to start from scratch
• Existing streaming and memory mapped interconnect fabrics
• Provides low-level physical interfaces and timing constraints
• Pre-existing projects and I/O configuration

AFW promotes design and FPGA code re-use

• Avalon common interface components are reusable and portable
• Standard component structure
• Reconfigurable HDL components and supporting software development libraries
• Straight-forward integration of third-party components
• Works with proven, validated COTS boards

AFW allows for improved design exploration and validation

• Provides standardized simulation and test resources
• Supports flexible, static and run-time reconfiguration

Figure 1: AFW Takes a Microprocessor Approach to System Design

By providing the entire standard infrastructure that supports FPGA development, AFW lets you focus on developing your unique processing components rather than on the infrastructure around it.

ATLANTiS Framework Overview

BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork (AFW) provides reconfigurable FPGA components and the necessary infrastructure to implement, simulate, synthesize, validate, and deploy a complete FPGA application on BittWare’s Altera-based FPGA products.

AFW delivers fully validated physical interfaces for all board-level I/O communications, including high-speed SerDes and external memory access. To make the best use of these resources, the ATLANTiS FrameWork also includes reconfigurable resource management components that provide features such as DMA control and memory arbitration.

Reconfigurable Fabric Components

AFW components use Altera’s open standard Avalon Memory Mapped Interface to provide an addressed path to easily control and monitor ATLANTiS components using standard software. ATLANTiS FrameWork also uses Altera’s open standard Avalon Streaming Interface for high-speed point-to-point data transport between ATLANTiS components, allowing the ATLANTiS components to be easily connected. A set of reconfigurable fabric components facilitates both memory mapped and streaming data interconnect. These components, such as switches, decoders, FIFOs, and others, remove the burden of reinventing low-level IP for the FPGA, thus freeing ATLANTiS FrameWork users to focus on their unique value-added development.

Overcoming FPGA limitations

When implementing an FPGA design in their systems, developers face the challenge of taking the FPGA from a blank slate to a fully functional implementation. They must carry the design from a set of specifications to the final phase in the development process – device-specific deployment. In the process, they will have to configure the FPGA’s logic blocks, connect resources, and set up the high-speed I/O.

An FPGA provides no peripheral infrastructure, which means developers must build everything from scratch, hand building physical interfaces for each board instantiation. The FPGA lacks a common API, and it only has a minimal amount of libraries, requiring developers to build all on-chip processing and control paths.

There is also no standard methodology for implementing an FPGA design. Even when using a pre-existing algorithm, the developer still needs to build low-level utility components. Modifying the design is both time-consuming and expensive. FPGA development also requires a specific skill set and specialized tools. All of these limitations add up to an often extended time to market.

A MicroProcessor approach

AFW helps customers overcome the limitations of FPGA development and reduces their development costs by providing infrastructure that supports FPGA development at a higher abstraction level. By integrating validated HDL components, productivity enhancement resources, and software libraries, AFW moves customers quickly and confidently from design to deployment. The AFW takes a software-like approach to FPGA development, raising the abstraction level by treating the FPGA like a System On a Chip (SOC) with peripheral infrastructure in place. AFW facilitates a software-like methodology to FPGA development by providing all the other necessary pieces to quickly create and modify simulation and synthesis projects.

Developers don’t have to start from scratch. They can leverage the existing streaming and memory-mapped interconnect fabrics, low level physical interfaces, and preexisting projects, complete with board-specific I/O configuration and physical interface timing constraints.

Altera's Avalon

To promote design and hardware reuse, AFW leverages Altera’s Avalon standard to implement common interfaces for data and control. All of the AFW-provided components are reconfigurable and come with supporting software libraries (BWIO). AFW also uses a standard component structure, allowing straightforward integration of third-party components.

And it works. On proven, validated, COTS boards.

Support

Please contact us for a more detailed description of BittWare's ATLANTiS Framework solution.