FPGA för displayhantering och grafikgenerering i fordonsmiljö
This report is part of the major thesis carried out at Stoneridge Electronics in Bromma,Stockholm during autumn and winter 2005-2006. The background to the thesis is the trendwithin the automotive industry where color displays have become more common for presentationof information to the driver, a trend that has come to the commercial vehicle market. Thepurpose of the thesis has been to evaluate whether programmable logic, with respect to FPGAtechnology, could be suitable for display control and graphics generation of these more complexcolor displays in automotive environment.Within the scope of the thesis the FPGA technology has been investigated, i.e. whatopportunities and threats there are with aspect to environmental and security requirements. Inaddition, the market of FPGAs and pre-built IP-cores has been investigated. In the practical partof the thesis two demonstration prototypes have been developed. These two prototypes are usedfor display control and graphics generation. As a basis for the prototypes a development card andsoftware development tools have been used.The results show that FPGAs are well suited for display control and graphics generation incommercial vehicle applications and environment. There are components on the market thatcorrespond to the requirements set by Stoneridge Electronics. Furthermore, there are pre-built IPcoresfor display control and graphics generation. The suitability of FPGAs is emphasized by thetwo prototypes developed. In the report a proposition is presented how Stoneridge Electronicsmost technologically and financially could implement the FPGA technology and developmentflow.