Microprocessor design for instrument control

摘要

Microprocessors have become an integral part of most control applications. However, the recent increase in the complexity of general-purpose microprocessors and micro-controllers has aroused the need to design low-cost and programmable architectures for low and medium scale applications. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a low-cost 16-bit RISC microprocessor macro cell for use in instrument control applications. The design is based on the Bar Tester application, an instrument used to characterize semiconductor telecommunication lasers. The processor is designed for reduced chip area and an optimized data path. It is laid out in 1.2 $mu$m standard cell CMOS4S technology, and has a total chip area of 18.46 mm$sp2$ and an internal execution speed of 25 MHz. It has a complexity of about 20,000 transistors. A fully automated synthesis design process has been followed, with VHDL used to produce a modular, semi-programmable and technology-independent design. Synopsys was used for logic design, synthesis and simulation, while the layout was produced using the auto-Place and Route tools in Cadence. The architecture presented in this thesis forms the core for the design of an integrated embedded instrumentation processor.