AccelChip Inc., a provider of automated flows from MATLAB algorithms to silicon, has announced that Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has selected its DSP Synthesis and AccelWare IP libraries to develop a digital filter for space-based radar applications.

According to the supplier, DSP design automation tools will be used to shorten the design cycle and explore design alternatives, including performance and resource use, to obtain the level of optimality required in sensitive radar applications.

JPL will be using the MATLAB language to model the digital filter. The AccelChip algorithmic synthesis tool will then be used to automatically generate synthesizable, bit-accurate VHDL and Verilog from the MATLAB model and provide a test bench for implementation and verification, accelerating the design process.

AccelChip's DSP Synthesis and AccelWare IP provide a unified design environment in which high-performance DSP designs are achieved through a productive, integrated flow. The toolset also integrates with JPL's existing CoWare SPW system-level verification tool and its existing FPGA and ASIC flows for greater design efficiency overall.

“JPL needed a solid design methodology similar to what they were already using to generate an on-board, range compression FPGA. AccelChip's products fit directly into their current design flow and allowed them to explore their design architecture to ensure they had the exacting specifications their application required,” said Tom Feist, vice president of marketing at AccelChip.

“AccelChip was able to return JPL's design benchmark in just hours, showing them multiple implementation possibilities for their design. By using AccelChip, JPL will now be able to use MATLAB as the golden source for both modeling and implementation, enabling them to apply late design changes easily and flexibly and avoid long and costly redesign work.”

Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, JPL has missions spread throughout the solar system. It handles such projects as the 2004 Mars rover landings, the Cassini spacecraft, which is undergoing a four-year study of Saturn, and the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that support communications between spacecraft and Earth-based teams. Besides space missions, the research lab is using spacecraft and instruments aboard NASA satellites to expand knowledge of Earth. Technologies developed for space often have other applications in fields such as medical, communications, security and more.

For more information, visit www.accelchip.com.