Design of a system-on-chip for controlling an ultrasonic beacon array

This paper presents the design and implementation of a System-on-Chip (SoC) based on a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) device to control and configure an ultrasonic beacon array for an extensive ultrasonic Local Positioning System (LPS). The SoC is based on a MicroBlaze microprocessor and some advanced peripherals. Among them, it is possible to remark a LPS controller, in charge of managing the ultrasonic transmissions from the LPS beacons. Furthermore, the SoC can be connected to a router Wi-Fi, in order to obtain the desired configuration for the LPS. This allows to provide a large flexibility to the LPS, since it is possible to modify different parameters, as the carrier frequency, the transmission lengths, the type of modulation, or the sequences used to encode the ultrasonic emissions.