AMBA to SoCWire network on Chip bridge as a backbone for a Dynamic Reconfigurable Processing unit

Instruments on spacecrafts or even complete payload data handling units are typically controlled by a dedicated data processing unit. This data processing unit exercises control of subsystems and telecommand processing as well as processing of acquired science data. With increasing detector resolutions and measurement speeds the processing demands are rising rapidly. To fulfill these increasing demands under the constraints of limited power budgets, a dedicated hardware design as a System on Chip (SoC), e.g. in a FPGA, has been shown to be a viable solution. In previous papers we have presented our Network on Chip (NoC) solution SoCWire as a higly efficient and reliable approach for a dynamic reconfigurable architectures. However, the control task still requires a sequential processor which is able to execute software. The LEON processor is a processor that is available in a fault tolerant version suitable for space applications and is accessible as an open source design. This paper presents an efficient solution for a combined NoC and classic processor bus-based communication architecture, i.e. the AHB2SOCW bridge as an efficient connection between a SoCWire network and a LEON processor bus systems. Direct memory access enables the AHB2SOCW bridge to operate efficiently. The resource utilization and obtainable data rates are presented as well as an outlook for the intended target application, which is an efficient SoC controller for a reconfigurable processing platform based on FPGAs.