A low-power embedded system design and synthesis of remotely programmable direct connect device core

In recent years, Embedded Ethernet devices invaded our modern world, resulting in sophisticated but complicated networked embedded systems. For a fast to market advantage, many of these devices are based on non-secure designs that are easy to reverse-engineer. Moreover, these designs are often too expensive or consume a lot of power. In this dissertation, we present the design of a novel custom low-power Ethernet Embedded System, which we call Direct Connect Device Core. We optimize our design functions using Ethernet network, to support low-cost devices powered via the network cable (e.g. cameras, sound systems, sensors, etc.). Thus, this dissertation addresses a critical problem and offers a major opportunity.; The main function of the DCD Core is to eliminate the operating system processing of the network protocol stack run by microprocessors in the non-DCD or by the network processors. Our design utilizes the concept of network channels in Ethernet. This simplifies the connection setup process and improves the network performance.; An important design decision we made is to eliminate the use of general-purpose microprocessors. Instead, we design a custom circuit, using Hardware Description Language. The major challenges we faced are to utilize the Ethernet frame addressing, synchronize multi-speed modules, maintain configuration flexibility, and manage local memory. The constraints of our design are (1) to consume minimal power such that it can be powered through an Ethernet cable, (2) deliver user data rates suitable for real time processing and (3) implement the design in a FPGA chip. We present the designed algorithms using Finite State Machines, verify design functions using simulations and compare our design synthesis results with existing approaches using Verilog HDL tools. Our estimated design performance shows significant improvements in terms of cost and power consumption while maintaining sufficient flexibility. We show that the DCD Core reduces the power consumption significantly, thus allowing devices to be powered through the network cable and eliminating the process of regular electrical power outlet installations and maintenance. This way, our DCD Core will reduce the connection complexity, which is very important for large number of device installations.