Digital signal processing on a fully programmable platform

Digital signal processing development and testing can considerably benefit by utilising an embedded, fully programmable platform architecture, independent from the particular, under development, algorithmic set. In this paper we present a fully programmable platform that integrates a mixture of digital signal processor (DSP) cores and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) along with a control and management microprocessor. This system may offer an ideal platform for bridging the gap between simulations and laboratory tests/field trials. Moreover, such a platform can be considerably helpful not only on digital systems development, but also as an educational platform for courses like digital signal processing, embedded microprocessors programming and VHDL programming.