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Problems Encountered - Up to Midterm

In our project to develop an LED-based equalizer system, we faced several challenges including rapid state machine transitions, overheating of the NS16550 UART, and difficulties in serial communication. We revised our hardware approach, abandoning the LCD display due to its complexity and opting for a seven-segment LED to show the active band. Despite setbacks with the equalizer IC and testing complications, we are 95% complete and eager for demonstration. Key contributions from team members helped integrate hardware and software effectively.

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Problems Encountered - Up to Midterm

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  1. Problems Encountered - Up to Midterm • State Machine Transitions Much Too Fast - Solved by Decreasing Clock (LED Circuit) • Difficult to Test LED (Column) Display Without Proper Band Filtering • NS16550 UART (Communications IC) Becomes Extremely Hot • Serial Communication More Difficult to Implement than Previously Expected

  2. Other Problems Encountered…since Midterm • LCD – Idea abandoned after a week and a half of trying to get it to work • Needed more external hardware to fully implement it – OEM Version • Used for showing the band and its current dB level • Not Imperative – mostly for eye candy

  3. Problems cont… • Alternate Solution? • Added another seven segment LED to show which band user is on (1-5) • Band’s current dB level displayed on the PC using the VB software • Hmmm…another problem? – No PC? • Would need to add some type of external memory element to store previous dB level – Future Group?

  4. Problems cont… • Main Equalizer IC problems: • IC packaging not normal (legs closer together than regular TTL ICs • Hence…made a modification – Seen in Lab • Bought (2): • One does not work at all • Other one – through wear and tear, the input (audio signal in) leg broken off • Hence, No Testing • Waiting on New One to Arrive – On Order • All testing done using the Xilinx Simulator

  5. What could be improved, perhaps next group? • Knowing what we know now, add a LCD component to display bands • Or add some type of memory element to store dB levels • Add battery to FPGA to store instructions (when powered off) – also makes it portable (Stereo Use) • Maybe a different UART? Makes communication easier

  6. New (Approximate) Cost of Prototype • 50 LEDs ~ $15-$20 • Miscellaneous Driver Chips for seven segment/columnar LEDs (7) ~ $15 • FPGA Chip ~ (We think) $15 • Misc. Wires, Buttons, Capacitors, Resistors ~ $20 • Xilinx Software (FPGA) - ?

  7. Costs cont… • 16550 UART IC ~ $10 • Equalizer IC ~ $12-20 (If Available) • Total ~ <$100 w/out Cost of Software Included…… • …Conclusion……much cheaper than originally thought

  8. Andrew Nguyen’s Contributions • Fabricate the Hardware • Build State Machine for the Equalizer • Build the Circuit for the Equalizer • Test the Equalizer • Help Craig and Kevin

  9. Craig Petersen’s Contribution • Developed Both a Hardware and FPGA Version of LED (Digital) Display (State Machine) - Displays Band, dB Level, Positive/Negative Sign, and decimal point • Developed LED (Column) Display Using 10 LEDs for Each Band • Helping Andrew Communicate with Equalizer Circuit - State Machine and Verilog Code for I2C Bus

  10. Kevin Wong’s Contribution • Worked On Equalizer Control Software (PC - Visual Basic) • Wired-Up Stand-Alone FPGA • Built The Serial Interface Circuit • Implemented UART Control State Machine • Also helped Andrew and Craig

  11. Nguyen Nguyen’s Contributions • Write code in Visual Basic to test on a loop-back cable. • Help around in making circuit board layout. • Figure out the pin number on Xilinx chip to connect to RS-232. • Using state machine to change the state of output frequencies.

  12. In Summary… • 95 % Complete…Should be completely ready by demo time later this week. • Good experience in software and hardware integration • Learned to work as a Team to complete an objective

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