FPGA & VHDL Design for Safety-Critical Systems
SIL3 designs production FPGA systems for aerospace, motor control, industrial sensing, and machine vision applications using AMD/Xilinx devices. IEC 61508 and DO-254 capable design flows.
170+
VHDL IP Cores
300+
Bitstreams Delivered
20+
Years FPGA Experience
Full-Lifecycle FPGA Engineering
SIL3 operates a structured FPGA design flow from requirements capture in ARPTool through to verified bitstream delivery. All designs target AMD/Xilinx devices and are authored to the SIL3 VHDL Coding Standard (QQP0030), with independent verification using ModelSIM and CoCoTB Python test automation. Our 179-core LVHD IP library provides proven, reusable building blocks for rapid system integration.
170+ VHDL IP Library
SIL3 maintains an in-house library of 170+ production-proven LVHD IP cores, packaged for direct integration into Vivado block designs. Each core is independently verified through ModelSIM simulation and CoCoTB test automation before being released to production projects.
Motor Control & Drives
BLDC (ESC, FOC), stepper drivers, H-bridge, PWM generation and capture. Real-time current sensing for closed-loop motor systems.
Video & Imaging Pipeline
CSI-2 RX camera capture, Bayer demosaic, colour space conversion, frame buffer management, video resize, and RGB2DVI output.
Sensor Interfaces
High-resolution ADCs (24-bit+), BiSS and AMT encoder interfaces, IMU data paths, and resolver decode for precision measurement.
DSP & Signal Processing
FFT, complex multiply, waveform generation, and sample buffering. Pipeline-ready AXI Stream interfaces for high-throughput data paths.
Networking & Communications
Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), CAN, UART, QSPI flash, and Aurora serial links. AXI Ethernet with DMA and scatter-gather support.
Timing & Synchronisation
RTC, IEEE 1588 PTP, performance timers, interrupt aggregation, and clock domain crossing infrastructure.
Vivado Design Flow & Verification
Every FPGA design is managed end-to-end in Vivado 2024.2 using block design methodology. IP cores are independently packaged, peer-reviewed, and validated before integration. Requirements are captured in ARPTool with complete bidirectional traceability.
Vivado 2024.2
Block design-based integration, synthesis, implementation, bitstream generation, and XSA hardware platform export for firmware integration.
ModelSIM Simulation
VHDL behavioural simulation at IP level prior to integration.
CoCoTB Test Automation
Python-driven test automation producing JUnit XML results. Integrated with ModelSIM for repeatable regression verification campaigns.
Structured Design Assurance Workflow
SIL3’s FPGA design process follows documented QMS procedures aligned with IEC 61508 and DO-254. Every stage is traceable, reviewed, and formally closed before the next begins.
01 — Requirements
Requirements Capture
HDL High-Level Requirements authored in ARPTool, traced to system-level requirements.
02 — Architecture
Architectural Design
Block design composition, IP selection, and interface specification against requirements.
03 — Development
IP Development
VHDL authored to QQP0030 coding standard. Peer-reviewed before simulation.
04 — Verification
Simulation & Testing
ModelSIM simulation, CoCoTB test automation, test reports captured and traced to requirements.
05 — Integration
Integration & Testing
Block design integration, hardware-in-the-loop verification, and system-level test execution.
06 — Release
Configuration Management
Bitstream version control, change history, and formal release.
FPGA in Safety-Critical Applications
SIL3 has delivered FPGA designs across aerospace, industrial, and vision domains, each requiring formal design assurance and compliance with functional safety standards.
Aerospace & Avionics
FPGA-based motor control and sensor fusion for airborne platforms. DO-254 hardware design assurance flow. Safety allocation and failure mode analysis integrated into the design process.
Industrial Motor Drive
Field-oriented control (FOC) and sensor processing in Zynq SoC. Real-time PWM, resolver decode, and encoder interfaces operating in closed safety loops to IEC 61508.
Machine Vision & Imaging
CSI-2 camera capture, hardware Bayer demosaic and colour conversion, frame buffer management, and video output pipelines implemented in FPGA fabric.
AMD/Xilinx Platform Support
All SIL3 FPGA designs target AMD/Xilinx devices and are developed in Vivado. We specialise exclusively in AMD/Xilinx platforms.
Zynq-7000 SoC
XC7Z012S, XC7Z030 — ARM Cortex-A9 + 7-series FPGA fabric. Primary platform for motor control, networking, and sensor fusion systems. 300+ active Vivado block designs delivered.
Artix-7
7-series FPGA for cost-optimised designs. Used in communications bridging, interface conversion, and standalone processing applications.
Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC
Targeted for next-generation high-performance platforms requiring quad-core ARM + FPGA + GPU processing elements. Active development roadmap.
Start Your FPGA Design Project
Whether you need a single IP core, a complete Vivado block design, or a DO-254 certified FPGA development program, SIL3 can deliver.