Design and Validation of ASIC for UART Communication and MEMS Device Control FPGA Implementation and ASIC Analysis

Abstract

This work addresses the importance of precise digital signal control for the synchronization between a MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) device and a spectrometer within a laboratory prototype. The synchronization was implemented using a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), whose reconfigurability, high precision, small size, and relatively low cost offer significant advantages over alternatives such as microcontrollers or data acquisition systems (DAQ). The prototype configuration is managed from a computer, and communication with the FPGA is carried out through the UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) protocol via a USB connection. Since FPGAs do not include built-in libraries, the UART module had to be designed from scratch, and it was successfully implemented in this project. Although the FPGA provides the aforementioned advantages, an additional level of optimization could be achieved through the design of an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which would further reduce the size of the synchronizing module and its power consumption, critical aspects for a portable system of this scale. This work presents only a preliminary ASIC analysis using open-source software tools, aiming to illustrate the potential benefits of such an improvement, although it is not the main objective at the current stage of the prototype.