Realizing Chaotic Systems on Field Programmable Gate Arrays: An Introduction

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss an overview and give examples of how one could leverage the functionality of twenty-first century Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for implementing nonlinear dynamical systems that exhibit chaotic behaviour. An FPGA is basically a "blank-slate" of hardware that can be "programmed" to emulate a plethora of digital systems. The purpose of this chapter is to expose this exciting engineering product for investigating scientific phenomenon. As a result, this chapter is a guide line on how to implement chaotic systems on an FPGA (the Altera Cyclone IV on a DE2-115 board).