This week I was given a new task, in order to carry out this task I had to learn a few new things. First I learned how to set up a Raspberry pi, which requires installing an operating system (Raspbian) on an SD-card. This procedure is explained in details on their official website. Next, I learned about I2C (I2C) also known as TWI (two wire interface). This protocol allows for a multi slave, multi master connection using only two wires SDA (Serial Data Line) and SCL (Serial Clock Line). There has to be a pull up resistor on both SDA and SCL lines. The I2C connection is very useful because with only 2 bus, 127 peripherals can be accessed. This is achieved by having a different address for every peripheral connected on the bus.
At the end of the week I started my PCB design, which I had to put on hold. Dr. Shawn is very concern about what is happening inside the product. It is not only about how it looks on the outside, the inside should look just as nice and neat. Therefore, I had to redo all the connections between the PIC32 and the FPGA. I am mostly done with the important connections, just have to make sure that every connection is done in the most optimal way.
Vias
Vias are a bit of a nightmare because there are so many things that can go wrong with them (loss connection, misaligned planes, …) and in the case of high current signals, it acts as a necking on the track. It is a good practice not to share any vias and if possible connect similar vias using a track.
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