Firmware support for disjunctive dataflow driven distributed control applications

An implementation of the disjunctive datafiow execution model for distributed control applications is presented. In this model, a control application is divided into independently executable function blocks. To achieve shorter response times, each function block is only executed when there is a significant change in any of its input data valum. To this end, an implementation hased on a field programmahle gate array (FPGA) was designed. Based on the requirements of a specific control application, VHDL code expressing the necessary firmware support is generated, compiled, and loaded into the FPGA before execution.