Quadrature Decoder Design Using Microcontroller On-Chip Configurable Logic

The US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command CCDC Army Research Laboratory has developed a highly maneuverable airframe for long-range precision munitions research. This new design requires four quadrature encoders, more than the number available on the real-time microcontroller CCDC Army Research Laboratory employs for actuator control. Texas Instruments configurable logic block was used to provide a low-cost, elegant solution using on-chip configurable logic to construct an additional decoder. In addition, since microcontroller on-chip configurable logic is relatively new and outside the scope of typical microcontroller-programming expertise, this note serves as a valuable example for future designs.