This page summarises Jan Matyáš's bachelor (Bc.) thesis which dealed with reimplementation and extension of the RONJA Twister device. The system design and implementation was performed using VHDL language and FPGA technology. As a result of the reimplementation, several of the original module's issues were adressed and the usage of RONJA device in present-day Ethernet networks was significantly simplified.
One-page summary (EN) | Jednostránkové shrnutí (CS)
What is RONJA?
RONJA is an open-source hardware project whose result is an FSO (free-space optics) communication device. The term free-space optics describes a class communication devices that utilise visible or infrared beam for wireless data transmission.
RONJA device uses red visible light emitted by a LED diode for wireless data transfer over a maximum distance of 1.4 km. One RONJA link is capable of operating in 10Mbps full-duplex mode with very low latency. Each of the link endpoints is equipped with a standard Ethernet 10Base-T interface.
The original author of the RONJA project is Mr Karel Kulhavý. More information about original RONJA device can be found at the project website: http://ronja.twibright.com/.
Aim of the thesis
This thesis focused on RONJA Twister module. This module is a key part of the whole RONJA device as it forms an interface between Ethernet 10Base-T (metallic twisted pair) and the actual optical transmission.
The aim of the thesis was to analyse the original Twister design and identify its weak points and potential problems. The author of the mentioned thesis explored the possibility of using modern reconfigurable components (FPGA, CPLD) to reimplement the Twister module in order to mitigate the mentioned issues. The product of the effort is a fully functional and backward-compatible prototype implemented using FPGA technology. This prototype prevents issues connected with original Twister design and can be used as a drop-in replacement for the original Twister module.
Project stages and milestones
TODO - This section will be created by September 30, 2011.
Project result and importance
TODO
Downloads
TODO
Changelog
- 2011-09-24: This project page created.
- 2011-05-16: The thesis "FPGA-based RONJA Twister was successfuly defended during Bc. state final exams.