Mastering Xilinx DSP IP cores: FIR, CIC, DDS compilers and FFT

Whether you're a beginner or an engineer looking to level up your FPGA skills, this course will guide you step by step through the entire workflow—from simulation to real-world deployment on the Arty Z7-20 development board.

This hands-on course covers four essential Xilinx DSP IP cores: FIR Compiler, CIC Compiler, DDS Compiler, and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). You’ll learn how to configure and simulate each core using Vivado 2024.2, generate Verilog testbenches, and analyze the outputs using Python.

We’ll explore multiple configurations for each IP core:

  • FIR Compiler as a bandpass filter, Hilbert transformer, interpolator, and decimator

  • CIC Compiler as both an interpolator and decimator

  • DDS Compiler in two configurations: with phase generator (internally generated phase increment) and without phase generator (streaming external phase input)

  • FFT IP Core for both forward and inverse (backward) transforms

Next, we take everything to the hardware. You’ll integrate these cores into practical FPGA designs and deploy them on a Zynq-7000 SoC. We'll develop bare-metal C applications in Vitis to manage data transfer between the processing system (PS) and programmable logic (PL) using AXI DMA.

You’ll also learn how to automate your development workflow with TCL scripts for Vivado and Vitis, and how to debug FPGA designs using System ILA.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a comprehensive, hands-on understanding of DSP design with Xilinx IP cores—both in simulation and on real hardware.

This course is ideal for FPGA beginners, digital designers, embedded engineers, and anyone working with signal processing systems on Xilinx platforms.