Difference between revisions of "Programming the FPGA"

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Soon to be added: Directions on how to flash the FPGA
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= Physical Setup =
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*Use the red Xilinx USB cable box to connect the digital control board to the computer.
 +
*The instructions for mapping the colored wires to the digital control board can be found in the "Data Acquisition Station Log + Readout Electronics Project" logbook on pg. 104 in the top left corner.
 +
*2->red; 4->green; 6->yellow; 8->purple; 10->white; 13->black; gray is unconnected
 +
 
 +
= Xilinx Software =
 +
 
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== Editing the uParam program ==
 +
*Open Xilinx ISE Project Manager
 +
*In the top left window select FPGA_ctrl. This should have 2 boxes and a "+" with the top box green. This indicates a top level project.
 +
*Select uParam within FPGA_ctrl.
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*To change the maximum voltage for VBias, change the binary value for DAC_Qmax.
 +
**This is a 14-bit number which is found by following the formula commented out in the program. 3.3V has been used for the reference voltage.
 +
*The maximum gainmode value can be changed similarly.
 +
*Save the file.
 +
*There should be orange question marks in the lower left window. Run "generate programming file". Yellow exclamation marks correspond to warnings but not errors.
 +
 
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== Flashing the program ==
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*Now that the program has been changed and saved, open the Xilinx IMPACT program.
 +
*Open IMPACT and go to the folder c/work/Gluex/Tagger/Electronics/FPGA/TotalTest and check to see if fpga_ctrl.bgn and .bit are up to date
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*Open fpga.ipf
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*There should be 2 diagrams showing the devices on the programming device: TDinput (xcf01s_vo20 fpga.mcs), TDoutput (xc3s50a bypass)
 +
**EEPROM (on left, chip holds the programming in non-volatile memory and programs FPGA on startup)
 +
**FPGA on right, volatile and forgets its programming at every powerdown

Revision as of 19:00, 9 April 2012

Physical Setup

  • Use the red Xilinx USB cable box to connect the digital control board to the computer.
  • The instructions for mapping the colored wires to the digital control board can be found in the "Data Acquisition Station Log + Readout Electronics Project" logbook on pg. 104 in the top left corner.
  • 2->red; 4->green; 6->yellow; 8->purple; 10->white; 13->black; gray is unconnected

Xilinx Software

Editing the uParam program

  • Open Xilinx ISE Project Manager
  • In the top left window select FPGA_ctrl. This should have 2 boxes and a "+" with the top box green. This indicates a top level project.
  • Select uParam within FPGA_ctrl.
  • To change the maximum voltage for VBias, change the binary value for DAC_Qmax.
    • This is a 14-bit number which is found by following the formula commented out in the program. 3.3V has been used for the reference voltage.
  • The maximum gainmode value can be changed similarly.
  • Save the file.
  • There should be orange question marks in the lower left window. Run "generate programming file". Yellow exclamation marks correspond to warnings but not errors.

Flashing the program

  • Now that the program has been changed and saved, open the Xilinx IMPACT program.
  • Open IMPACT and go to the folder c/work/Gluex/Tagger/Electronics/FPGA/TotalTest and check to see if fpga_ctrl.bgn and .bit are up to date
  • Open fpga.ipf
  • There should be 2 diagrams showing the devices on the programming device: TDinput (xcf01s_vo20 fpga.mcs), TDoutput (xc3s50a bypass)
    • EEPROM (on left, chip holds the programming in non-volatile memory and programs FPGA on startup)
    • FPGA on right, volatile and forgets its programming at every powerdown