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gateware-full-flow.rst 3.03 KiB

Gateware Full Build Flow

Introduction

The BeagleV-Fire gateware is made up of several components:

  • Digital design for the FPGA fabric. This can a combination of:
    • HDL/Verilog source code
    • TCL scripts configuring IP blocks
    • TCL scripts stiching IP blocks together
    • Microprocessor Subsystem (MSS) configuration describing the MSS port list
    • pin, placement and timing constraints
  • Microprocessor Subsystem (MSS) configuration containing MSS configuration register values
  • A zero stage bootloader (HSS) that will:
    • Provision the MSS configuration into chip configuration registers:
      • Setup clocks
      • Configure memory controllers
      • Configure IOs
      • Configure transceivers
    • Retrieve the next boot stage from eMMc and hand-over to the next boot stage (e.g. u-boot)
    • Make the board appear as a USB mass-storage for populating the eMMC with secondary boot-loader and operating system image.
  • A set of device tree ovelays describing the content of the FPGA fabric.

Of course all these components need to be in synch with each other for the system to work properly. This is the reason for using a gateware build system rather than building and tracking each component individually.

BeagleV-Fire Gateware Full Build Flow

Programming artifacts

The BeagleV-Fire gateware builder produces two programming artifacts:

  • A bitstream containing the FPGA fabric and eNVM programming
  • A device tree overlay describing the FPGA content.

These two artifacts are packaged differently depending on the programming method. They are merged into a single programming file for DirectC (.dat) and FlashPro Express (.job). They are kept separate for Linux programming (mpfs_bitstream.spi and mpfs_dtbo.spi).

Programming BeagleV-Fire with new gateware

There are several methods possible for programming the BeagleV-Fire with new gateware:

  • Linux script executed on the BeagleV-Fire board.
  • Running DirectC on anothe single board computer
  • Using Microchip's FlashPro Express

Linux script

This is the recommended approach. It does not require any additional hardware. Simply run the script located in /usr/share/beagleboard/gateware. You should use this methods unless you have soft-bricked your BeagleV-Fire.

Open hardware computers for makers, educators and professionals