TS-7553
Released Mar. 2010 | |
Documentation | |
---|---|
Schematic | |
Mechanical Drawing | |
FTP Path |
Overview
The TS-7553 was released Mar. 2010 and is a smaller form factor and cost reduced version of the TS-7552 without the extra USB ports and 8-28V switching power supply. It was designed to be mated with an inexpensive plastic enclosure and serve as a standalone general purpose embedded server.
Getting Started
Get a console
If you have a TS-9448, you can connect that to the 26 pin header and use the 10 pin header (labelled "Console") which will by default be the console port. If you do not have a TS-9448, you can hold the reset button for 5 seconds (until the red led lights up) and let go to switch the console port to the onboard COM port using the standard 8n1, no flow control, 115200 baud rate.
You can also telnet to the board with the default network configuration, though this will omit the TS-BOOTROM messages.
Fastboot/initrd
After the board is first booted you will be at this shell:
>> TS-BOOTROM - built Oct 12 2011 13:35:38 >> Copyright (c) 2009, Technologic Systems >> Booting from SD card... . . . >> Booted from: SD card Booted in: 3.93 seconds >> SBC Model number: TS-XXXX SBC Sub-model number: 0 >> CPU clock rate: 250MHz RAM size: 64MB >> NAND Flash size: 256MB NAND Flash Type: 0xdcec (Samsung) >> MAC number: 00:D0:69:4F:6F:04 SBC FPGA Version: 7 >> Temperature Sensor: 37.500 degC MODE1 bootstrap: ON >> RTC present: YES Date and Time: Jan 1 1970 00:00:03 >> MODE2 bootstrap: OFF SD card size: 1886MB >> Offboard SPI flash type: Micron Offboard SPI flash size: 8MB >> XUARTs detected: 3 CAN present: NO >> Linux kernel version: 2.6.24.4 Linux kernel date: Jun 8 2011 >> Bootrom date: Oct 12 2011 INITRD date: Dec 27 2011 >> ts7500ctl date: Jun 8 2011 sdctl date: Jun 8 2011 >> canctl date: Jun 8 2011 nandctl date: Aug 15 2011 >> spiflashctl date: Aug 15 2011 xuartctl date: Aug 15 2011 >> dioctl date: Feb 10 2011 spictl date: Jan 24 2011 >> dmxctl date: Jun 8 2011 busybox date: Jun 30 2010 (v1.14.2) >> ts7500.subr date: Jun 10 2011 daqctl date: Aug 15 2011 >> linuxrc date: Aug 31 2011 rootfs date: Jan 1 1970 >> MBR date: Jul 14 2009 Type 'tshelp' for help #
Note: | Your version dates may be different depending on ship date and the image used. |
This is a busybox shell which presents you with a very minimalistic system. This filesystem is loaded into memory, so none of the changes will be saved unless you type 'save', or mount a filesystem as read write. This can also provide a simple mechanism for running your application in an entirely read only environment. The linuxrc script will be the first thing executed as soon as the kernel is loaded. This sets the default IP address, loads a reloadable FPGA bitstream if one is present, starts the userspace ctl applications, and more. Read the linuxrc for more information.
While busybox itself doesn't contain much functionality, it does mount the Debian partition under /mnt/root/. It will also add common paths and load libraries from the Debian system. Many of the Debian applications will work by default. If an application relies on certain paths being in certain places, or running services, you should instead boot to Debian to run them.
This shell when started on the COM port is what is blocking a Debian boot. If you close it by typing 'exit', the boot process will continue. If you are connected through telnet, this will instead open up its own instance of the shell so typing 'exit' will only end that session. Through any connection method you can relink the linuxrc script to always boot into Debian.
The initrd has these boot scripts available:
Script | Function |
---|---|
linuxrc-fastboot (default) | Boots immediately to a shell in ramdisk. This will mount whichever boot medium you have selected to /mnt/root/. When you type 'exit', it will boot to that medium. |
linuxrc-nandmount | Same as the linuxrc-fastboot script, but will mount and boot the debian partition from NAND. |
linuxrc-sdmount | Same as the linuxrc-fastboot script, but will mount and boot the debian partition from SD. |
linuxrc-sdroot | Boots immediately to the Debian stored on either SD or NAND depending on which device you have currently selected. |
linuxrc-sdroot-readonly | Same as linuxrc-sdroot, except it will mount the Debian partition read only while creating a unionfs with a ramdisk. Changes will only happen in memory and not on disk. |
linuxrc-usbroot | Mounts the first partition of the first detected USB mass storage device and boots there. |
Note: | Keep in mind the boot medium is selected by the pinout on your baseboard, not through software. |
For example, to set the linuxrc to boot immediately to Debian on SD or NAND, you would run this:
rm linuxrc; ln -s /linuxrc-sdroot /linuxrc; save
To use any of the other boot scripts, you can simply replace 'linuxrc-sdroot' with the script name mentioned above. Once you have booted to Debian you can return to the initrd by creating the file "fastboot" in root.
touch /fastboot
To automatically boot back to Debian you will need to remove this file.
The small default initrd is only 2Mbyte but there is space for approximately 800 Kbyte of additional user applications. The binaries on the initrd are dynamically linked against embedded Linux's "uclibc" library instead of the more common Linux C library "glibc". "uclibc" is a smaller version of the standard C library optimized for embedded systems and requires a different set of GCC compiler tools which are available here.
The compiled instance of busybox includes several internal commands listed below:
# /bin/busybox --help BusyBox v1.14.2 (2009-08-07 14:43:48 MST) multi-call binary Copyright (C) 1998-2008 Erik Andersen, Rob Landley, Denys Vlasenko and others. Licensed under GPLv2. See source distribution for full notice. Usage: busybox [function] [arguments]... or: function [arguments]... BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix utilities into a single executable. Most people will create a link to busybox for each function they wish to use and BusyBox will act like whatever it was invoked as! Currently defined functions: [, [[, ash, basename, cat, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, cmp, cp, cpio, cttyhack, cut, date, dd, depmod, devmem, df, dirname, dmesg, du, echo, egrep, env, expr, false, fdisk, fgrep, find, grep, gunzip, gzip, halt, head, hostname, hush, ifconfig, insmod, kill, killall, ln, login, ls, lsmod, md5sum, mdev, mkdir, mknod, modprobe, more, mount, msh, mv, netstat, ping, pivot_root, poweroff, printf, ps, pwd, reboot, rm, rmdir, rmmod, route, rx, sed, setconsole, setsid, sh, sleep, stty, sync, tail, tar, telnetd, test, tftp, top, tr, true, udhcpc, umount, unzip, usleep, uudecode, uuencode, vi, wget, xargs, yes, zcat
Also on the initrd are the TS specific applications: sdctl, spiflashctl, nandctl, daqctl, ts7500ctl, canctl, and xuartctl. We also provide the ts7500.subr which provides the following functions:
cvtime() usbload() sdsave() spiflashsave() save() sd2spiflash() spiflash2sd() setdiopin() getdiopin() setrelay() setout() getin() tshelp() gettemp()
By default, linuxrc will not insert the necessary modules into the kernel to mount and use USB devices within the initrd/busybox environment if there is no USB device present upon bootup (USB support is enabled by default within the Debian environment). The quickest way to get a USB device (like a USB thumb drive) to mount in the initrd/busybox environment is to ensure that it is plugged in before the SBC is powered up. In order to get hot-swappable USB devices regardless of device presence at bootup time, you must "modprobe" the necessary modules. This has been done for you in the ts7500.subr file with the usbload() function.
Boot Process
This board uses the TS-BOOTROM to load the OS. The SD Boot jumper, as well as the TS-9448 will decide where the system boots.
Boot Selection With TS-9448
Switch Pos. | SDBOOT Jumper | Boot Behavior |
---|---|---|
Down | Off | XNAND |
None | On | Offboard SPI Flash |
Up | Off | MicroSD |
Note: JP1 will cause the bootloader to only boot to SPI Flash
Boot Selection Without TS-9448
SDBOOT Jumper | Boot Behavior |
---|---|
Off | XNAND |
On | MicroSD |
Operating System
Our boards boot a standard Debian installation which provides a large amount of software that you can install with relatively little effort. See the Debian page for more general information on installing/removing software, and further documentation.
For this series we provide Debian Etch and Debian Lenny. Further Debian releases have switched to EABI binaries (see EABI vs OABI), so we will not release Debian Squeeze or later for this board. The Cavium CNS2132 CPU supports the calls needed for EABI, but the Debian EABI binaries require thumb support which the Cavium does not support. If you require any specific software to be newer, you will have to manually build a later version.
We provide our distributions separate from the disk images. You can find them on this folder on the ftp. You will need a linux system to extract it:
# Replace the mmcblk0p4 device with the SD card
# on your workstation
mount /dev/mmcblk0p4 /mnt/sd/
cd /mnt/sd/
tar --numeric-owner -xvf /path/to/debian-lenny-arm-latest.tar.gz
cd ../
umount /mnt/sd/
You can download the Debian Etch and Debian Lenny minimal install for x86 from here and install it on a PC or virtual machine to become more familiar with a debian environment.
Note: | As of March 27th 2012 Debian Lenny has moved to archive. To use apt-get your will need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list to contain only the line "deb http://archive.debian.org/debian lenny main". |
CPU Functionality
Any functionality here will have much more in depth technical documentation in the datasheet for the CPU. Unfortunately, we cannot redistribute this. You can go to www.cnusers.org and register to get a free copy of the datasheet.
USB
FPGA Functionality
XNAND
The XNAND access is implemented in userspace in conjunction with NBD (network block device). You may want to refer to the sdctl page which will show more advanced usage, but by default the linuxrc script will mount the sd card with the following layout.
/dev/nbd0 - whole disk device of XNAND drive /dev/nbd1 - 1st partition (kernel partition) /dev/nbd2 - 2nd partition (EXT2 initrd) /dev/nbd3 - 3rd partition (252MByte mini Debian EXT3 filesystem) /dev/nbd4 - 4th partition (unused) Note: NBD devices do not report size correctly. If you are formatting a partition or using dd you will need to specify the size.
SD
Similar to the XNAND, the SD card access is implemented in userspace in conjunction with NBD (network block device). The sdctl page which will show more advanced usage and the linuxrc script will bring up the NBD devices in this layout:
/dev/nbd5 - whole disk device of microSD card /dev/nbd6 - 1st partition of SD card (Windows VFAT filesystem on devkit card) /dev/nbd7 - 2nd partition of SD card (kernel partition on devkit card) /dev/nbd8 - 3rd partition of SD card (EXT2 initrd partition on devkit card) /dev/nbd9 - 4th partition of SD card (Debian EXT3 filesystem on devkit card)
Note: NBD devices do not report size correctly. If you are formatting a partition or using dd you will need to specify the size.
The SD card core is a black box serviced by the OS independent C API (sdcore2.c) for reading/writing SD cards. This source code is available, but not recommended for modification. Since this core instance not cannot use memory based register access, the generic peek/poke routines need to be overloaded with SBUS specific register access. This happens automatically in the sdctl utility.and sdctl.c source code from the TS FTP site ftp://ftp.embeddedarm.com/ts-arm-sbc/ts-7500-linux/sources/ may be consulted as the reference.
SPI Flash
The SPI flash is also implemented in userspace with NBD, however it is not mounted by default. Even when you are booted to SPI, it does not need to access it directly since the bootrom will load it into memory before the Linux kernel is even executing. If you want to mount any part of it see the spiflashctl page for usage.
Backup / Restore
MicroSD Card
These instructions for rewriting the SD card must be done either on the arm system, or on a linux workstation. We do not support any method using Windows to rewrite the cards, but many virtual machines offer USB redirection which will also work with the USB card reader supplied in the development kit. The methods using dd and sdctl to rewrite the SD card will completely erase everything on the card and set up our MBR, kernel, intird, and Debian filesystem. No prior formatting to the card is needed.
After plugging in the USB adapter to your PC you will need to determine the block device. You can usually find this in the output of 'dmesg' after inserting the SD card and you will typically see something like '/dev/sdb' as the block device and '/dev/sdb1' for the first partition. On some newer kernels you will see '/dev/mmcblk0' as the block device and '/dev/mmcblkop1' for the first partition. For these examples I will use the '/dev/mmcblk0' format.
You can find the latest SD card image here. Make sure you decompress the image first before writing. For example to decompress on most Linux workstations you can run:
bzip2 -d dblstorimg-4gbsd-latest.dd.bz2
To update to our latest image from your workstation:
dd if=/path/to/dblstorimg-4gbsd-latest.dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=32k && sync && sync
From Workstation
Backup
Entire SD card
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=/path/to/backup.dd bs=32k && sync && sync
Kernel
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p2 of=/path/to/zImage bs=32k && sync && sync
Initrd
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p3 of=/path/to/initrd bs=32k && sync && sync
Restore
Entire SD card
dd if=/path/to/backup.dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=32k && sync
Kernel
dd if=/path/to/zImage bs=32k of=/dev/mmcblk0p2 && sync
Initrd
dd if=/initrd bs=32k of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 && sync
From SBC
Backup
Entire card
# Determine the block size
eval $(sdctl)
dd if=/dev/nbd5 of=/path/to/backup.dd bs=512 count=$cardsize_sectors conv=sync && sync
Kernel
sdctl -R 4096 -z 512 --seek part1 > kernel
Initrd
sdctl -R 4096 -z 512 --seek part2 > initrd
Restore
The entire card from SBC
dd if=/path/to/2gbsd-noeclipse-latest.dd bs=512 conv=sync of=/dev/nbd5 && sync
Kernel
dd if=/mnt/root/zImage bs=512 conv=sync of=/dev/nbd7 && sync
Initrd
dd if=/mnt/root/initrd bs=512 conv=sync of=/dev/nbd8 && sync
XNAND
This needs to be done directly on the SBC. If you are running from the SD card the XNAND will not be mounted by default. You can also boot to the initrd of the XNAND and unmount the xnand:
umount /mnt/root
If there is no /mnt/root/ directory then the system is still booted to Debian and you should not proceed with the backup/restore sections. The image that is written or read back will be corrupt.
WARNING: | Rewriting the XNAND from a Debian filesystem on the XNAND will result in a corrupted image. |
You can find the latest xnand image here. Once downloaded you can decompress the image using bzip2:
bzip2 -d xnandimg-latest.dd.bz2
The resulting file will be "xnandimg-latest.dd".
Backup
To create the image first connect a USB drive and then power the device on. Boot to the busybox environment and not the full Debian. The USB drive should be formatted with ext2/3 or fat32.
killall nandctl
mkdir /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb
nandctl -XR 2048 -z 131072 > /mnt/usb/backup.dd
umount /mnt/usb
sync
To backup the entire image containing the MBR/Kernel/Initrd/Debian you can run one command:
nandctl -XR 2048 -z 131072 > /path/to/backup.dd
To backup the current kernel:
nandctl -XR 4096 -z 512 --seek part1 > /path/to/kernel
To backup the initrd:
nandctl -XR 4096 -z 512 --seek part2 > /path/to/initrd
Restore
To write the image first connect a USB drive with the image and then power the device on. Boot to the busybox environment and not the full Debian. The USB drive should be formatted with ext2/3 or fat32.
killall nandctl
mkdir /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb
nandctl -XW 2048 -z 131072 -i /mnt/usb/backup-image.dd
umount /mnt/usb
sync
To write the entire image containing the MBR/Kernel/Initrd/Debian you can run one command:
nandctl -XW 2048 -z 131072 -i /path/to/xnandimg-latest.dd
To write a new kernel:
dd if=zImage bs=512 conv=sync | nandctl -X -W 4095 -k kernel -z 512 -i -
To write a new initrd:
dd if=initrd bs=512 conv=sync | nandctl -X -W 4095 -k initrd -z 512 -i -
Offboard SPI Flash (TS-9448)
This needs to be done directly on the SBC. You can find the latest SPI image here. Make sure you decompress the image first before writing.
Backup
Entire SPI flash
spiflashctl -l 1 -R 64 -z 65536 > spiflash.dd
Kernel
spiflashctl -l 1 -R 4095 -z 512 -k part1 > /temp/zImage
Initrd
spiflashctl -l 1 -R 32 -z 65536 -k part2 > /temp/initrd
Restore
Entire SPI flash
spiflashctl -l 1 -W 64 -z 65536 -i /path/to/4mb-spiflash-latest.dd
Kernel
spiflashctl -l 1 -W 4095 -z 512 -k part1 -i /temp/zImage
Initrd
spiflashctl -l 1 -W 32 -z 65536 -k part2 -i /temp/initrd
Fastboot Recovery Commands
Since the Aug 5 2010 release, scripts have been added to the bash subroutine to ease in saving, recovering, and moving around images from one flash device to another. Below is a brief list of the commands that are provided as well as what they do. See the file /ts7500.subr (or /initrd/ts7500.subr from full Debian) for more information on the commands and what they do.
save - Copy current initrd ramdisk to the media that the SBC is booted from sdsave - Copy current initrd ramdisk to mSD card sd2nand - Copy mSD kernel and initrd to NAND sd2flash - Copy mSD kernel and initrd to on-board SPI flash sd2flash1 - Copy mSD kernel and initrd to off-board SPI flash flash2sd - Copy booted SPI flash kernel and initrd to mSD card flashsave - Copy current initrd ramdisk to on-board flash (TS-7500 only) flash1save - Copy current initrd ramdisk to off-board flash (TS-752 or TS-9448) flash2flash - Copy booted SPI flash kernel and initrd to opposing SPI flash device (on-board to off-board and vice versa) flashallsave - Copy current initrd ramdisk to all SPI flash (on-board and off-board) nand2sd - Copy NAND flash kernel and initrd to mSD card nandsave - Copy current initrd ramdisk to NAND nand2flash - Copy NAND flash kernel and initrd to off-board flash flash2nand - Copy booted SPI flash kernel and initrd to NAND recover - Attempt to copy booted kernel and initrd to all other available flash devices
Kernel Overview
The TS kernel is built from the same Linux sources Cavium Networks has tested and used on their CPU evaluation boards. There are no Technologic Systems specific drivers or kernel support implemented. Instead, there has been userspace driver support implemented for the SPI NOR flash, MicroSD cards, XNAND drive, battery-backed real-time clock, XUART serial port channels, watchdog, and GPIO pins. This allows easy migration to newer kernels when either Cavium or the mainline Linux kernel community creates them. In the past, constant Linux-internal API redesign required rewriting and revisiting custom drivers with each new kernel revision, in effect locking customers in to whatever kernel version was released and tested during initial product release. Being free to update to newer kernels in the future allows easier support of the new USB devices as those drivers tend to only be developed for the newest kernel sources.
We provide 2.6.24 as the supported kernel.
We also have 2.6.36, though USB device does not work (host does). This is provided as is.
Connectors
26 Pin Header
TS-7553 also includes a .1" pin spacing external header for board to board interfacing. The external interfaces uses a total of 26 pins.
Diagram
______________________________________ | 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26| * | 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25| \--------------------------------------/
Pinout
Pin # | Name | Function |
---|---|---|
1 | JTAG_DOUT | |
2 | JTAG_TMS | 4.7k pull-up |
3 | GND | Ground |
4 | JTAG_DIN | 4.7k pull-up |
5 | MODE2 | Latched boot up mode 2, 4.7k pull-up |
6 | JTAG_CLK | 2.2k pull-up |
7 | CONSOLE_TXD | Console TX, latched boot up mode 1, 4.7k pull-up |
8 | CONSOLE_RXD | Console RX, 4.7k pull-up |
9 | SPI_MISO | SPI master-in slave-out |
10 | 3.3V | 3.3V power |
11 | SPI_CS1 | SPICS#1 output |
12 | SPI_MOSI | SPI master-out slave-in |
13 | SDA | I2C/DIO-driven by CPU, 2.2k pull-up |
14 | DIO_14 | SPI clock output |
15 | SCL | I2C/DIO-driven by CPU, 2.2k pull-up |
16 | WD_RESET | Watchdog or system reset output |
17 | DIO_17 | DIO,SPICS#0 output, weak FPGA pull-up |
18 | DIO_18 | DIO,SPICS#2 output, weak FPGA pull-up |
19 | DIO_19 | DIO, SPICS#3 output, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#4 TX |
20 | DIO_20 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#4 RX |
21 | DIO_21 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#5 TX |
22 | DIO_22 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#5 RX |
23 | DIO_23 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#6 TX |
24 | DIO_24 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#6 RX |
25 | DIO_25 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#7 TX |
26 | DIO_26 | DIO, weak FPGA pull-up, XUART#7; RX +5V |
Note: As of Rev.A1 of TS-7553, Pin 26 (DIO_26) will permanently be +5V instead of "DIO, weak FPGA pull-up".
None of the DIO pins are 5V tolerant. They are 3.3V LVCMOS I/O buffers with approximately 12mA current drive capability.
DB9 Port
Diagram
============= \\1 2 3 4 5// \\6 7 8 9// =========
Pinout
Pin # | Name | Function |
---|---|---|
1 | RS485_0+ | RS485 serial TX/RX + (XUART #2) |
2 | XUART#0_RX | RS232 serial RXD for XUART #0 |
3 | XUART#0_TX | RS232 serial TXD for XUART #0 |
4 | CAN_H | CAN bus high (or second RS485 port +) |
5 | GND | Ground |
6 | RS485_0- | RS485 serial TX/RX - (XUART #2) |
7 | XUART#1_TX | RS232 serial TXD for XUART #1 |
8 | XUART#1_RX | RS232 serial RXD for XUART #1 |
9 | CAN_L | CAN bus low (or second RS485 port -) |
The CAN bus has optional termination resistor enabled by JP2 jumper. The termination resistor is 124 ohms across the CAN_H and CAN_L pins.
XBEE Connector
The dual in-line 10-pin headers are spaced for an XBee or XBee-PRO module. There is an XUART connected to this port as well as DIO pins. The XBee module can be communicated with through the provided UART and DIO pins. To bring up the XBee port, you must use xuartctl.
xuartctl --server --port 3 --speed 9600
See the XBee page for more information on programming details.
Diagram
---- ---- | 1| |20| | 2| |19| | 3| |18| | 4| |17| | 5| |16| | 6| |15| | 7| |14| | 8| |13| | 9| |12| |10| |11| ---- ----
Pinout
Pin # | Name | Function |
---|---|---|
1 | VCC | 3.3V |
2 | DOUT | XUART#3 RX |
3 | DIN | XUART#3 TX |
4 | NC | |
5 | RESET# | CPU_RESET# line, pull low to reset TS-7553 |
6 | NC | |
7 | NC | |
8 | NC | |
9 | DTR# | Connected to DIO_25 |
10 | GND | |
11 | DIO4 | Connected to DIO_21 |
12 | CTS | XUART#3 CTS pin, use mode=hwcts in xuartctl to enable this |
13 | NC | |
14 | NC | |
15 | DIO5 | Connected to DIO_22 |
16 | RTS#/DIO6 | Connected to DIO_26 |
17 | DIO3 | Connected to DIO_20 |
18 | DIO2 | Connected to DIO_19 |
19 | DIO1 | Connected to DIO_18 |
20 | DIO0 | Connected to DIO_17 |
COM Ports
The XUART ports will be controlled with xuartctl. By default they will not have devices in /dev/.
Name | Type | Location |
---|---|---|
XUART0 | RS232 | pins 3 (TX) and 2 (RX) of the #DB9 Port. |
XUART1 | RS232 | pins 7 (TX) and 8 (RX) of the #DB9 Port. |
XUART2 | RS485 | pins 1 (TX/RX +) and 6 (TS/RX -) of the #DB9 Port. |
XUART3 | RS232 | pins 3 (TX) and 2 (RX) of the #XBEE Connector. |
XUART4 | TTL | pin 20 (RX) and 19 (TX) on the #26 Pin Header |
XUART5 | TTL | pin 22 (RX) and 21 (TX) on the #26 Pin Header |
XUART6 | TTL | pin 24 (RX) and 23 (TX) on the #26 Pin Header |
Enclosures
The TS-7553 supports the TS-ENC820.
FPGA Programming
Note: | We do not provide support for the opencores under our free support, however we do offer custom FPGA programming services. If interested, please contact us. |
The opencore FPGA sources are available here.
We have prepared the opencore projects which gives you the ability to reprogram the FPGA while either preserving or removing our functionality as you choose. The code sources are in verilog, and we use Lattice Diamond to generate the JEDEC file. You can download Lattice Diamond from their site. You can request a free license, and it will run in either Windows or Linux (only Redhat is supported). In the sources you can find the functionality switches in the <boardname>_top.v file:
parameter sdcard_opt = 1'b1;
parameter spi_opt = 1'b1;
parameter nandflash_opt = 1'b1;
parameter can_opt = 1'b1; /*If CAN is enabled, only two XUARTs can be used*/
/* software currently requires these to be enabled/disabled contiguously. */
parameter xuart0_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart1_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart2_opt = 1'b0;
parameter xuart3_opt = 1'b0;
parameter xuart4_opt = 1'b0;
parameter xuart5_opt = 1'b0;
parameter xuart6_opt = 1'b0;
parameter xuart7_opt = 1'b0;
You can use these switches to enable and disable functionality. We do not enable everything at the same time because of space constraints on the FPGA. So for example, to disable CAN and enable the rest of the XUARTS:
parameter sdcard_opt = 1'b1;
parameter spi_opt = 1'b1;
parameter nandflash_opt = 1'b1;
parameter can_opt = 1'b0; /*If CAN is enabled, only two XUARTs can be used*/
/* software currently requires these to be enabled/disabled contiguously. */
parameter xuart0_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart1_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart2_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart3_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart4_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart5_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart6_opt = 1'b1;
parameter xuart7_opt = 1'b1;
For more advanced changes you may look to opencores.org which has many examples of FPGA cores. To build the FPGA with your new changes, go to the 'Processes' tab and double-click 'JEDEC File'. This will build a jedec file in the project directory. On a linux system, either x86 compatible or ARM, we provide an application called jed2vme.
We also have the sources here.
WARNING: | Do not use the 'jed2vme' provided by Lattice. Their version writes to flash and as the opencores do not contain the bootrom so this will brick your board. |
jed2vme can be used like this:
jed2vme bitstream.jed | gzip > bitstream.vme.gz
To execute this on your board run this:
ts7500ctl --loadfpga=bitstream.vme
# or
ts7500ctl --loadfpga=bitstream.vme.gz
As space is constrained in the initrd it is suggested to gzip the file as shown in the jed2vme example. To load this bitstream automatically you can place it in the root of the initrd and name it '/ts7500_bitstream.vme.gz'. The linuxrc script will by default load this bitstream immediately on startup (before the fastboot shell). You should first test it manually to make sure it loads ok.
The FPGA contains flash memory which contains Technologic System's default FPGA flash load. Using an SRAM bitstream generated by our "jed2vme" with "ts7500ctl --loadfpga" will not overwrite the flash memory of the FPGA and will only load the SRAM contents of the FPGA, making for an unbrickable system.
FPGA FAQ
Should I implement x in the FPGA or Linux?
The FPGA will allow you to do certain things very quickly with no overhead of the linux system. Debugging options are extremely limited. For ease of development, only implement functionality in the FPGA if you have to.
Can I implement more than 8 XUARTS?
The XUART core only supports 8. However if you have requirements that demand more there are other options for implementing more, but depend very much on your requirements. Please contact us for more information.
I made a change in X, and now Y is behaving strangely?
Make sure you check to make sure you meet timing restraints. When they are not met then any or all of the cores may not behave as expected.
Product Notes
FCC Advisory
This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly (that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions), may cause interference to radio and television reception. It has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device in accordance with the specifications in Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference when operated in a commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference, in which case the owner will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
If this equipment does cause interference, which can be determined by turning the unit on and off, the user is encouraged to try the following measures to correct the interference:
Reorient the receiving antenna. Relocate the unit with respect to the receiver. Plug the unit into a different outlet so that the unit and receiver are on different branch circuits. Ensure that mounting screws and connector attachment screws are tightly secured. Ensure that good quality, shielded, and grounded cables are used for all data communications. If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions. The following booklets prepared by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may also prove helpful:
How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems (Stock No. 004-000-000345-4) Interface Handbook (Stock No. 004-000-004505-7) These booklets may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
Limited Warranty
See our Terms and Conditions for more details.