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Damper board (redux) SHARC overview. Bill A. May 17, 2004. What is a SHARC?. Analog Devices 21065L processor Typically used for (audio) digital signal processing
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Damper board (redux) SHARC overview Bill A. May 17, 2004
What is a SHARC? • Analog Devices 21065L processor • Typically used for (audio) digital signal processing • 64KB (!) RAM, 32-bit floating point (extended 40-bit too), SDRAM interface, serial ports, DMA, 24-bit addr, 32-bit data external busses; we run at 50MHz • In-circuit emulator for d/l, single-step, etc. • Real men (e.g. Brian Chase’s group) code in assembly; I was lazy and used C
SHARC’s role on damper board • Initialize Stratix from FRAM on power-up • Interface board to world via TCP/IP • Includes remote firmware/software update • Read/write Stratix “bus” registers, so that damper processing can be controlled and monitored via network • Read FIFOs (written by Stratix), to allow high-volume DAQ during damper operation
Telnet to port 128 (or to stripped-down version on port 100); read or write registers in Stratix chip
Reading/writing Stratix “bus” registers • Simple text command line interface allows network client to read and write values • RD addr • WR addr value • SHARC decodes commands, jiggles serial line to Stratix, watches Stratix jiggle back, writes out answer on TCP socket • ACnet OAC (Dennis) essentially logs in and types these same commands • There is also a binary multi-word read protocol, for somewhat improved speed
Python scripts • Updating firmware, software, network numbers from nova, etc. • Converting SHARC compiler output
Remote firmware update rewrite_stratix.py sends Quartus .TTF file into FRAM …/sharc/scripts/*.py in CVS
Remote firmware update rewrite_stratix.py sends Quartus .TTF file into FRAM …/sharc/scripts/*.py in CVS With only minor coercion, Quartus outputs .TTF file automatically upon compilation Bill F uses same python script from windoze, no problem
Remote SHARC software update: chicken=1 • SHARC compiler excretes …/sharc/damper_control/Debug/damper_control.ldr • run parseldr.py • reads damper_control.ldr • hacks boot-loader data for subset of program memory that executes from external SDRAM (recall that internal SRAM is 64KB) • writes boot_b.ldr • rewrite_b.py writes boot_b.ldr to FRAM • python reboot.py damprN 1 runs prog “b” • power cycle (or watchdog) runs stored “a”
Remote SHARC software update: chicken=0 • Copy boot_b.ldr to boot_a.ldr • rewrite_a.py writes boot_a.ldr to FRAM • python reboot.py damprN runs prog “a” • power cycle (or watchdog) runs prog “a” • if prog “a” is screwed up, you have to plug in the in-circuit emulator to fix it
Rebooting • reboot.py simply does ‘write 0 1’ • note ‘write’ not ‘wr’ • ‘write’ and ‘read’ affect SHARC address space • ‘wr’ and ‘rd’ affect Stratix ‘bus’ address space • bit 0 of address 0 initiates a CPU reset • to boot prog ‘b’, reboot.py first does a ‘write 8100 deadbeef’ • boot loader has been hacked to set address bit 16 if this value is detected at 8100 • boots from ‘secondary’ bank of FRAM
FRAM address map • 0x000000 = SHARC program “A” (0.4MB) • 0x070000 = network ID numbers (19 bytes) • 0x080000 = SHARC program “B” (0.4MB) • 0x100000 = Stratix code (1MB) • FRAM base addr = 0x1000000 in SHARC memory map (“external” block 1)
Updating network numbers (DANGER!) rewrite_id.py
Rest of outline • SHARC & connected components • Bootstrapping hijinks • FRAM contents • Compiling & updating the damper_control SHARC program • SHARC source code tree • Main.c • App_v0.c • Where to find SHARC info
Features needed soon • Ability to lock out the OAC from connecting during FRAM updates. • Maybe “locked” mode only allows connections from one particular IP address, specified on command line. • Fake fast time plots. • To FTP a specific Stratix “bus” address at 720 (?) Hz, this is probably easy to implement. • Need to know when to start/stop, whether to repeat, when to send data out, etc. • Maybe have a list of up to 10 (?) bus addresses for which FTP is actively gathering data, under OAC’s control.
Worries • Too much home-made code to maintain? • Maybe it’s not so bad? • Network throughput of uIP package is limited by lack of pipelining • advertised TCP “window” only 1 packet deep • consider upgrading to Adam Dunkels’s other (more performant) package, lwIP? • Would be nice to be able to use a free compiler, e.g. gcc. • SHARC compiler licensing is a pain.
Hardware worries/wishes • If FRAM gets corrupted, need APEX-ICE, VisualDSP++, etc. to re-load image. Ouch. • Simple RS232 to SHARC (& Stratix?) would speed up initial check-out. Also easier to set network ID numbers that way. • Test header for connecting Stratix to HP logic analyzer, for tough debugging. • If MAX chip had a few lines to the Stratix and a few SHARC data lines, it could do more interesting things. MAX chip plays a special role, as it is non-volatile. • As many signals as possible (except ultra-high-speed) should go through an FPGA, for debugging, re-gluing, etc. • Memory-mapped Stratix access on SHARC external bus?