wiki:XilinxSDK

Version 8 (modified by murphpo, 10 years ago) (diff)

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These are preliminary instructions for re-creating a working SDK workspace for both the OFDM Reference Design and WARPlab Reference Design. These are subject to change, maybe significantly, as we (and other WARP users) learn the nuances of the SDK. We're eager to hear feedback- ideas to improve these instructions, better ways to package/distribute SDK projects, etc. Please head to the forums to discuss.

Using the Reference Design Archives

Setup
Before using a WARP reference design XPS or SDK project you must install the Xilinx tools and configure repository settings:

  • Install Xilinx ISE
    • To simulate or modify the FPGA design you need System Edition (includes ISE, EDK, System Generator)
    • To only change C code you can use the SDK-only editions of ISE
  • Checkout a copy of the WARP edk_user_repository to a local directory
  • Add the WARP edk_user_repository to the global repositories in XPS (Edit->Preferences->Application) and SDK (Xilinx Tools->Repositories->Global Repositories). Close both XPS and SDK.

Project Files

Download the reference design .zip file.

The ref design archive includes both the XPS project (i.e. the hardware design) and SDK projects (i.e. the software designs). The archive folder structure is:

SDK/
 |- SDK_Export/
SDK_Workspace/
data/
etc/
pcores/
system.mhs
system.xmp

Using the XPS project

The ref design XPS project is at the root of the expanded .zip file, in the directory with the system.xmp and system.mhs files. Open system.xmp in XPS to explore or modify the XPS project. It is not required to build the hardware project to iterate on software projects. The Xilinx SDK can modify software on top of those downloaded XPS project without needing to rebuild the hardware project.

Using the SDK project

The SDK is based on the idea of workspaces and projects. A workspace contains projects. A normal SDK project contains at least three projects:

  • The hardware specification (auto-generated by XPS)
  • The board support package (auto-geneated by SDK, derived from the hardware spec)
  • One ore more software projects (user code in an SDK-generated template)

We have chosen the approach of having one SDK workspace per XPS project, so the SDK workspace always contains exactly one _hw_platform project and one _bsp project, both referenced to the parent XPS project.

A workspace always maps to a folder on your hard drive. That folder will contain workspace settings (in a .metadata directory) and subdirectories for each project in the workspace.

Unfortunately workspaces are not portable. The ref design .zip file contains all the necessary project files to populate a workspace, but you must initialize your workspace first and import these project files manually. We recommend using the SDK_Workspace folder inside the XPS project folder as your SDK workspace.

In the instructions below we use <xps_proj> to represent the path where you expanded the ref design .zip. If the XPS project file is in C:\work\WARP\OFDM_RefDesign_FPGAv2_v18.1\system.xmp, then you should use C:\work\WARP\OFDM_RefDesign_FPGAv2_v18.1\ in place of <xps_proj> below.

Creating the workspace

  • Launch the Xilinx SDK
    • If prompted to select a workspace, choose <xps_proj>/SDK_Workspace
    • If not, choose File->Switch Workspace, then choose <xps_proj>/SDK_Workspace
  • Choose Xilinx Tools->Repositories
    • Verify the WARP edk_user_repository is listed in the Global Repositories section
    • In Local Repositories, click New, then navigate to <xps_proj>. Be sure to select the XPS project folder, not any of the folders above/below that.
    • Click OK
  • Choose File->Import, expand General, choose Existing Projects into Workspace, click Next
    • For 'Select root directory:', click Browse and navigate to <xps_proj>/SDK_Workspace
    • Make sure all projects are selected
    • Make sure "Copy projects into workspace" is not checked
    • Click Finish
  • SDK will begin building the software projects. If everything works, this process will finish with a log message 'elfcheck passed'.

Running the design Program the FPGA from SDK:

  • Connect the JTAG cable to your FPGA board
  • In the SDK select Xilinx Tools->Program FPGA
    • In the Software Configuration section, select the ELF file corresponding to your top-level software application
    • Click Program
    • Wait ~20 seconds; the FPGA should now be configured (green DONE LED on)

SDK Hints

Some helpful things we've figured out:

  • Do not power cycle the FPGA Board or disconnect the JTAG/USB cable while the SDK debugger is running. Always quit SDK first.
    • If an active SDK session loses the JTAG connection, the JTAG cable will get locked and will fail to function for the current or future SDK sessions. The SDK may freeze in this state. Use Task Manager to kill eclipse.exe and xmd.exe. Then run iMPACT (Programs->Xilinx Design Suite 13.4->ISE Design Tools->32/64-bit Tools->iMPACT), double-click Boundary Scan, choose Output->Cable Reset. Then re-launch SDK to reestablish the JTAG connection.
  • The XMD console view in SDK is useful for debugging issues when communicating via JTAG. Open Xilnx Tools->XMD Console. In the new XMD Console tab, type verbose in the command box (bottom of the tab).
  • Force SDK to prompt for a workspace on every launch (Window->Preferences->General->Startup and Shutdown->Workspaces; check "Prompt for workspace on startup"). We found this is the best way to avoid confusion about what workspace is active.
  • Remarkably, ChipScope Analyzer and the SDK debugger can access the same JTAG cable simultaneously. This can be very useful (i.e. capture PHY state signals via ChipScope to verify what software sees via register reads).
  • Console tabs:
    • You can choose what log is shown in console tabs (little drop down arrow in Display Selected Console button\).
    • You can "pin" a console (Pin Console button), which prevents anything from switching the log source.
    • You can add a console tab, to view multiple logs simultaneously, each pinned to a different source. Having one tab pinned to SDK Log and one to C-Build is useful.
  • Changing the SDK log level to Trace is helpful for debugging odd SDK behavior (Window->Preferences->Xilinx SDK->Log Information Level)
  • If you import a software project from an old workspace into a new workspace, some stale metadata comes with it. You may see an error in the console that says
ERROR:EDK:756 - Cannot read XML file
   ../../old_project_name_hw_platform/system.xml
Error: Creating Hardware Debug Object from ../../old_project_name_hw_platform/system.xml

This usually indicates the software project is referencing an old BSP, which was based on a different hardware project. Right click on your software project and 'Change Referenced BSP' and double-click the correct BSP to re-associate the software project.