Topic: Stellar IP external RAM support  (Read 10744 times)

tedjnsn March 26, 2014, 01:41 AM

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 47
We  have KC705+FMC150 kit and are considering getting FMC151 as well well as FMC116 plus some other modules. One of our sticking points though is that  we would like to be able to buffer up to a GB of ADC data in KC705 SDRAM in a single burst. I studied Stellar IP designs , as well as 4dsp master library  that came with FMC150, and there's a mention of  DDR buffer and DDR fifo, but it is not clear whether these SIPs are compatible with kc705, since they did not come installed or even documented in this board support package. Would it be possible to evaluate Stellar IP support of on-board RAM or, at least, read related documentation for these and other SIPs in master library?
  • « Last Edit: March 26, 2014, 03:45 AM by tedjnsn »

arnaudNL March 26, 2014, 05:18 AM (#1)

  • 4DSP Staff (EU)
  • Administrator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7110
Dear Sir,


What comes as free reference design does not include external memory no. Some firmware are having a 64kB FIFO which is built on top of FPGA block RAMs. We don't do much of such support for Xilinx evaluation boards because the core of our business are FPGA boards. Typically sip_ddr3_fifo is a FIFO supported by our carriers FC6301 but not for KC705.


You can decide to get 4DSP to develop a streaming firmware for your convenience. If this is a path you want to take, contact sales@4dsp.com


Best Regards,
Arnaud







tedjnsn March 26, 2014, 10:41 AM (#2)

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 47
Dear Arnaud,


Thanks for quick reply. I notice sip_ml605_ddr3_fifo in main library, which is, I assume, for Xilinx ml605 evaluation board. Would it be possible to access documentation for this module, or obtain the module itself for reference? Same request for sip_kc705_host_if etc.


It would also be nice to have at least some hint on the purpose of the numerous utility modules in the main sip library and the ways to access or obtain them. The lack of such documentation has been impeding  our dealings with 4dsp sales so far.


Ted.

arnaudNL March 26, 2014, 11:44 AM (#3)

  • 4DSP Staff (EU)
  • Administrator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7110

Dear Ted,


The ml605_ddr3_fifo was implemented for a custom project and the customer paid for that, I cannot give it to you free of charge. Same goes with our 1M FFT Floating Point you don't get that free of charge even if it is in the list. The sip_kc705_host_if is a PCI Express engine for KC705, this is based on years of engineering efforts, it does not come free of charge either.


You can check which stars are part of KC705-FMC150 firmware by looking at the constellation description document (CD156). Then you have SD documents for all these stars, check the star_lib folder; the free reference design comes with sip_cid, sip_mac_engine, sip_router_s1d3, sip_routers3d1, sip_fmc150,sip_i2c_master and sip_cmd12_mux.


You are not entitled to other documents or stars.


Best Regards,
Arnaud



tedjnsn March 26, 2014, 12:07 PM (#4)

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 47
Dear Arnaud,

Thanks for clarifying the status of these sips for me. At this point we are formulating most appropriate architecture for this long-term project, including what kind of external NRE it would require. I did go through the included sip documentation, but the rest of the library was a mystery to me.


Ted.

arnaudNL March 26, 2014, 03:33 PM (#5)

  • 4DSP Staff (EU)
  • Administrator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7110
Dear Ted,


Thanks for you understanding!


Actually, this special point confused quite a few of our customers. We have changed our release procedure and from now on, newly generated firmware will only display the IP included in the firmware.


We are also discussing which IPs (data routers, splitters, bram FIFOs, etc..) would be part of a default library everyone receives with StellarIP.


Best Regards,
Arnaud



arnaudNL March 26, 2014, 03:34 PM (#6)

  • 4DSP Staff (EU)
  • Administrator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7110
This topic is being closed because the issue is considered as resolved by 4DSP. Feel free to create a new topic for any further inquiries.