fpga Command

The fpga command allows for various operations on the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) device, such as booting, halting, enabling/disabling, and reading/writing specific registers. It provides a low-level interface for interacting with the FPGA hardware.

Usage

The basic syntax for the fpga command is as follows:

fpga <operation> [options]

Arguments

  • operation: (Required) The specific operation to perform on the FPGA. This can be one of the following: - –boot: Boot the FPGA. - –halt: Halt the FPGA. - –disable-on: Disable the FPGA and turn it ON. - –disable-off: Disable the FPGA and turn it OFF. - write: Write a value to an FPGA register. - read: Read values from one or more FPGA registers.

Options

The following options can be used with certain operations:

  • -a <address>: Specify the register address (16-bit value) for read/write operations.

  • -v <value>: Specify the value to write to the register (16-bit value).

  • -n <number>: Specify the number of registers to read (only valid with the read operation).

Description

The fpga command interacts with the FPGA hardware to perform various tasks. The available operations include:

  1. Boot FPGA: Boots the FPGA into its running state.

  2. Halt FPGA: Halts the FPGA from its current operation.

  3. Disable FPGA: Turns the FPGA OFF or ON based on the specified option.

  4. Register Write: Writes a specified value to an FPGA register at a given address.

  5. Register Read: Reads values from one or more FPGA registers.

Each operation may require additional parameters such as a register address and value, especially when interacting with the FPGA’s internal memory.

Examples

  1. Boot the FPGA:

    fpga --boot

    This will boot the FPGA.

  2. Halt the FPGA:

    fpga --halt

    This will halt the FPGA.

  3. Disable FPGA to OFF state:

    fpga --disable-off

    This will turn the FPGA OFF.

  4. Write to a register:

    fpga write -a 0x1234 -v 0xABCD

    This will write the value 0xABCD to the register at address 0x1234.

  5. Read from a register:

    fpga read -a 0x1234

    This will read the value from the register at address 0x1234 and display it.

  6. Read multiple registers:

    fpga read -a 0x1234 -n 5

    This will read values from 5 consecutive registers starting at address 0x1234.

Error Handling

If there is an error with the input or execution, the following error messages may be shown:

  • “invalid operation, please specify a valid operation”: This error occurs if an invalid operation is specified.

  • “Error in parameters parsing”: This error occurs if the parameters are not correctly parsed for the operation.

  • “Register address must be set with -a option (0xXXXX format)”: This error occurs when a register address is not set for register-related operations.

  • “Register value must be set with -v option (0xXXXX format)”: This error occurs when the register value is not set for write operations.

  • “Error accessing FPGA register memory”: This error occurs when there is a failure in reading or writing to the FPGA register memory.

Notes

  • The fpga command provides a powerful interface for low-level FPGA control, making it essential for hardware debugging and management.

  • All register addresses and values are expected to be in 16-bit format.

  • When reading from registers, users can specify the number of registers to read, which defaults to 1 if not provided.