ZynqShell

Shell like program to run on the, bare-metal, Zynq while experimenting. The idea is that it will provide an easy path to upload data, start computations on the FPGA and inspect results.

Functionality

1. Create arrays.
2. Show contents of arrays.
3. Load data into an array over the serial connection to the shell running on the Zynq. Each line of text transmitted will be interpreted by the shell as a given type. I like to use screen as terminal that has the capability to paste in larger amounts of data.
4. Read/Write to arbitrary memory locations while interpreting what is read/written as a C-type (int, unsigned int, float).
5. Load and store data from/to files on SD card.
6. Program the FPGA using the devcfg driver with a bitstream loaded into an array.

TODO

• Test that programming the FPGA with a bitstream from memory works.
• Figure out more exactly where and when to flush caches and what ranges (useful when the next entity to read that value is the FPGA).

Howto Build

I currently build ZynqShell by creating a "hello world" application in Vivado SDK and replace the helloworld.c file there with the zynqshell.c file (ln -s to the file in the repo clone).

ZynqBerry configuration in Vivado to enable SD card

Note that this is probably different for other boards, so consult the datasheets.

Howto generate a bin file from a bit file for programming of the FPGA

1. Create a bif file, example below.
2. Source your VIVADO configuration.
3. Then run 'bootgen -image my.bif -w -process_bitstream bin'

my.bif

bitToBin:
{
design_1_wrapper.bit
}

The tag "bitToBin" seems that it can be set to just about anything without any difference. Within the brackets specify the name of your bit file (in this example design_1_wrapper.bit).

Screen tips

Example: "CTRL+a :" means "CTRL" and "a" together, followed by an ":". This particular command brings up a prompt where additional commands can be given:

1. "quit" exists from screen
2. "readreg regname filename" reads a file into a named "regname" storage location in screen.
3. "paste regname" pastes the contents of the named "regname" storage location into the screen session.

The readreg and paste commands can be used to send the contents into a ZynqShell array when using the ZynqShell loadArray command.

4. "help" displays screen help.