FPGA Remote Configuration

General Description

The  MW_RR,  FPGA  Remote  Reconfiguration,  is  a set  of  core,  desktop  and  embedded  software applications  provided  to  enable  the  remote reconfiguration of an FPGA device, booting from an external Flash memory.
Remote  configuration  is  a  critical  feature  for complex  electronic  systems.  In  a  wide  range  of applications, the hardware to be reconfigured is not directly  accessible  by  the  user,  for debugging  or upgrading purposes. Furthermore, the introduction of dedicated  connections  intended  to  remotely  access the device is something difficult and expensive. Programmable  System-on-Chip  platforms  greatly make Remote Configuration task easier. For instance an OS-based design gives the opportunity to load the new  configuration  file  at  many  stages  of  software booting and execution and to use standard interfaces (Ethernet, USB, SD Card, etc.) to transfer such files.
When using traditional FPGAs, usually there are less degrees of freedom to achieve the task, and anyway the procedure is much more complex. The  MW_RR  exploits  the  benefits  of  standard  OS solution  to  remotely  reconfigure  an  FPGA.  The advantage of such a kind of approach is threefold:

1. When  performing  a  batch  (re-)configuration, there is no need to have a JTAG daisy-chain for  all  devices  (thus  enabling  scalability). This  is  also  true  for  configuration  readback and verification.
2. In a system with a processor/SoC driving the FPGA,  the  procedure  is  spread  between  the processor acting as a Master for both read and write operations and the FPGA being a slave.
3. In  any  case,  there  is  no  need  of  using  an additional  off-chip  JTAG  programmer  and  a proprietary tool to interact with it.

Features

• 2-wire  general  purpose  interface  for  device access.
• Functionality can be added even if it was not conceived at an early design stage.
• Readback capability.
• Desktop environment support.
• Embedded environment support.
• Network-based  (SCP)  configuration  file transfer.
• Error protection over the duplex master-slave link.
• Multiple boot support.
• Zynq/Artix7  technology  and  ISE  Xilinx/Vivado tool

Typical Application