VELDT-info

VELDT Datasheets & Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Functional Diagram
2. FPGA
   1. Data Sheets
   2. Pin Mapping
3. Flash
4. FTDI
5. Development Tools
   1. Project IceStorm
      1. Install Project IceStorm from Source on Ubuntu
      2. Update Project IceStorm from Source on Ubuntu
      3. Using Project IceStorm Flow
   2. Lattice
      1. Radiant
      2. iCECube2
   3. Clash
      1. Install Clash on Ubuntu
   4. Mane (Beta)
      1. Install Mane from Source on Windows

Clicking on any header within this document will return to Table of Contents.

Functional Diagram

VELDT Functional Diagram PDF

The main functional components of VELDT are:

1. FPGA
2. Flash
3. FTDI

FPGA

Data Sheets

iCE40 UltraPlus Product Page

iCE40 LED Driver Usage Guide PDF

DSP Function Usage Guide PDF

iCE40 sysCLOCK PLL Design and Usage Guide PDF

ICE Technology Library PDF

Advanced SPI and I2C Usage Guide PDF

Pin Mapping

PDF Version

XLSX Excel Version

Flash

AT25SF081 Data Sheet PDF

FTDI

FTDI FT232H Data Sheet PDF

Development Tools

Project IceStorm

Visit the Project IceStorm Homepage and the Github Repository for more information. Note all Project Icestorm tools will be installed relative to /usr/local/

Install Project IceStorm from Source on Ubuntu

1. Install Prerequisites:

foo@bar:~$ sudo apt install build-essential clang bison flex libreadline-dev gawk tcl-dev libffi-dev git graphviz xdot pkg-config python python3 libftdi-dev qt5-default python3-dev libboost-all-dev cmake libeigen3-dev

2. Install IceStorm Tools (icepack, icebox, iceprog, icetime, chip databases, etc.):

foo@bar:~$ git clone https://github.com/cliffordwolf/icestorm.git icestorm
foo@bar:~$ cd icestorm
foo@bar:~/icestorm$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/icestorm$ sudo make install

3. Install NextPNR (place-and-route tool):

foo@bar:~$ git clone https://github.com/YosysHQ/nextpnr nextpnr
foo@bar:~$ cd nextpnr
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ cmake -DARCH=ice40 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local .
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ sudo make install

4. Install Yosys (Verilog synthesis):

foo@bar:~$ git clone https://github.com/cliffordwolf/yosys.git yosys
foo@bar:~$ cd yosys
foo@bar:~/yosys$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/yosys$ sudo make install

5. Update udev rules:

Create a file /etc/udev/rules.d/53-lattice-ftdi.rules with the following line:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="0403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6014", MODE="0660", GROUP="plugdev", TAG+="uaccess"

This will allow uploading bitstreams as unprivileged user.

The installation is complete.

Update Project IceStorm from Source on Ubuntu

1. Update IceStorm Tools:

foo@bar:~$ cd icestorm
foo@bar:~/icestorm$ git pull
foo@bar:~/icestorm$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/icestorm$ sudo make install

2. Update NextPNR:

foo@bar:~$ cd nextpnr
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ git pull
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ cmake -DARCH=ice40 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local .
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/nextpnr$ sudo make install

3. Update Yosys:

foo@bar:~$ cd yosys
foo@bar:~/yosys$ git pull
foo@bar:~/yosys$ make -j$(nproc)
foo@bar:~/yosys$ sudo make install

The update is complete.

Using Project IceStorm Flow

1. Synthesize Verilog Source Files:

foo@bar:~/test$ ls
Baz.v Top.v
foo@bar:~/test$ yosys -p  "synth_ice40 -top Top -json Top.json -dsp -abc2" Top.v Baz.v
foo@bar:~/test$ ls
Baz.v Top.json Top.v

Step 1 assumes the top module is named "Top" and located in Top.v. -json writes the synthesized design to the specified JSON file. -dsp means Yosys will use iCE40 UltraPlus DSP cells for large arithmetic. Finally, the -abc2 switch causes Yosys to run two passes of abc for slightly improved logic density. See the Yosys Homepage and Github Repository for more information. For up-to-date help and reference use yosys -h and yosys -h synth_ice40.

2. Place and Route Design:

foo@bar:~/test$ nextpnr-ice40 --up5k --package sg48 --pcf Top.pcf --asc Top.asc --json Top.json
foo@bar:~/test$ ls
Baz.v Top.asc Top.json Top.v

For more information about NextPNR see the Github Repository, Project IceStorm Homepage and nextpnr-ice40 -h.

3. Pack and Program Bitstream:

foo@bar:~/test$ icepack Top.asc Top.bin
foo@bar:~/test$ ls
Baz.v Top.asc Top.bin Top.json Top.v
foo@bar:~/test$ iceprog Top.bin

Lattice

Visit the Lattice Website for more information.

Radiant

Visit the Lattice Radiant Software page for downloads and documentation.

iCECube2

Visit the Lattice iCECube2 Software page for downloads and documentation.

Clash

Visit the Clash Website, Github Repository, and Hackage Documentation for more information.

Install Clash on Ubuntu

1. Add GHC PPA and install prerequisites:

foo@bar:~$ sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:hvr/ghc
foo@bar:~$ sudo apt update
foo@bar:~$ sudo apt install -y cabal-install-xxx ghc-yyy

For users managing multiple GHC versions, note the PPA description:

The GHC packages install into /opt/ghc/$VER/ so in order to use them, one way is to bring a particular GHC version into scope by placing the respective /opt/ghc/$VER/bin folder early in the PATH environment variable. There's also a /opt/ghc/bin (& /opt/cabal/bin) folder which contains version-suffixed symlinks to installed GHC versions for convenient use with cabal (e.g. "cabal new-build -w ghc-7.8.4"), as well as symlinks managed by update-alternatives(1) which can be configured via

sudo update-alternatives --config opt-ghc
sudo update-alternatives --config opt-cabal

Note that /opt/ghc/bin also contains a default symlink for cabal, so it's enough to include /opt/ghc/bin in your PATH to get access to both cabal and ghc.

2. Update PATH:

foo@bar:~$ echo "export PATH=\$PATH:/opt/ghc/bin" >> .bashrc
foo@bar:~$ . .bashrc
foo@bar:~$ which ghc && which cabal
/opt/ghc/bin/ghc
/opt/ghc/bin/cabal
foo@bar:~$ ghc --version && cabal --version
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version yyy
cabal-install version xxx
compiled using version xxx of the Cabal library

3. Install Clash:

foo@bar:~$ cabal update
foo@bar:~$ cabal install clash-ghc
foo@bar:~$ echo "export PATH=\$PATH:~/.cabal/bin" >> .bashrc
foo@bar:~$ . .bashrc

Step 3 may fail due to Clash not supporting the latest GHC version.

If this happens, try removing ghc sudo apt remove ghc-yyy, then installing an older GHC version sudo apt install ghc-zzz.

4. Verify Clash:

foo@bar:~$ git clone https://github.com/standardsemiconductor/VELDT-blinker-clash.git
foo@bar:~$ cd VELDT-blinker-clash/
foo@bar:~/VELDT-blinker-clash$ cabal build
foo@bar:~/VELDT-blinker-clash$ cabal exec -- clash --verilog Blinker.hs
foo@bar:~/VELDT-blinker-clash$ ls verilog/Blinker/Blinker/
Blinker.manifest Blinker.v

Mane (Beta)

Mane is the open-source tool for loading bitstreams onto VELDT. It is maintained by Standard Semiconductor to ensure optimized performance with VELDT. Visit the Github Repository for more information. Please open an issue if you have any problems, questions, or suggestions.

Install Mane from Source on Windows

The following steps should be run as Administrator on Powershell. (Right click, Run as Administrator)

1. Install Chocolatey

   You may need to shut down and restart powershell prior to using choco.

2. Install Haskell:

   C:\Users\foo> choco install haskell-dev
   C:\Users\foo> refreshenv
   C:\Users\foo> cabal update

3. Install libusb:

   You may need to shut down and restart powershell prior to using mingw64-pkg

   C:\Users\foo> mingw64-pkg install libusb

   1. Copy C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\bin\libusb-1.0.dll to C:\Windows\System32\.
   2. Open C:\Users\foo\AppData\Roaming\cabal\config in a text editor. Find the line containing extra-include-dirs, add C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\include\libusb-1.0.
   3. Find the line containing extra-lib-dirs, add C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\bin.

   Make sure to delete the -- and separate elements in the list with a comma.

   ...
   extra-include-dirs: C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\include,
                       C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\include\libusb-1.0
   -- deterministic:
   -- cid:
   extra-lib-dirs: C:\tools\msys64\mingw64\bin
   ...
   

4. Update Drivers:

   Plug in VELDT, then install Zadig:

   C:\Users\foo> choco install zadig
   C:\Users\foo> zadig

   In Zadig, select Options -> List All Devices. In the dropdown box select USB <-> Serial Converter (Interface 0). On the Driver input, select the Up/Down arrows to choose WinUSB then click Replace Driver button. Close Zadig when the driver installation completes.

5. Install Mane:

   You may need to shut down and restart powershell prior to using git

   C:\Users\foo> choco install git
   C:\Users\foo> git clone https://github.com/standardsemiconductor/mane.git
   C:\Users\foo> cd .\mane\
   C:\Users\foo\mane> cabal install

6. Verify Mane:

   C:\Users\foo\mane> mane .\example\Blinker.bin