FWPayload

FWPayload is a small processor+peripherals subsystem, targeting the user-project area of Caraval.

Block diagram

External IP

FWPayload uses several pieces of external IP. Some are bundled with the project, and some are fetched during the initialization step.

FWRISC

RISC-V core originally targeted for FPGA application

• Git: https://github.com/mballance/fwrisc.git
• License: Apache 2.0

fw-wishbone-interconnect

Parameterized Wishbone interconnect

• Git: https://github.com/featherweight-ip/fw-wishbone-interconnect
• License: Apache 2.0

simple_spi_master

SPI master IP, obtained from the Caravel repository. Bundled with the project.

• License: GNU LGPL

simpleuart

UART IP, obtained from the Caravel repository. Bundled with the project.

• License: BSD-style

Memory map

The FWPayload memory map is designed to fit within the 28-bit user-area portion of the Caravel memory map.

• 0xX000_0000..0xX000_03FF - 1Kb register RAM
• 0xX100_0000..0xX100_00FF - UART
• 0xX100_0100..0xX100_01FF - SPI
• 0xX100_0200..0xX100_02FF - GPIO

Pin map

Bring-up/Debug Support

FWPayload uses the Caravel logic analyzer to configure reset and clocking, probe the program counter of the FWRISC, and optionally, single-step the clock.

• [127] - Controls the clock when configured as an output
• [126] - Controls the system reset when configured as an output
• [125] - Controls the FWRISC core reset when configured as an output
• [39:36] - Loopback, probing the GPIO output
• [33] - Loopback, probing UART tx output
• [32] - Input, probing the ‘instruction-complete’ FWRISC net
• [31:0] - Input, probing the FWRISC program-counter net

Developer Notes

Required Tools

• Python 3 (3.6.8 was used)
• Icarus Verilog (11.0 was used)
• Verilator (4.102 was used)
• Openlane (rc4 was used)
• Skywater PDK (PDK_ROOT is assumed to be properly set)

Project Setup

The FWPayload project uses IVPM (IP and Verification Package Manager) to manage external IP and Python dependencies. The project can be setup both with and without IVPM installed.

In both cases, setting up the project will result in creation of a packages directory within the project that contains external IPs and required Python packages.

Setup with IVPM installed

Ensure IVPM is installed:

% pip3 install ivpm --user --upgrade

% cd <fwpayload_dir>
% ivpm update

Setup without IVPM installed

The project can also be setup without installing IVPM. The bootstrap.sh script is provided for this purpose. bootstrap.sh clones a local copy of ivpm.

% cd <fwpayload_dir>
% ./bootstrap.sh

Integration Testing

Testing of the fwpayload subsystem is done using a cocotb test environment. The block diagram is shown below:

Bus Functional Models (BFMs) are used to drive the Caravel management interface and logic-analyzer pins.

Tests

• fwrisc_gpio

  • Loads a small program into the RISC-V core that writes to the GPIO outputs
  • Drives the clock via the logic-analzer interface while monitoring the GPIO outputs

• mgmt_mem_access

  • Tests 1, 2, and 4-byte accesses to register RAM via the management interface

Running an individual test

Individual tests are run from the dv/ directory by running ‘make’.

% cd dv/fwrisc_gpio
% make clean
% make

Test Controls

Test behavior is controlled using environment variables.

• SIM - Selects the simulator to run
  • icarus -- Icarus Verilog (default)
  • vlsim -- Verilator, via the vlsim front-end
• DEBUG[=1] - Controls whether wave files should be saved

Current Status

FWPayload is taking Option #1 for integration into Caravel. Specifically, FWPayload will be hardened separately as a macro, then integrated into user_project_wrapper.

The ‘openlane/fwpayload’ directory contains the config files for running OpenLane. The ‘openlane’ directory contains a Makefile for running OpenLane.

Openlane completes on fwpayload with the following status:

Number of pins violated: 321
Number of nets violated: 201
Total number of nets: 44783
[INFO]: Generating Final Summary Report...
[SUCCESS]: Flow Completed Without Fatal Errors.

Integrating the fwpayload macro into user_project_wrapper is currently incomplete, due to some include path issues.