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PHJ's avatar
PHJ
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
7 years ago
Solved

Arria 10 SoC DevKit: Can I drive DB-9 RS-232 port from HPS UART0 ?

The user guide indicates that this is available after FPGA configuration.

What needs to be configured for this to work ?

​Does the GSRD support this ?

  • PHJ's avatar
    PHJ
    7 years ago

    ​Hi,

    I now have the HPS UART0 routed through the FPGA OK to the DB9 RS-232 port.

    The UART_RS232 soft IP is not required in the FPGA.

    My problem here was caused by the RS-232 PHY on the dev board operating in an auto-shutdown mode that meant that the external tx/rx loopback test I was attempting would never wake the PHY.

    Thanks,

    Paul

8 Replies

  • Ahmed_H_Intel1's avatar
    Ahmed_H_Intel1
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    7 years ago

    Hi,

    I will check what configuration you need and will let you know shortly.

  • Ahmed_H_Intel1's avatar
    Ahmed_H_Intel1
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    7 years ago

    Hi,

    The RS-232 component on the board can be accessed by the "UART_RS-232 soft IP" in the platform designer (Qsys). So what you need is to connect the HPS IP to RS232 IP in the platform designer.

    Also you still can use the NIOS II to control the RS232 and send the data to HPS in case of using the NIOS II as a master core.

    Please refer to the UART core description in the following page:

    https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/ug/ug_embedded_ip.pdf#page=106

    Regards.

  • PHJ's avatar
    PHJ
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    7 years ago

    Hi -

    Sorry - been off working on other things for a while....

    I'm confused here.....Why would I need the "UART_RS-232 soft IP" ? The UART controller is already implemented as UART0 in the HPS isn't it ? Can I not just get the HPS UART0 Rx/Tx signals routed to CRC_ERROR (AU21)/CVP_CONFDONE(AV22) in the FPGA without adding the FPGA UART soft IP ? If so, are there some simple steps for a platform designer novice to follow to do this or an example design that does this available ?

    Thanks !

    • PHJ's avatar
      PHJ
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      7 years ago

      ​Can someone from Intel please comment on this ?

      I need to receive/transmit data from/to the dev board DB-9 RS-232 port on UART0 in the HPS.

      What FPGA configuration do I need for this - do I need the UART_RS-232 soft IP implemented in the FPGA, or can I just configure the HPS UART0 Rx/Tx signals to be routed to CRC_ERROR/CVP_CONFDONE ?

      Is any configuration required in the MAX V for this ?

  • PHJ's avatar
    PHJ
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    7 years ago

    ​Hi,

    I now have the HPS UART0 routed through the FPGA OK to the DB9 RS-232 port.

    The UART_RS232 soft IP is not required in the FPGA.

    My problem here was caused by the RS-232 PHY on the dev board operating in an auto-shutdown mode that meant that the external tx/rx loopback test I was attempting would never wake the PHY.

    Thanks,

    Paul

    • GSagl1's avatar
      GSagl1
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      6 years ago

      Hi,

      How did you do this? What is FPGA OK? I have a design in my FPGA and I'm not using the HPS at all, and I want to use UART to send data to the design in the FPGA. Is this what you also did, and How?

      I hope you can help me understand what's going on,

      Gurol

      • PHJ's avatar
        PHJ
        Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
        6 years ago

        ​Hi Gurol -

        We configured the pinmux in the HPS to route UART0 via the FPGA:

        /* UART0 routed via FPGA */

        alt_write_word(ALT_PINMUX_FPGA_UART0_USEFPGA_ADDR, ALT_PINMUX_FPGA_UART0_USEFPGA_SEL_SET(1));

        We configured the FPGA to route the HPS UART0 signals to the appropriate input/output pins of the A10 - we only used tx/rx as we were not using flow control.

        Best Regards,

        Paul

    • corestar's avatar
      corestar
      Icon for Contributor rankContributor
      5 years ago

      Hello, I'm having a similar problem except I want to access the RS-232 via the DB-9 on J25. I see the TX line togging coming out of the FPGA but nothing shows up on the Teraterm on the PC. Works fine with JTAG UART, but that little window in the NIOS-II tools is really annoying.

      Can you explain how you fixed the auto shutdown issue on the RS-232 Phy?