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So right now I have a somewhat "generic" QSYS output that I can simply modify as my design changes without using QSYS, since the changes will all be in the slave logic. I think it was worthwhile to go through the experience, but unless I'm building the types if things you describe (typically not - we do primarily signal processing), might not crack Qsys again for a while. Thanks for the thoughts.
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I also work on signal processing systems. I ignored all Avalon-based systems up until the point that I could not avoid them. The IP for using the transceivers on the Stratix IV and V devices have Avalon interfaces inherently built into them for their control and debug, eg. eye-pattern sweep, output voltage swing etc. So, if you start working with ADCs/DACs that use the high-speed transceivers to interface to the FPGA, then you'll have to 'suck it up' and work with Qsys :)
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BTW: I spent a few hours with the system console dashboard widgets today. They're not all that pretty (or well documented), and also seem somewhat buggy (i filed a ticket because the "timechart" sometimes doesn't update until long after the script completes").
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I haven't seen these widgets. I guess I did not look for them. They sound like something new in v11.0.
These widgets sound like they are similar to Tcl/Tk widgets.
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We NEED something like this to do pretty demos for our customers. Is there a step up from this interface without going all the way to LabView?
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My recommendation would be to separate functional interfaces from user interfaces. The separation can be via DLLs or sockets. For example, make your hardware accessible via read/write over JTAG, and then wrap that with a simple read/write server. The GUI then talks to the read/write server. The advantage of this separation is that the guy programming the GUI just has to prove that he can generate the right read/write sequences to the client. This makes debug a lot easier, and saves tying up your hardware for GUI development.
If you later replace the JTAG interface with a NIOS network interface, then the GUI code does not change, it simply contacts a different server IP; that of the NIOS processor.
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Again - thanks for all your kind help. The Jumpstart was appreciated 8-}
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You're welcome!
Cheers,
Dave
Honored Contributor
