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Altera_Forum
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16 years ago

remote upgradation of FPGA

Hi, i m new to this topic.what type of stuff should i read to know more about remote upgradation of FPGA? Could you plz explain how to upgrade SOF or POS file in Cyclone III FPGA remotely through ...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
16 years ago

I've got to say I got a kick out of the term "upgradation".

There are a few components to remote upgrade:

1 - Uploading your new image to the FPGA

2 - Programming the new image into your configuration flash

3 - Remotely triggering the reconfiguration.

Now you indicate that for# 1 you want to use ethernet. To me this means a NIOS processor running a TCP/IP stack. Then you can use FTP or TFTP or your own mechansim for getting the image down to the FPGA. However, if you're not using a NIOS, you've got to write some custom HDL to handle the ethernet.

For# 2, you have a few options. If you are using a NIOS, it's pretty easy to interface to the flash and program the new data in. If you are not using a NIOS, you can use the PFL or SFL (parallel or serial flash loader) megafunctions to program the flash.

# 3, use the remote_update core as std_logic_vector indicated.

Jake