LimeSDR-PCIe-5G Board Programming

Note

This procedure requires:
  • One computer equipped with LimeSDR-PCIe-5G.

  • Xilinx Vivado 2020.1 software running on the same computer.

  • An Xilinx USB programmer, e.g Xilinx JTAG Platform Cable USB II.

Hardware configuration

  1. Insert LimeSDR-PCIe-5G board into an available PCIe slot.

  2. The board requires an additional 12V voltage supply from the computer, using the 6-pin PCIe connector J36.

  3. Connect the Xilinx USB programmer JTAG cable to the J14 connector.

  4. Connect the Xilinx programmer to the USB port of the computer running Vivado Xilinx software.

FPGA gateware bitstream generation

The repository described below contains the FPGA gateware project for the LimeSDR_PCIe_5G board:

https://gitlab.com/myriadrf/pcie_5gradio_gw.git

branch: DPD_3.1_Board

The gateware can be built with the free version of Xilinx Vivado v2020.1 (64-bit).

In order to generate the board programming file follow the procedure:

  1. In Vivado open the gateware directory “pcie_5gradio_gw”.

  2. Select ToolsRun Tcl script..

  3. Execute the script “pcie_5gradio_gw/Generate_Project.tcl”.

  4. In Vivado press the button Program and DebugGenerate bitstream

  5. After generating a gateware file, execute script “pcie_5gradio_gw/gen_prog_file.tcl” to generate configuration flash file.

The file is located in: “pcie_5gradio_gw/bitstream/flash_programming_file.bin”.

Uploading FPGA gateware bitstream to the FLASH memory

  1. Make sure the board is powered on and the JTAG cable is connected.

  2. Connect to the board using the Vivado Hardware manager, by clicking Open Target and then Auto Connect.

  3. Add the configuration memory memory device in the Hardware Manager by selecting Add Configuration Memory Device and selecting the mx25L256 part.

  4. After adding the configuration memory device, in order to program it select it in the hardware tab and after right clicking select Program Configuration Memory Device and select the file “pcie_5gradio_gw/bitstream/flash_programming_file.bin”.