Could I develop a new gui using java based on the script language of ChipScope?

Yes but isn't college supposed to prepare them for the real world?

Couldn't the instructor set up chipscope and then save all the options? Then the student would just have to reload the saved project file, and the bus transaction would be there all optimally displayed for understanding.

-Jeff

In this course, we try to introduce 8086/8088 system to those who know nothing about FPGA.

In fact, I want to integrated the software debugging environment, so...

Thanks for your kindly reply

Wicky

Uhm....Do you really need chipscope for this? Is the purpose to introduce the students to FPGAs or to introduce them to the 8086/8088 processor and their bus transactions?

Granted it has been a bit more than 10 years since I was in college. But I had multiple courses dealing with the 8086/8088 as well as courses with the

6800 Motorola processor. I even had a DSP course with a TI processor. Seeing the BUS transaction during those classes was a simple lab introducing us to a digital logic analyzer.

Seems to me throwing the FPGA and Chipscope in when it may not need to be there is overly complex.

If the purpose is to introduce them to FPGAs, then I think it is better to keep the students using the standard tools they can download from xilinx. Just have a good lab write up and there shouldn't be a problem. I remember many a lab where the tool used was complex, but the Lab kept us to a small subset of the functionality as an introduction to the tool. Adding a new yet simpler GUI, will only hinder the students wehn they start going to job interviews and say they know how to use chipscope version "easy_mode".

In the course about 8086/8088 processor, I just plan to introduce this CPU and its bus transactions. if those younker are interested in more about FPGA, i think "no problem", :-)

The reason why I choose FPGA for the course lab is:

1) Soft core 8086/8088 is more flexible, we could monitor the bus transactions and even the cpu internal signal. Furthermore, we could introduce other processor system based on the same hardware platform.

2) We are a member of Xilinx XUP, we have several V2PRO and Spartan3E boards.

3) We have no budget to prepare logic analyzer for every student

Btw: There is a opensource 8086/8088 for FPGA in this web:

Many thanks!

Wicky

ce

e

ng

mber

ew

b

I am going to address these out of order.

3) I can understand not having a budget. Since my college was using a parallel port logic analyzer on the PC(cheap and limited input), I assumed you may have had access to some older technology like this. Just laying around in the labs.

2) The Spartan3e development kit is $150 each. Your students can certainly buy their own if they want. That is only one engineering book in cost. Some of your students may want to do that. You may want to list places where your students can order the boards. Since, you are a Xilinx XUP, I doubt you will be the only professor looking to use the tools at hand. A good student may see this as a sound investment, especially if the boards you have available in the labs are limited in number and availability.

1) I agree the soft core will give you more flexibility for observation. I don't think that writing a new GUI for chipscope versus extra explanation written in the lab guides is worth the effort.

Have fun torturing....I mean educating your students. ;-)

The reason why I choose FPGA for the course lab is:

1) Soft core 8086/8088 is more flexible, we could monitor the bus transactions and even the cpu internal signal. Furthermore, we could introduce other processor system based on the same hardware platform.

2) We are a member of Xilinx XUP, we have several V2PRO and Spartan3E boards.

3) We have no budget to prepare logic analyzer for every student

Btw: There is a opensource 8086/8088 for FPGA in this web:

Many thanks!

Wicky

Wicky,

You can try to use Scanseer boundary-scan software instead of ChipScope. Scanseer can display waveforms for FPGA pins and it's quite easy-to-use. But, unfortunately, it can't show internal FPGA's signals.

Scanseer home is

K> I found Chipscope is too difficult to learn for college students, it

Sorry, I don't think that I describe my idea clearly because of my poor english.

First, the XUP lab now serves for other course such as "introduction to VHDL" and so on. Now I hope we can utilize this lab more effectively. From the 8086/8088 lab on, we may port a serials of course to this lab and form a more close relation among those courses.

As for 8086/8088 lab which is not so much relative with fpga technology, a more simple debugging software will facilitate to most students. This course will focus on 8086/8088 system only, but with a soft core 8086/8088 lab, I think it will be helpful for the successive FPGA relative courses in which students will use those special software such as chipscope.

Many thanks!

Wicky

Some

g

t,

e d I e

to

.

er

ll

That is an interesting idea, I have been thinking about exactly the same thing actually as we currently use a rather old platform for our bus transaction lab here which make it hard to demonstrate more interesting features such as bus mastering. (Although we would probably use the tg68 core instead, as our current course material is heavily based on the MC68000.

Anyway, if you know that you are only interested in bus transactions you could use a synthesized logic analyzer that is instantiated in your design.

Look at for example

for something which seems fairly reasonable although I haven't tried it myself.

If you need to select signals dynamically I agree with other posters that chipscope shouldn't be that hard to setup/use.

However, if you find that you have very special needs that cannot be taken care of by chipscope it is actually possible to make your own logicanalyzer that you can dynamically insert into a design. I have an example of how to do that at the following URL:

And a screenshot of the tool:

The current version presents an ASCII interface to the logic analyzer but it should be quite simple to write a waveform viewer although I haven't had time to worry about that. (The Python code is quite ugly but I thought that it was better to release the code than to just let it collect dust in my home directory.)

/Andreas