Subject says it all - would like to hear from people using the SUZAKU modules, how well they work, what toolchain / development hardware you use, etc.
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Especially interested in learning what the workflow is for iterating on a design that has an embedded MicroBlaze, does the inclusion of the soft-core CPU add a lot of turnaround time during recompilation of a design into a bitstream? Or is that part mostly static and unlikely to slow down debugging & iteration.
And any pointers to appropriate JTAG interfaces for USB2 or Ethernet would be appreciated too.
Rob
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I was also looking at that boards, but not purchased yet. I like the uClinux implementation (japanese are crazy about linux) and VMware development tools encapsulation. I would also like to hear a response from the users. Otherwise for JTAG use Xilinx PlatformCable USB, it is worth 150$.
Hi, we just bought a Suzaku SZ130. One of our students builds a simple power supply and adapter card. As soon as he finishes we will make our first real experience with the SZ130 Board. We are working with ISE & EDK (8.2i) under a debian linux environment. We only have an old Parallel Cable III, so we have to provide our Adapter card with a a 2.5V Level converter for the Suzaku JTAG. Rob already is a member in the Suzaku mailing list. If you want to know more about Suzaku and its users, subscribe to that list via the Suzaku homepages.
If you want to use the I/O pins of the Suzakus, you really need the EDK, because they are not available as GPIOs in the standard configuration. I'm already preparing a design modification for our student, but besides that want to build a LPT port later. Anyone has a parport driver for microblaze? :-)
I bought an SZ010 board for use in a PVR project, thinking the EDK/Linux design would provide a fast development route. In the end this proved impractical, simply because uCLinux running on a Microblaze (which maxes out at about 52MHz in this case) doesn't provide good enough network performance - from memory, an ftp test was clocking in at around 3 mbits/s.
Unless you're prepared to rip everything up and start again, which is what I had to do, you may be better off spending a bit more to get a V-series board. These have a hard, 270MHz PPC405 built into the FPGA, which ought to help with the performance issues. That said, being forced to design from the ground up was certainly a learning experience for all things MAC and ethernet related. :-)
On the JTAG side, the cheapest/easiest approach is to get a cheap parallel III compatible cable (e.g. the Digilent one) and make an adaptor. There is no connector on the board, so you'll be soldering something on there whatever you do. Interfacing to the FPGA requires 2.5V, as noted elsewhere, but the flash interface is 3.3V, which means you can wire straight up without a level conversion.
The Suzaku's interface to the off-chip MAC-PHY has no DMA capability, which goes a long way to explaining the poor ethernet throughput you describe. With the Xilinx EMAC, and DMA, checksum offload and all bells and whistles we've hit 50mbit/sec with MicroBlaze / uClinux systems in netperf tests.
Yes, my reply was overly simplistic and skipped over the middle ground for no reason other than it being what I did.
The main point for the OP is that the Suzaku requires more effort than just bolting in application-specific extras. Having not used the EDK before and really not requiring Linux for anything other than pinching the network stack, I personally found it easier to start from scratch.
I have the Suzaku-S Board SZ030_U00 (With Spartan-3-XCS1000, FLASH:8MB DRAM:16MB )
I would like to have your feedbacks about your experiences with that Kin of Boards "Suzaku-S".
my gaol is to control with SZ030 an external Hardware, so i´m plannini to send via Ethernet a request(ex: 00011010010101) to VHDL-Code (that will Implement in Spartan-3) to make a specified Action...
the Question is: is there any Documentation that explain how will the fe Bytes i will send via Ethernet be transfered to the FPGA-Spartan-3... ? how can i control the Information i want to send to the FPGA(spartan-3 via Ethernet?
is there any Projekts i can learn from ? has anyone worked on a similar projekts..?
until now i still have many Problems with EDK/XPS. to creat m Projekt...?
i will be pleased to heare about your experiments with that Kind of Board and how to build a Projekt for Suzaku-S Boards with EDK-Tool.?
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