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This document presents the steps to setup an environment for using the EVAL-AD7938CBZ evaluation board together with the EVAL-CED Converter Evaluation and Development (CED) Board, the Nios II Embedded Development Suite (EDS) and the Micrium µC-Probe run-time monitoring tool. Below is presented a picture of the EVAL-AD7938 Evaluation Board with the CED1 board.
The CED1Z board is intended for use in evaluation, demonstration and development of systems using Analog Devices precision converters. It provides the necessary communications between the converter and the PC, programming or controlling the device, transmitting or receiving data over a USB link.
The AD7938 is a 12-bit high speed, low power, successive approximation (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The part operates from a single 2.7 V to 5.25 V power supply and feature throughput rates up to 1.5 MSPS. The part contains a low noise, wide bandwidth, differential track-and-hold amplifier that can handle input frequencies up to 50 MHz. The AD7938 features eight analog input channels with a channel sequencer that allows a preprogrammed selection of channels to be converted sequentially. The part can operatewith either single-ended, fully differential, or pseudodifferential analog inputs. The conversion process and data acquisition are controlled using standard control inputs that allow easy interfacing with microprocessors and DSPs. The input signal is sampled on the falling edge of CONVST and the conversion is also initiated at this point. The AD7938 has an accurate on-chip 2.5 V reference that can be used as the reference source for the analog-to-digital conversion. Alternatively, this pin can be overdriven to provide an external reference. This part uses advanced design techniques to achieve very low power dissipation at high throughput rates. It also features flexible power management options. An on-chip control register allows the user to set up different operating conditions, including analog input range and configuration, output coding, power management, and channel sequencing.
The EVAL-AD7938CBZ is a fully featured evaluation kit for the AD7938. This board operates in stand alone mode or in conjunction with the Converter Evaluation and Development board, EVAL-CED1Z . When operated with the Converter Evaluation and Development board, software is provided enabling the user to perform detailed analysis of the ADC's performance.
The first objective is to ensure that you have all of the items needed and to install the software tools so that you are ready to create and run the evaluation project.
Below is presented the list of required hardware items:
Below is presented the list of required software tools:
The Quartus II design software and the Nios II EDS is available via the Altera Complete Design Suite DVD or by downloading from the web.
The Micrium uC/Probe Trial version is available via download from the web at http://micrium.com/download/Micrium-uC-Probe-Setup-Trial.exe. Note: After installation add to the “Path” system variable the entry “%QUARTUS_ROOTDIR%\bin\“ on the third position in the list.
Create a folder called “ADIEvalBoard” on your PC and extract the ad7938_evalboard.zip archive to this folder. Make sure that there are NO SPACES in the directory path. After extracting the archive the following folders should be present in the ADIEvalBoard folder: FPGA, Hdl, NiosCpu, Software, ucProbe.
Folder | Description |
---|---|
FPGA | Contains all the files necessary to program the CED1Z board in order to evaluate the ADC. By executing the script program_fpga.bat the FPGA with be programmed with the evaluation project. New Nios2 applications can be created using the files from this folder. The ip subfolder contains the HDL drivers in /hdl/src , the software drivers for HAL in /hdl/src/HAL and the AD7938 registers in /hdl/src/inc . |
Hdl | Contains the source files for the AD7938 HDL driver: - The doc subfolder contains a brief documentation for the driver. - The src subfolder contains the HDL source files. - The tb folder contains the sources of the driver's testbench. |
NiosCpu | Contains the CED1Z Quartus evaluation project source files . The ip subfolder contains the AD7938 SOPC component. |
Software | Contains the source files of the uCProbe library and the main file of the Nios2 SBT evaluation project. |
uCProbe | Contains the uCProbe interface and data capture script used to acquire data from the evaluation board and store it in a local .csv file. |
The USB Blaster is used to program the FPGA on the CED1Z board and also for data exchange between the system and a PC. To install the driver plug the Terasic USB Blaster into one of the PCs USB ports. Your Windows PC will find the new hardware and try to install the driver.
Since Windows cannot locate the driver for the device the automatic installation will fail and the driver has to be installed manually. In the Device Manager right click on the USB-Blaster device and select Update Driver Software.
In the next dialog box select the option Browse my computer for driver software. A new dialog will open where it is possible to point to the driver’s location. Set the location to altera\11.0\quartus\drivers\usb-blaster and press Next.
If Windows presents you with a message that the drivers have not passed Windows Logo testing, please click “Install this driver software anyway”. Upon installation completion a message will be displayed to inform that the installation is finished.
The evaluation project contains all the source files needed to build a system that can be used to configure the AD7938 and capture data from it. The system consists of a Nios II softcore processor that is implemented in the FPGA found on the CED1Z board and a PC application. The softcore controls the communication with the Device Under Test (DUT) and the data capture process. The captured data is saved into the SRAM of the CED1Z board and aftwerwards it is read by the PC application and saved into a comma separated values (.csv) file that can be used for further data analysis.
The following components are implemented in the FPGA design:
Name | Address | IRQ |
---|---|---|
CPU | 0x00000800 | - |
PLL | 0x00000000 | - |
OnChip_mem | 0x00002000 | - |
LEDS | 0x00000020 | - |
SYSID | 0x00000010 | - |
SRAM | 0x00200000 | - |
TRISTATE_BRIDGE_0 | - | - |
UCPROBE_UART | 0x00000018 | 0 |
JTAG_UART_0 | 0x00000040 | 1 |
SYS_TIMER | 0x00000060 | 2 |
AD7938_0 | 0x00000050 | - |
MM_CONSOLE_MASTER | - | - |
Table 1 System components |
The Nios II processor contains a peripheral that implements the communication protocol with the DUT. The peripheral is divided into three logical modules: a module which implements the interface with the Avalon bus and the communication with the SRAM, a module which implements an Avalon master interface which is used to write data directly in the SRAM and a module which is the actual driver of the DUT. The driver can also be used as standalone in FPGA designs which do not contain a softcore. Following is presented a block diagram of the HDL driver and a description of the driver's interface signals.
Table 2 describes the ports of the AD7938 driver.
Port | Direction | Width | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Clock and reset ports | |||
FPGA_CLK_I | IN | 1 | Main clock input. |
RESET_I | IN | 1 | Active low reset signal. |
ADC_CLK_I | IN | 1 | Clock to be sent to the ADC during the conversion process. |
IP control and data ports | |||
WR_DATA_N_I | IN | 1 | Active low signal use to initiate a data write. The data to be written to the device must be active on the DATA_IO bus one clock cycle after this signal is set low and must be kept active until the DATA_WR_READY_O signal returns to high. If the ADC is performing a conversion while the WR_DATA_N_I signal is set low then the DATA_WR_READY_O will transition from high to low only when the conversion is complete. |
DATA_I | IN | 12 | Input bus used to receive the data to be written to the AD7938 internal registers. |
DATA_O | OUT | 16 | Outputs the data read from the ADC and the channel ID to which the read data corresponds. The channel ID is stored on the 4 most significant bits and the read data is stored on the 12 least significant bits. If the ADC is driven in word read mode then the channel ID will always be 0. |
DATA_RD_READY_O | OUT | 1 | Active high signal to indicate the status of a read operation from the AD7938. The IP continuously reads the conversion results from the AD7938 and outputs them on the DATA_O bus. When this signal is high data can be read from the DATA_O bus. |
DATA_WR_READY_O | OUT | 1 | Active high signal to indicate the status of a write operation to the IP. One clock cycle after the WR_DATA_N_I signal is set low the DATA_WR_READY_O is also set low and returns to high only after the write operation to the AD7938 is complete. During a write operation the data read operations are suspended. |
AD7938 control and data ports | |||
ADC_DB_IO | IN/OUT | 12 | ADC bidirectional data bus used to write/read data to/from the AD7938. |
ADC_CS_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Chip Select. Active low logic input used in conjunction with RD and WR to read conversion data or to write data to the internal registers. |
ADC_RD_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC read Input. Active low logic input used in conjunction with CS to access the conversion result. The conversion result is placed on the data bus following the falling edge of RD read while CS is low. |
ADC_WR_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC write Input. Active low logic input used in conjunction with CS to write data to the internal ADC registers. |
ADC_WB_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Word/Byte Input. When this input is logic high, data is transferred to and from the AD7938/AD7939 in 12-bit/10-bit words on the DB0/DB2 to DB11 pins. When this pin is logic low, byte transfer mode is enabled. Data and the channel ID are transferred on Pin DB0 to Pin DB7, and Pin DB8/HBEN assumes its HBEN functionality. Unused data lines when operating in byte transfer mode should be tied off to DGND. |
ADC_CLK_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Master Clock Input. The clock source for the conversion process is applied to this pin. Conversion time for the AD7938/AD7939 takes 13 clock cycles. The frequency of the master clock input therefore determines the conversion time and achievable throughput rate. The CLKIN signal may be a continuous or burst clock. |
ADC_CONVST_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC conversion Start Input. A falling edge on CONVST is used to initiate a conversion. The track-and-hold goes from track mode to hold mode on the falling edge of CONVST and the conversion process is initiated at this point. Following power-down, when operating in auto-shutdown or auto-standby modes, a rising edge on CONVST is used to power up the device. |
ADC_BUSY_I | IN | 1 | ADC Busy Output. Logic output that indicates the status of the conversion. The BUSY output goes high following the falling edge of CONVST and stays high for the duration of the conversion. Once the conversion is complete and the result is available in the output register, the BUSY output goes low. The track-and-hold returns to track mode just prior to the falling edge of BUSY on the 13th rising edge of CLKIN. |
Table 2 AD7938 driver ports description |
The follwing figure presents the timing diagram for the read operations from the AD7938 driver.
The follwing figure presents the timing diagram for the write operations to the AD7938 driver.
Table 3 describes the ports of the Avalon peripheral:
Port | Direction | Width | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Clock and reset ports | |||
CLK_I | IN | 1 | Main clock input |
RESET_I | IN | 1 | System reset |
ADC_CLK_I | IN | 1 | ADC clock |
Avalon Slave Interface | |||
AVALON_WRITEDATA_I | IN | 32 | Slave write data bus |
AVALON_WRITE_I | IN | 1 | Slave write data request |
AVALON_READ_I | IN | 1 | Slave read data request |
AVALON_ADDRESS_I | IN | 2 | Slave address bus |
AVALON_READDATA_O | OUT | 32 | Slave read data bus |
Avalon Master Interface | |||
AVALON_MASTER_WAITREQUEST | IN | 1 | Master wait request signal |
AVALON_MASTER_ADDRESS_O | OUT | 32 | Master address bus |
AVALON_MASTER_BYTEENABLE_O | OUT | 4 | Master byte enable signals |
AVALON_MASTER_WRITEDATA_O | OUT | 32 | Master write data bus |
External connectors | |||
ADC_DB_IO | IN/OUT | 12 | ADC bidirectional data bus used to write/read data to/from the AD7938. |
ADC_CS_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Chip Select. Active low logic input used in conjunction with RD and WR to read conversion data or to write data to the internal registers. |
ADC_RD_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC read Input. Active low logic input used in conjunction with CS to access the conversion result. The conversion result is placed on the data bus following the falling edge of RD read while CS is low. |
ADC_WR_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC write Input. Active low logic input used in conjunction with CS to write data to the internal ADC registers. |
ADC_WB_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Word/Byte Input. When this input is logic high, data is transferred to and from the AD7938/AD7939 in 12-bit/10-bit words on the DB0/DB2 to DB11 pins. When this pin is logic low, byte transfer mode is enabled. Data and the channel ID are transferred on Pin DB0 to Pin DB7, and Pin DB8/HBEN assumes its HBEN functionality. Unused data lines when operating in byte transfer mode should be tied off to DGND. |
ADC_CLK_O | OUT | 1 | ADC Master Clock Input. The clock source for the conversion process is applied to this pin. Conversion time for the AD7938/AD7939 takes 13 clock cycles. The frequency of the master clock input therefore determines the conversion time and achievable throughput rate. The CLKIN signal may be a continuous or burst clock. |
ADC_CONVST_N_O | OUT | 1 | ADC conversion Start Input. A falling edge on CONVST is used to initiate a conversion. The track-and-hold goes from track mode to hold mode on the falling edge of CONVST and the conversion process is initiated at this point. Following power-down, when operating in auto-shutdown or auto-standby modes, a rising edge on CONVST is used to power up the device. |
ADC_BUSY_I | IN | 1 | ADC Busy Output. Logic output that indicates the status of the conversion. The BUSY output goes high following the falling edge of CONVST and stays high for the duration of the conversion. Once the conversion is complete and the result is available in the output register, the BUSY output goes low. The track-and-hold returns to track mode just prior to the falling edge of BUSY on the 13th rising edge of CLKIN. |
Table 3 Avalon peripheral ports description |
Table 4 describes the registers of the Avalon peripheral:
Name | Offset | Width | Access | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
CONTROL_REGISTER | 0 | 32 | RW | Bit 0 is used to start data acquisition Bit 1 is used to initiate software reset of the core Bit 2 is used to configure the Avalon write master core to write data to the same location Bit 3 is used to write data to the AD7938 evaluation board |
ACQ_COUNT_REGISTER | 1 | 32 | RW | Register used to configure the number of samples to be acquired when acquisition is started |
BASE_REGISTER | 2 | 32 | RW | Register used to configure the base address of the memory location where the acquired data is to be written |
STATUS_REGISTER | 3 | 32 | R | Bit 0 is used to signal that the acquisition is complete Bit 1 is used to signal that the internal memory buffer has been overflown Bit 2 is used to signal that the user has performed a read of an unavailable register |
DUT_WR_REGISTER | 2 | 32 | W | Register used to transmit ot the peripheral the data to written into the ADCs internal registers. |
Table 4 Avalon Peripheral registers description |
The next sections of this document present all the steps needed to create a fully functional project that can be used for evaluating the operation of the ADI platform. It is possible to skip these steps and load into the FPGA an image that contains a fully functional system that can be used together with the uC-Probe interface for the ADI platform evalution. The first step of the quick evaluation process is to program the FPGA with the image provided in the lab files. Before the image can be loaded the Quartus II Web Edition tool or the Quartus II Programmer must be installed on your computer. To load the FPGA image you must first make sure that the USB cable is not connected to the CED1Z board. Connect the USB Blaster to the J6 connector of the CED1Z and power the board. Run the program_fpga.bat batch file located in the ADIEvalBoard/FPGA folder. Now the FPGA contains a fully functional system and it is possible to skip directly to the Evaluation Project User Interface section of this document
This section presents the steps for developing a software application that will run on the CED1Z system and will be used for controlling and monitoring the operation of the ADI evaluation board.
Launch the Nios II SBT from the Start → All Programs → Altera → Nios II EDS 11.0 → Nios II 11.0 Software Build Tools for Eclipse (SBT).
The tool will create two new software project directories. Each Nios II application has 2 project directories in the Eclipse workspace.
Since you chose the blank project template, there are no source files in the application project directory at this time. The BSP contains a directory of software drivers as well as a system.h header file, system initialization source code and other software infrastructure.
The software project provided in this lab does not make use of an operating system. All stdout, stdin and stderr messages will be directed to the jtag_uart.
The memory used by the design is should be changed from OnChip ram to SRAM.
In Windows Explorer locate the project directory which contains a directory called Software. In Windows Explorer select all the files and directories from the Software folder and drag and drop them into the Eclipse software project ADIEvalBoard.
Application code can be conveniently organized in a directory structure. This section shows how to define these paths in the makefile.
These 2 steps will compile and build the associated board support package, then the actual application software project itself. The result of the compilation process will be an Executable and Linked Format (.elf) file for the application, the ADIEvalBoard.elf file.
The CED1Z hardware is designed with a System ID peripheral. This peripheral is assigned a unique value based on when the hardware design was last modified in the SOPC Builder tool. SOPC Builder also places this information in the .sopcinfo hardware description file. The BSP is built based on the information in the .sopcinfo file.
To run the software project on the Nios II processor:
A notable challenge in embedded systems development is to overcome the lack of feedback that such systems typically provide. Many developers resort to blinking LEDs or instrumenting their code with printf() in order to determine whether or not their systems are running as expected. Micrium provides a unique tool named µC-Probe to assist these developers. With this tool, developers can effortlessly read and write the variables on a running embedded system. This section presents the steps required to run the demonstration project for the ADI evaluation board. A description of the uC-Probe demonstration interface is provided.
Launch uC-Probe from the Start → All Programs → Micrium → uC-Probe.
Select uC-Probe options.
Set target board communication protocol as JTAG UART
Setup JTAG UART communication settings
The following figure presents the uC-Probe interface that can be used for monitoring and controlling the operation of the EVAL-AD7938CBZ evaluation board.
In order to capture data from the ADC using the uCProbe demonstration project the following steps must be performed:
Note: If several consecutive data acquisitions are performed the captured data is appended to the Acquisition.csv file.
In case there is a communication problem with the board the follwing actions can be perfomed in order to try to fix the issues: