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This document presents the steps to setup an environment for using the EVAL-AD8403SDZ evaluation board together with the Xilinx KC705 FPGA board, the Xilinx Embedded Development Kit (EDK) and the Micrium µC-Probe run-time monitoring tool. Below is presented a picture of the EVAL-AD8403SDZ Evaluation Board with the Xilinx KC705 board.
For component evaluation and performance purposes, as opposed to quick prototyping, the user is directed to Analog Devices System Demonstration Platform (SDP). The SDP consists of a:
The EVAL-SDP-CB1Z controller board is part of Analog Devices SDP providing USB 2.0 high-speed connectivity to a PC computer running specific component evaluation software. Each SDP evaluation daughter board includes the necessary installation files needed for this performance testing. It's expected that the analog performance on the two platforms may differ.
Below is presented a picture of SDP-B Controller Board with the EVAL-AD8403SDZ Evaluation Board.
The AD8403 is a quad-channel, 256-position, digitally controlled variable resistor device. This device performs the same electronic adjustment function as a mechanical potentiometer or variable resistor. The AD8403 contains four independent variable resistors. Each variable resistor offers a completely programmable value of resistance between the A terminal and the wiper or the B terminal and the wiper. The fixed A-to-B terminal resistance of 1 kO, 10 kO, 50 kO, or 100 kO has a ±1% channel-to-channel matching tolerance with a nominal temperature coefficient of 500 ppm/°C.
The EVAL-AD8403SDZ evaluation board is designed to help customers quickly prototype new AD8403 circuits and reduce design time. The EVAL-AD8403SDZ incorporates several test circuits to evaluate the AD8403 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.
The following table presents a short description the reference design archive contents.
Folder | Description |
---|---|
Bit | Contains the KC705 configuration file that can be used to program the system for quick evaluation. |
Microblaze | Contains the EDK 13.4 project for the Microblaze softcore that will be implemented in the KC705 FPGA. |
Software | Contains the source files of the software project that will be run by the Microblaze processor. |
uCProbeInterface | Contains the uCProbe interface and the .elf symbols file used by uC-Probe to access data from the Microblaze memory. |
Before connecting the ADI evaluation board to the Xilinx KC705 make sure that the VADJ_FPGA voltage of the KC705 is set to 3.3V. For more details on how to change the setting for VADJ_FPGA visit the Xilinx KC705 product page.
At this point everything is set up and it is possible to start the evaluation of the ADI hardware through the controls in the uC-Probe application provided in the reference design.
Launch uC-Probe from the Start → All Programs → Micrium → uC-Probe.
Select uC-Probe options.
Set target board communication protocol as RS-232
Setup RS-232 communication settings
The following figure presents the uC-Probe interface that can be used for monitoring and controlling the operation of the EVAL-AD8403SDZ evaluation board.
Section A is used to activate the board and monitor activity. The communication with the board is activated / deactivated by toggling the ON/OFF switch. The Activity LED turns green when the communication is active. If the ON/OFF switch is set to ON and the Activity LED is BLACK it means that there is a communication problem with the board.
Section B is used to shutdown and reset the device.
Section C is used to send a 10-bits word to the device. This data-word can be sent by manually switching the buttons from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0, as desired, and then toggling the Send Data switch.
Section D is used to update the RDAC registers by selecting a desirable value on the slider and toggling the Load RDACx switch.
In case there is a communication problem with the board the follwing actions can be perfomed in order to try to fix the issues: