Wishbone bridge between Renode and Fomu¶
This part of the workshop is based on a Renode, Fomu and Etherbone bridge example from the Renode documentation.
Just like we can access Fomu peripherals using wishbone-tool, we can
also connect to a physical board from Renode, mapping a part of the
memory space to be accessible via the Etherbone protocol.
This is a very useful capability as it enables us to potentially simulate an advanced LiteX SoC system which would not normally fit in the FPGA (or e.g. take a long time to synthesize), and interface it with the remaining part of the physical system for I/O.
Setting up the server¶
Ensure your Fomu is plugged in and setup the Etherbone server.
In the workshop directory execute the following commands (on Linux and macOS):
cd litex/deps/litex
git checkout master && git pull # this will fetch newer LiteX, required to handle communication properly
./litex_setup.py init # this will clone dependencies
export PYTHONPATH=`pwd`:`pwd`/litex:`pwd`/migen
When on Windows, run:
cd litex\deps\litex
git checkout master && git pull
litex_setup.py init
set PYTHONPATH=%cd%;%cd%\litex;%cd%\migen
After this preparation, we are ready to start the server:
python3 litex/tools/litex_server.py --usb --usb-vid 0x1209 --usb-pid 0x5bf0
You should see the following output, confirming that the server is connected to Fomu:
LiteX remote server
[CommUSB] vid: 0x1209 / pid: 0x5bf0 / tcp port: 1234
Now you can start Renode and setup the platform.
Connecting from Renode¶
Run renode and in the Monitor type:
(monitor) include @scripts/complex/fomu/renode_etherbone_fomu.resc
(machine-0) start
The litex_server.py should print:
Connected with 127.0.0.1:<port>
You will also see a new window with a shell application, that provides additional commands allowing you to control LEDs on Fomu.
uart:~$ led_toggle
uart:~$ led_breathe
The led_toggle command controls the LED by turning it on and off.
led_breathe makes the LED fade slowly in and out, creating a
“breathe” effect.
The script you loaded configures Renode to log all communication with Fomu. After issuing some commands in Zephyr’s shell you’ll see:
01:00:31.8276 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000988] WriteUInt32 to 0x8 (unknown), value 0x7.
01:00:31.8279 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000990] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x8.
01:00:31.8290 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000998] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0xC8.
01:00:31.8298 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009A0] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x9.
01:00:31.8301 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009A8] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0xBA.
01:00:31.8305 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009B0] WriteUInt32 to 0x8 (unknown), value 0x6.
01:00:31.8308 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009B4] WriteUInt32 to 0x8 (unknown), value 0x7.
01:00:31.8311 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009BC] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x5.
01:00:31.8314 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009C0] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0x0.
01:00:31.8317 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009C4] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x6.
01:00:31.8321 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009C8] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0x0.
01:00:31.8324 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009D0] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x2.
01:00:31.8327 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009D4] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0x0.
01:00:31.8331 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009DC] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x3.
01:00:31.8334 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009E0] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0x0.
01:00:31.8337 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009E8] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0x1.
01:00:31.8341 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x400009F4] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0xFF.
01:00:31.8344 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000A08] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0xA.
01:00:31.8347 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000A0C] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0x0.
01:00:31.8350 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000A14] WriteUInt32 to 0x4 (unknown), value 0xB.
01:00:31.8353 [DEBUG] led: [cpu: 0x40000A18] WriteUInt32 to 0x0 (unknown), value 0xFF.
You can interact with Fomu manually, via the Monitor. To do that, you first need to find the name of the peripheral that serves the connection to Fomu.
Type in peripherals to see a list of all the elements of the
emulated SoC. Look for EtherBoneBridge entry:
(machine-0) peripherals
Available peripherals:
sysbus (SystemBus)
│
├── cpu (VexRiscv)
│ Slot: 0
│
├── ddr (MappedMemory)
│ <0x40000000, 0x4FFFFFFF>
│ <0xC0000000, 0xCFFFFFFF>
│
├── eth (LiteX_Ethernet)
│ │ <0x60007800, 0x600078FF>
│ │ <0xE0007800, 0xE00078FF>
│ │ <0x30000000, 0x30001FFF>
│ │ <0xB0000000, 0xB0001FFF>
│ │ <0x60007000, 0x600077FF>
│ │ <0xE0007000, 0xE00077FF>
│ │
│ └── phy (EthernetPhysicalLayer)
│ Address: 0
│
├── flash_mem (MappedMemory)
│ <0x20000000, 0x21FFFFFF>
│ <0xA0000000, 0xA1FFFFFF>
│
├── led (EtherBoneBridge)
│ <0xE0006800, 0xE00068FF>
│
├── mem (MappedMemory)
│ <0x00000000, 0x0003FFFF>
│ <0x80000000, 0x8003FFFF>
│
├── spi (LiteX_SPI_Flash)
│ │ <0x60005000, 0x6000500F>
│ │ <0xE0005000, 0xE000500F>
│ │
│ └── flash (Micron_MT25Q)
│
├── sram (MappedMemory)
│ <0x10000000, 0x1003FFFF>
│ <0x90000000, 0x9003FFFF>
│
├── timer0 (LiteX_Timer)
│ <0x60002800, 0x60002843>
│ <0xE0002800, 0xE0002843>
│
└── uart (LiteX_UART)
<0x60001800, 0x600018FF>
<0xE0001800, 0xE00018FF>
The device that acts as a connector to Fomu is called led and is
registered at 0xE0006800:
├── led (EtherBoneBridge)
│ <0xE0006800, 0xE00068FF>
You can either use a full or relative address (via the sysbus or
led objects, respectively) to communicate with the physical LED
controller:
(machine-0) sysbus WriteDoubleWord 0xE0006804 0x1234 # writes 0x1234 to the given address
(machine-0) led WriteDoubleWord 0x4 0x4321 # writes 0x4321 to 0xE0006800 + 0x4
Note: the above values are just an example and won’t change the LED status in any visible way. If you want to enable “breathe” effect directly from the Monitor, see the necessary sequence in the application source code.