amtest

This is a collection of my tests written in order to better understand amaranth HDL and FPGA development in general, and some common tools to test external code.

status

• set up started on 23feb2022. Not yet fully functional.

To use, in the gui go to the function interface tab, then press start on the fifo test. That will trigger a logic analyser recording, which once it is sent back over wifi, will open a gtkwave viewer with the data. here's an early result! More usage details will be detailed later.

next steps

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later steps

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Usage

Using vscode, open the amaram.code-workspace file, then use the build debug launch shortcuts as named below. See the code-workspace file to see the translation into command line arguments, as they al just call setup.py with various arguments.

Initially,

1. Make a mcu_gui_interface.configjson file following the .example.
2. In vscode as a debugging task, run fpga upload-uart-passthru-binary. This routes the uart signals to the ulx3s's esp32 microcontroller. Lots of informtion is printed to screen, and success or failure should be indicated
3. Run mcu reflash-binary to load the micropython operating system.

Then, and each time changes are made to fpga gateware,

1. Open the fpga test file such as test3_from_luna_ula, then run fpga upload current file. Alternatively, for fpga development run fpga simulate current file or fpga generate current file.

Then, and each time changes are made to mcu firmware,

1. Run mcu update-firmware to put this project's firmware on it. As demonstrated in build.py, this rsync's over the folder of amaram/tests/ulx3s_gui_test/common/test_common and the content of amaram/tests/ulx3s_gui_test/mcu_firmware/source to the root directory of the microcontroller. This will end by opening a repl window into the microcontroller. It's not as functional as the underlying rshell interface which can still be used manually.

Then, and each time changes are made to gui software,

1. Run start gui which also acts as the server for the wifi connection, then in the repl window type import main, which will start the mcu, which acts as the client for the connection. At this point the gui will work as a remote control, providing an interface to read/write spi registers, and to trigger other specific functions.