MicroBlaze
MicroBlaze is a microcontroller that can be used in FPGAs from Xilinx . As a special feature, this microcontroller does not exist as physical hardware, but is only available as softcore written in hardware description languages such as VHDL and Verilog . Due to the special optimization for the special features of certain FPGA components, the logic requirement of this microcontroller is low and, depending on the expansion stage and version, moves between around 700 and over 2000 slices .
Overview
Microblaze is a 32-bit RISC microcontroller that is architecture motivated by the DLX microprocessor . It has a configurable three- to five-stage pipeline , internal cache , an interrupt controller , a hardware-based multiplier and optionally a hardware-based division unit, a floating point unit and special shift register units . It has several different buses , which are intended for the connection of extensive peripherals and memory in an FPGA.
The processor is primarily connected to an FPGA-internal CoreConnect bus (also known as PLB ). Together with optional external memory and other peripheral units on the PLB or on-chip peripheral bus , a system-on-a-chip is created .
The GNU Compiler Collection is used as the development system, to which Xilinx has added a graphical user interface called EDK and which is intended to facilitate integration into the FPGA hardware. There is also a development environment based on Eclipse . If required, µClinux , Linux or FreeRTOS can be used as operating systems .
Microblaze Micro Controller System (MCS)
Starting with the development environment ISE 13.4. Xilinx delivers a variant that can be used free of charge. The core is not generated with the "Platform Studio", which still requires a license, but with the core generator in the free WebPack license. The extensive selection of prefabricated peripheral modules from the "Platform Studio" such as SPI controllers is missing, but self-developed modules can still be connected to the soft core via the FPGA internal bus.
Third-party alternatives
In addition to the paid version of the Microblaze, which due to contractual restrictions can only be used on Xilinx FPGA components, there are various replicas that are open-source and binary compatible and can also be used on FPGAs from other manufacturers, such as the aeMB and OpenFire . The aeMB-MicroBlaze-Clone is under the LGP license and, in contrast to its model, has a wishbone bus common with OpenCores , which enables the connection of many finished and mostly also open source FPGA-IO modules. Xilinx also provides a less powerful "softcore", the PicoBlaze .
Web links
- Xilinx website for the MicroBlaze
- http://www.opencores.org/project,aemb - A binary compatible, open source implementation in Verilog , under the LGP license
- Stable porting of the 2.4 series of the µC Linux kernel for the MicroBlaze (see also µCLinux )
- git-SCM MicroBlaze section in the Linux kernel from 2.6.30
Individual evidence
- ↑ kernelnewbies 2.6.30 Support Microblaze CPU architecture
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Xilinx - Microblaze Micro Controller System (MCS)
- ↑ Open cores IP cores released under an open source license
- ↑ Wishbone specification
