Use of the Base System Builder on the AMIRIX AP100 and AP1000

A number of customers have asked us about the EDK Base System Builder and how it can be used with AMIRIX’s line of development boards. We've created the files to support this and they are available for download below. However, we'd like to draw your attention to an alternative design flow that is recommended for the AP100 and AP1000 development boards.

What the Base System Builder Does
The Base System Builder essentially creates a complete EDK project, including the user constraints required to map I/O correctly on a specific board. This is a powerful starting point that prevents the user from spending hours collecting this information by hand.

Base System Builder Limitations
There are some limitations to what can be achieved with Base System Builder. The complete list of restrictions is included in the Embedded System Tools Reference Manual and Platform Specification Format Reference Manual within the Xilinx EDK documentation. The more significant limitations, concerning timing issues, clock frequencies, and number of sample applications that can be generated, can be found on pages 70 and 72 of the Embedded Systems Tools Reference Manual, and page 125 of the Platform Specification Format Reference Manual.

What Additional Work is Needed
There are a number of important steps that are still required when beginning with the Base System Builder:

  • Any IP which is not included in the EDK must be added. (On the AP100 and AP1000 this includes the OPB External Bus Bridge, if flash memory, System ACE or the PCI bus are required. Access to the PCI buses on the AP1000 requires the PLB to PSB Bridge IP be added.)
  • Due to the limitation listed above, we find that the clocking architecture must be customized, especially for high-speed peripherals with complex timing, such as the DDR SDRAM Controller.
  • Any timing constraints beyond the period of the master clock must be added to ensure the design meets timing requirements.
  • Software must be developed, although as indicated above the Base System Builder can provide an example software application as a starting point.

An Alternative Approach
As described above, the Base System Builder creates an EDK project embodying a basic system. With the AP100 and AP1000, AMIRIX provides a complete EDK project reference design, including all source code, for just such a basic system. The Baseline Platform Reference Design already includes the OPB External Bus Bridge and PLB to PSB Bridge (AP1000), along with all necessary clocking and timing constraints. This is completely ready to run with the corresponding bitstream already installed on the AP100 or AP1000 at delivery and will run "out of the box".

In addition, to support software development the Baseline Platform Reference Design includes both a monitor program (U-Boot) and a Linux Board Support Package. Source code is provided for both in the event that modification is desired.

So, the AMIRIX Baseline Platform Reference Design offers everything that is created by the Base System Builder and a great deal more. We feel that this is a much more solid starting point for creating designs for the AP100 and AP1000.


Installation Instructions

Xilinx Board Definition (XBD) Files for EDK Base System Builder (BSB), February 3, 2006

  1. Download archive from http://www.amirix.com/products/bsbfiles to a
    temporary directory.
  2. Create a permanent location for the board definition files (e.g. C:\BSB_FILES).
  3. Extract (unzip) the archive into the board definition directory.
  4. Open Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS) and create a new BSB project.
  5. In the "Create New Project Using Base System Builder" dialog box, activate
    the check box next to "User Peripheral Repository search path ...".
  6. Browse to the board definition directory created in Step 2.
  7. Click OK.
  8. The AMIRIX AP100 and AP1000 boards will now show up within Base System
    Builder and can be targeted as usual.