Hello, my name is Masuo.
Today, I would like to show you how to check if your FPGA device is booting up using JTAG connection.
About JTAG mode
JTAG ( Joint Test Action Group ) is a common name for IEEE 1149.1 test access port standard used for integrated circuits and debugging, etc. JTAG consists of four signals ( TCK, TDO, TDI, TMS ). Altera FPGAs support the JTAG standard.
JTAG mode has priority over any device or configuration mode.
Figure 8-23 shows the JTAG schematic.
The USB-Blaster is used to connect the board to the writing tool (Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer) and perform the configuration in JTAG mode.
The signal layout of the USB-Blaster's 10-pin connector is described in the " Intel® FPGA Download Cable User Guide " (Figure 3, Table 3).
These documents were used to design the wiring of the JTAG circuit.
"Auto Detect" to recognize devices
Now that the JTAG circuit is wired on the board, it is time to check if the device can be accessed via JTAG.
Open the Programmer => Click on Auto Detect ( Figure 1 ).
Figure 1 Programmer screen
The message window shown in Figure 2 appears. This means that the JTAG wiring is correct and the device is activated.
Figure 2: When the device is recognized
On the other hand, if the JTAG wiring is faulty or the device is not activated, the warning message shown in Figure 3 is displayed.
Figure 3: When the device cannot be recognized
Configuration failure...
The "Auto Detect" function has confirmed that the JTAG wiring is correct and the device has booted up. However, when JTAG configuration is executed, the following Warning is displayed and the configuration failed...
Warning => "CONF_DONE pin failed to go high in device 1."
Masuo: "What is CONF_DONE pin?"
The answer was written in Hachioji's column " Configuration Sequence. (This is exactly the moment when a new engineer's blushing blog comes in handy!)
According to Hachi-Senpai's column, there are two major causes of configuration failure.
- Mistakes during tool operation
- Problems related to the board
In fact, the board of Masuo's system was very unstable, with configuration sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, and it was a problem related to the board.
(Click here to read the rest of the article.)
New Engineer's Blush Blog Articles