README

   1 [> Milkymist-NG system-on-chip
   2 ------------------------------
   3
   4 This is the next-generation Milkymist(tm) system-on-chip design,
   5 introducing two key innovations:
   6  * Built on the powerful Migen VLSI logic design system.
   7  * Increased system memory performance thanks to a new architecture
   8    (ASMI) containing a transaction-reordering and superscalar controller.
   9
  10 The Milkymist-NG SoC supports the Milkymist One board. Obtain yours from:
  11   http://milkymist.org
  12
  13 Note that the -NG version is still experimental work in progress. For the
  14 production version of Milkymist SoC, visit:
  15   https://github.com/milkymist/milkymist
  16
  17 [> Instructions
  18 ---------------
  19 First, download and install Migen from:
  20   https://github.com/milkymist/migen
  21
  22 Then, you will need to fetch the "Spartan-6 FPGA DDR/DDR2 SDRAM PHY core"
  23 (PHY only solution, we do not need the NWL memory controller) from:
  24   http://www.xilinx.com/products/intellectual-property/1-1MFEDB.htm
  25 Downloading it is free of charge, but it cannot be redistributed in
  26 source form due to copyright restrictions.
  27
  28 Place the Verilog source code of the PHY (contents of
  29 phy_rtl/spartan6_soft_phy) into the verilog/s6ddrphy folder.
  30 Then run (from verilog/s6ddrphy):
  31   quilt push -a
  32 in order to apply patches that make the PHY more compliant with the DFI
  33 specification in general, and in particular with the capability to send
  34 multiple SDRAM commands in one system clock cycle, which our new SDRAM
  35 controller is capable of doing.
  36 The patches are against version 1.04 of the PHY.
  37
  38 Once this is done, build the bitstream with:
  39   python3 build.py
  40 This will generate the build/soc.bit programming file.
  41
  42 The SoC expects a bootloader to be located in flash at 0x860000, just
  43 like the legacy SoC did. However, there is no binary compatibility and a
  44 new BIOS needs to be built and flashed for the -NG SoC.
  45
  46 You can find the source code of a compatible BIOS in the software/bios
  47 directory. It compiles with Clang and LLVM by default, and you can find
  48 the modified version with support for LM32 at:
  49   https://github.com/milkymist/llvm-lm32
  50   https://github.com/milkymist/clang-lm32
  51
  52 Enjoy!
  53
  54 [> Misc
  55 -------
  56 Code repository:
  57   https://github.com/milkymist/milkymist-ng
  58
  59 Send questions, comments and patches to devel [AT] lists.milkymist.org
  60 We are also on IRC: #milkymist on the Freenode network.
  61
  62 Milkymist-NG is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
  63 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
  64 Free Software Foundation, version 3 of the License. This program is
  65 distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
  66 without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
  67 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
  68
  69 The authors grant the additional permissions that the code can be used in
  70 conjunction with the LatticeMico32 CPU core from Lattice and the
  71 Spartan-6 FPGA DDR/DDR2 SDRAM PHY core from Xilinx and Northwest Logic.
  72
  73 Unless otherwise noted, Milkymist-NG's source code is copyright (C)
  74 2011-2012 Sebastien Bourdeauducq. Other authors retain ownership of their
  75 contributions. If a submission can reasonably be considered independently
  76 copyrightable, it's yours and I encourage you to claim it with
  77 appropriate copyright notices. This submission then falls under the
  78 "otherwise noted" category. All submissions must use a license compatible
  79 with the GPL and the additional permissions above.