cariboulabs-cariboulite/firmware

Overview

CaribouLite contains an FPGA device (ICE40 family) with 1280 LE. It has two designated roles:

1. Step #1: Controlling and managing the RF front-end path, and other digital device control.
2. Step #2: Streaming SMI I/Q data from the RPI to the modem, and from the modem LVDS back to the SMI interface.

The above block diagram shows the FPGA's peripheral connections and their naming.

Convensions

• i_: input signal
• o_: output signal
• io_: input / output signal (controllable pin)

FPGA Internal Blocks

In the above diagram, the FPGA internal blocks of logic are shown. These blocks are segmented into Pink (Step #1) and Violet (Step #2). Each subblock has a communal interface structure, module ID (within the system) and module version. The subblocks are described below.

Generic Block Structure

This chapter describes the structure of a generic block within the FPGA internal blocks (SYS, IO, etc.). The minimal interfaces are shown below.

• All blocks shall respond to a default '00000' opcode with their module-version.
• The blocks have a 5-bit IOC interface carrying the internal opcode.
• The input/output data have the width of 8-bits
• The generic module shall contain a clock input signal and will operate in a synchronous manner.
• The fetch signal shall "request" data (read operation) when it is asserted.
• The load signal shall "update" internal data (write operation) when it is asserted.
• the load and fetch signals shall not be asserted simultaneously.

SYS_CTRL - System Management Controller

This controller is in charge of communicating with the host, receiving instructions (over SPI), and delivering them to other subblocks. The SPI communication logic is integrated within this module and it is based on 2-byte transactions on each chip-select session - OPCODE => DATA. These short communication sessions are intended for simplicity and speed of operation. They ensure system state updates in <500 nsec (with 5Mbit/sec SCK). Even faster updates may be needed for several use-cases (e.g. fast frequency hopping), in which the SPI clock frequency will be increased (according to RPI documentation, SPI is functional up to ~10Mbit/sec reliably).

Opcode Structure

The Opcode is of 8-bit with the following structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
R/W	MID1	MID0	IOC4	IOC3	IOC2	IOC1	IOC0

• R/W - a read / write indicator:
  • '0': Read operation - fetching data IOC from the submodule MID
  • '1': Write operation - loading data IOC to the submodule MID
• MID[1:0] - Module ID as follows:
  • '00': SYS_CTRL
  • '01': IO_CTRL
  • '10': SMI_CTRL
  • '11': Reserved for future expansion
• IOC[4:0] - Module Internal OpCode - these 5 bits will be further decoded by the submodule.

Note #1: IOC = '00000' is reserved for the READ-ONLY 'mod_version' property along with all modules thus it is not usable nor writable. This IOC shall not implicitly be described further in this document as it is the same for every module.

Note #2: The read-only (RO) properties shall not be writable and any attempt to write over them (i.e. R/W='1') will be ignored without any feedback to the host.

Note #3: IOCs that are not currently used by the modules shall be reserved for future expansions.

Internal OpCodes (IOCs)

IOC'00001': sys_version

Access Type: Read Only

Description: The version of the firmware currently running on the FPGA

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
SV7	SV6	SV5	SV4	SV3	SV2	SV1	SV0

IOC'00010': sys_manufacturer_id

Access Type: Read Only

Description: The firmware designer ID - along with the system version above gives a good identification of the system currently running. The sys_manufacturer_id of BabelBees shall be '00000001'.

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
MI7	MI6	MI5	MI4	MI3	MI2	MI1	MI0

IOC'00011': sys_error_status

Access Type: Read Only

Description: A report of errors ... TBD

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
RES	RES	RES	RES	RES	RES	RES	ER0

• ER0 - write of RO (read only)

IO_CTRL - Pin-level I/O Controller

The IO_CTRL module is in charge of configuring and reading the Pin-IO resources of the FPGA. It spans over LED control, RF switching, power management, and more.

IOC'00001': data_io_ctrl_mode

Access Type: Read / Write

Description: The functional mode-of-operation of the system.

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
RES	RES	RES	RFM2	RFM1	RFM0	DBG1	DBG0

• DBG[1:0] - Debug mode operation
  • '00': No-debug mode - the RFM field describes a set of pre-determines modes of operation
  • '01': Debug mode - the RFM field directives are ignored and the RF-I/O settings are explicitly set in pin-level
• RFM[2:0] - RF Mode of operation - this setting is active only when DBG='00'
  • '000': Low-power / inactive mode - all RF peripherals are turned off (LNAs, Mixer, etc.)
  • '001': Bypass mode - the RF front-end wide-range tuning is turned off, and the modem 2.4GHz channel is operated within its native frequency range (2.4 - 2.483 GHz). The LNAs are switched off.
  • '010': RX Lowpass mode - the RF frontend is set into RX mode (LNA active, PA deactivated) and is tuned to receive high-frequency signals (>2.483 GHz).
  • '011': RX Highpass mode - the RF frontend is set into RX mode (LNA active, PA deactivated) and is tuned to receive low-frequency signals (<2.4 GHz).
  • '100': TX Lowpass mode - the RF frontend is set into TX mode (LNA deactivated, PA active) and is tuned to transmit low-frequency signals (<2.4 GHz).
  • '101': TX Highpass mode - the RF frontend is set into TX mode (LNA deactivated, PA active) and is tuned to transmit high-frequency signals (>2.4 GHz).
  • '111': Reserved.

IOC'00010': data_io_ctrl_dig_pin

Access Type: Read / Write (bits [2:0])

Description: Digital pin control and read

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
BTN	CFG3	CFG2	CFG1	CFG0	LDO28	LED1	LED0

• BTN (ReadOnly): The current user push-button state (the 'USR' button on the PCB). While pushed, BTN='0', otherwise '1'.
• CFG[3:0] (ReadOnly): The configuration resistors current state (R[41:38] respectively on the PCB). Assembled resistor shall show '0' value, otherwise '1'.
• LDO28: controlling the LDO (linear voltage regulator for RF) state - '1': on, '0': off.
• LED1: controlling the LED 'LD2' state on the PCB - '1': on, '0': off.
• LED0: controlling the LED 'LD1' state on the PCB - '1': on, '0': off.

IOC'00011': data_io_ctrl_pmod_pin_dir

Access Type: Read / Write

Description: PMOD connector bits IO pin direction

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
PMODD7	PMODD6	PMODD5	PMODD4	PMODD3	PMODD2	PMODD1	PMODD0

• PMODD[7:0]: defined/reads out the pin direction of each of the 8 controllable bits in the PMOD connector. PMODD#='1': output, PMODD#='0': input.

IOC'00100': data_io_ctrl_pmod_pin_val

Access Type: Read / Write

Description: PMOD connector bits IO pin value

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
PMOD7	PMOD6	PMOD5	PMOD4	PMOD3	PMOD2	PMOD1	PMOD0

• PMOD[7:0]: defined/reads out the pin value of each of the 8 controllable bits in the PMOD connector. PMOD#='1': set to logical '1', PMOD#='0': reset to logical '0'. If the direction of PMODD# of a specific pin is input, setting a '1' value will apply an internal weak pull up to that pin (TBD - Check).

IOC'00101': data_io_ctrl_rf_pin_state

Access Type: Read / Write

Description: Setting up / reading out the pin values controlling the RF front-end path switches.

Byte Structure:

B7	B6	B5	B4	B3	B2	B1	B0
RXH	RXH_b	TRVC1	TRVC1_b	TRVC2	LNATX	LNARX	MXREN

• RXH - the value of the RX_H_TX_L signal in the PCB. This value is writeable and readable while the complement value at Bit#6 (RXH_b) is directly inferred from it (RXH_b=~RXH).
• TRVC1 - the value of the TRVC1 signal in the PCB. This value is writeable and readable while the complement value at Bit#4 (TRVC1_b) is directly inferred from it (TRVC1_b=~TRVC1).
• TRVC2 - the value of TRVC2 signal in the PCB.
• LNATX - controlling the Transmit PA operation, '1': Shutdown, '0': Operational.
• LNARX - controlling the Receive LNA operation, '1': Shutdown, '0': Operational.
• MXREN - controlling the RF frequency mixer operation, '1': on, '0': off.

IOC'00110': data_io_ctrl_mixer_fm_prescale

TBD

IOC'00101': data_io_ctrl_mixer_fm_data

TBD

CLOCK_CTRL - Clocking Submodule Controller

TBD

SMI_CTRL - SerDes Contoller SMI <-> LVDS

TBD

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.