Remote Configuration of FPGA Through Wired Ethernet LAN
Wen Shin Too, T. Nandha Kumar, Hock Leong Chee, Haider A. F. Almurib · 2023
Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are reprogrammable electronic devices that are used in many fields. Present configuration methods generally require the FPGA to be connected to a microprocessor or the configuration images to be stored in non-volatile memory before being deployed in the field; hence FPGAs in non-accessible locations cannot be updated easily. Remote configuration through a wired Ethernet local area network (LAN) was identified to be a feasible solution for such situations. The presented methodology proposes to use two FPGAs for remote configuration - one to run a MicroBlaze soft-core embedded system while the other is the target FPGA. An XSVF file can be uploaded to the remote system and executed to perform the remote configuration. Chipscope Pro was used to obtain waveforms on a programmed FPGA and verify that the remote configuration is functionally identical to the local configuration. The remote configuration times were obtained using benchmark circuits, and the average configuration rate was found to be 22.3kb/s. Although the configuration speed is slower than non-remote configuration methods, the presented methodology has the advantage of supporting remote configuration and remote testing of a wide range of devices.