XsTools 0.1.31

Tools and classes for interfacing with XESS FPGA boards via USB.

XSTOOLs is a collection of Python classes for interfacing to XESS FPGA boards through a USB connection.

There are also several examples of command-line utilities that use these classes to perform operations on XESS boards.

• Free software: GPL V3 license

• Documentation: https://xstools.readthedocs.org.

Features

• Python package for accessing XuLA FPGA boards through a USB link.

• Command-line tools for configuring the FPGA, uploading/downloading the serial flash and SDRAM, and running diagnostics on the board.

• GUI tool that performs the same functions as the command-line tools.

History

v0.1.31 (2016-03-09)

• Sped-up memory reads & writes from/to the SDRAM.

v0.1.30 (2015-09-02)

• Removed include in README.rst that caused an error generating the documentation.

v0.1.29 (2015-08-10)

• Specifying the board model on the CLI utilities is now case-insensitive.

v0.1.28 (2015-08-09)

• Now supports pyusb versions 1.0.0a and 1.0.0b.

• The utilities only connect to the USB port when they are actively executing some function for the attached XESS board. This allows other utilities to access the board.

• Added drag-and-drop capability for selecting bitstream and hex files.

• A history of bitstream and hex files is maintained.

• Exceptions caused by pyusb on program termination are now caught and filtered out.

v0.1.27 (2015-07-31)

• Removed scripts in bin directory and placed them in the xstools directory.

• Added entrypoints to generate executables for the XSTOOLs scripts.

v0.1.26 (2015-06-06)

• Changed distribution to use readthedocs for documentation.

v0.1.25 (2015-06-05)

• Fixed problem where flash and SDRAM couldn’t be accessed in gxstools because I appended ‘bitstream’ to the attribute names.

v0.1.24 (2015-03-16)

• Modified usb2serial.py to prevent accidental triggering of serial BREAK.

v0.1.23 (2015-02-03)

• Modified usb2serial.py and xscomm.py to support new serial BREAK command.

• Added .cmd file to initiate each XSTOOLs script in a Windows command window.

v0.1.22 (2015-01-26)

• Modified usb2serial.py to support non-ZPUino use of the USB-to-serial server.

v0.1.21 (2015-01-07)

• Modified setup.py so pyusb < 1.0.0b1 is installed as a dependency since the newer 1.0.0bX libraries cause a problem with finding XESS boards on USB ports.

V0.1.20 (2014-12-17)

• Modified setup.py to include microcontroller firmware hex files for the XESS boards.

V0.1.19 (2014-12-12)

• Modified setup.py so pyusb <= 1.0.0b1 is installed as a dependency since the newer 1.0.0b2 library causes a problem with finding XESS boards on USB ports.

v0.1.18 (2014-12-10)

• Fixed query for XESS USB devices which failed for some USB libraries.

v0.1.17 (2014-11-06)

• Fixed handling of XuLA/XuLA2 boards with old firmware or with the USB-to-JTAG path disabled.

v0.1.16 (2014-10-27)

• Added command-line and GUI methods for setting/getting flags in XuLA/XuLA2 boards.

• Enabled loading of .bit files into serial configuration flash via gxstools.

• Updated hex file to newest version of the PIC 18F14K50 firmware.

• Added USB-to-serial bridge server between XuLA board and virtual comm port on PC.

v0.1.15 (2014-05-16)

• Added support for upload/download of signed integers to memio methods.

v0.1.14 (2014-05-05)

• Fixed FPGA bitstreams to remove errors during SDRAM upload/download.

v0.1.13 (2014-04-09)

• Add bidirectional communication channel between host and FPGA: xscomm.py.

v0.1.12 (2014-02-03)

• Added graphical front-end to XSTOOLs: gxstools.py.

v0.1.11 (2014-01-03)

• Fixed bit direction for checking status bits in xsi2c.py.

v0.1.10 (2013-11-20)

• Added support for XuLA2-LX9 board.

v0.1.9 (2013-05-15)

• Added ability to load Xilinx bitstream files directly into serial configuration flash.

• Fixed byte order of addresses sent to the W25X serial flash.

v0.1.8 (2013-05-14)

• Fixed FlashDev class so address bounds could not go outside the min/max addresses for the device.

v0.1.7 (2013-05-11)

• Added FlashDevice class for reading/writing flash memory devices.

• Made Pic18f14k50 class inherit from the FlashDevice class for flash read/write operations.

• Added routines for reading/writing serial configuration flash on the XuLA and XuLA2 boards.

• Extended xsload.py to enable serial flash uploading and downloading.

v0.1.6 (2013-04-30)

• Fixed xsusbprg.py so it works under linux.

• Fixed USB read/write timeouts so they are dependent upon the amount of data transferred.

• Replaced exit() with sys.exit() in scripts.

v0.1.5 (2013-04-19)

• Added XuLA firmware .hex files for use with xsusbprg.py.

• Fixed xsusbprg.py so it would upgrade XuLA board firmware by default.

• All user-accessible scripts now use xstools_defs.py to get a unified version #.

• Added .rules file for USB connections to XESS boards.

v0.1.4 (2013-04-01)

• Replaced bitarray module with pure-Python bitstring module.

v0.1.3 (2013-02-15)

• Fixed so multiple XsUsb objects can share a single USB link to access an XESS board.

v0.1.2 (2013-02-14)

• Changed CR-LF EOL in .py files to LF EOL so linux wouldn’t barf.

v0.1.1 (2013-01-23)

• Use pypubsub instead of wxpython for publish/subscribe communications.

v0.1.0 (2013-01-06)

• Initial release.