Creating a project using the Base System Builder

I know I’ve gone through the Base System Builder many times before but I’m writing a few more advanced tutorials for version 14.7 and they all need a starting point. So in this post we will use the handy Base System Builder of the Xilinx Platform Studio (EDK) to put together a simple project for the ZC706 evaluation board. Requirements You will need the following : Xilinx ISE Design Suite 14. [Read More]

Read DIP switches from a Microblaze application

In the previous tutorial on using the SDK, we exported our base project from EDK to SDK and then we ran a simple software application that printed “Hello World” in the terminal window. In this tutorial, we will do something more useful than saying hello, instead we will illustrate the concept of communicating with a peripheral from C code running on the Microblaze. More specifically, we will read the DIP switch settings and display them on the terminal screen using printfs. [Read More]

Using SVN with HDL designs

Most companies involved in code design manage their sources using SVN. If you’re not doing it, you should be. There are a multitude of websites explaining the benefits of using SVN so I wont go there. This post is about the best way to use SVN for HDL designs. HDL designs typically involve source files, netlist files and bitstreams. As in software design, the best way to use SVN is to commit source files only. [Read More]

Creating a project using the Base System Builder

What am I learning here? In this post we’ll look at using the Base System Builder in EDK version 13.1. Specifically you’ll learn: How to create an EDK project with the Base System Builder How to add a software application to an EDK project How to implement and test your design Requirements You will need the following : One ML505/ML506/ML507 or XUPV5 board (or actually any board supported by Xilinx). [Read More]