Xilinx Embedded Development Kit

EDK 3.1 EA

What's New?

  • PowerPC support
  • MicroBlaze version 1.00 c
    • optional full 32-bit barrel shifter
  • C++ support for MicroBlaze
  • XMD
    • Supports PowerPC in V2Pro
    • Supports multiple targets, simultaneous GDB server and xmdterm operation
    • Supports profiling in simulation mode
  • Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS)
    • Dependency check between running various tools.
    • The hardware tool flow can now be run from XPS.
    • Support for Multiple processor instances
  • PlatGen
    • Multi-bus support
    • Multi-processor support
    • Bridge support
    • External interrupt support
  • LibGen
    • Multi-processor support
    • Multi-Level support for drivers
    • MDD file support for configuring drivers
  • SimGen
    • New Tool. Simulation Model Generator.
  • BfmGen
    • New Tool. Bus Functional Model Generator.
  • Revup
    • New Tool. Introduced to update SIF100 format to SIF200 format.
  •  Proc Coregen
    • XILINX Core Generator for generating cores used in processor systems. The cores in the 5.1 ISE install are also accessible through this tool.Cores generated through Proc Coregen are     deployed using the standard XINILX Core Generator techniques.

Current Restrictions

  • MicroBlaze libraries (libc.a)
    • malloc and free are available as xil_malloc and xil_free. The malloc provided in libc.a does not have a support for freeing the allocated memory.
  • EDK installer
    • The destination directory name cannot have spaces.
  • Windows Command Prompt not supported
    • All commands should be run through Xygwin Shell.
      • Workaround - If there is no pre-existing Cygwin installation, users can modify the PATH environment variable to enable EDK flow from the Windows command prompt.
  • LibXil File
    • Can interface only to stream based devices and memory file system. (MFS)
  • LibXil Net
    • Only server functionalities for ARP - i.e. ARP requests are not being generated from the processor
    • Only server functionalities in libXilNet - This means no client application development support provided in libXilNet.
    • No timers in TCP - Since there are no timers used, every "send" over a TCP connection waits for an "ack" before performing the next "send"
  • LibGen
    • Cannot handle different levels of the same driver in any system.
    • Cannot handle two level 0 interrupt controllers connected to the same processor.
    • Cannot specify local bsp directory and local libs directory, unlike the drivers.
    • One change from previous command line option:
      • -bspgen is a processor instance specific option now, and not global as before.
    • Version numbers must be explicitly given for drivers in the MSS file. No inference on latest versions, etc.
    • Cannot configure interrupt controller exception handler for PowerPC.
    • The cpu_ppc405 driver must be included if the CORE_CLOCK_FREQ_HZ parameter is set in the MSS file.
  • PlatGen
    • Vector slicing is not supported.
    • To instantiate the JTAG PPC primitive, users have to instantiate their own IP wrappers, similar to the one for the PowerPC example.
    • The BMM files generated by PlatGen can only be used to initialize processor systems, that are at the top level or one level lower in the design hierarchy.
  • SimGen
    • No mixed mode simulation supported.
  • BfmGen
    • The latest release of the IBM PLB 4.X toolkit does not contain the top level test bench for the 64-bit data bus version. BfmGen in this case ignores the -tk option, if specified.
  • Revup
    • For an MHS that includes IP outside of the regularly released EDK peripherals (i.e., user IP), RevUp must be run on the MPD, PAO, and BBD before updating the MHS.
    • MSS must be revved up only after MPD, MHS and PAOs have been revved up
  • Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS)
    • GUI available only for Windows platform. For solaris, there is xps_batch tool.
    • MHS creation/modification not supported.
    • 'Run Download' button does not run the software flow. The software flow can be run by using 'Run Compiler' or 'Run Library Generator' buttons.
    • Makefile is designed for xygwin bash shell. May not work on other shells.
      • Workaround: Try replacing the directory separator with that of the correct type for that shell and avoid absolute paths.
    • If the options for a tool supported by XPS are changed, the tool may not run again if its input files have not changed.
    • Hardware flow tool options cannot be controlled through XPS.
      • Workaround: Edit the xflow option files (.opt).
  • ISE Patch
    • EDK tools require a patch for ISE 5.1 and ISE 5.1 Service Pack. This patch is available on the EDK CD. Please refer to Getting Started Guide for more details.