Warren Parsons Log Book

This tracks My Daily Progress developing the VFAT readout

VHDL files for v1495

GEMReadout.vhd

The main function routines?

GEMReadout_tb.vhd

GEMRxChannel.vhd

GEMRxEventDataFIFO.vhd

a routine controlling the FIFO

GEMRxEventSizeFIFO.vhd

Defines the Event size and structure

GEMTxChannel.vhd

PLLVBlock.vhd

spare_if_rtl.vhd

tristate_if_trl.vhd

v1495usr.vhd

v1495usr_pkg.vhd

v1495usr_hal.vqm

From the v1495 manual this is the v1495 Hardware Abstraction Layer. It is an HDL module provided in Verilog format at the netlist level in order to help interface the hardware.

5/14/09

Firmware

Today we started looking at the VHDL firmware programs from Ben Raydo at JLab. Our goal: To determine what the general description of the firmware program is and determine an outline of its functionality.

Quartus II

Quartus II has a fairly good tutorial for usage. My goal is to complete this tutorial by the end of the week.

I also started to familiarize myself with the VHDL programming language.

5/15/09

Spent vast majority of day learning VHDL syntax.

Spent some time reviewing the GEM Readout Controller Firmware Status

Spent some time reviewing the v1495 instruction manual ( the Quartus II instructions in particular )

Spent some time reviewing the VFAT instruction manual

Is there a primer somewhere on how to communicate via/with VME?

How about this http://www.vita.com/vmefaq.html

I need to write down how to get into the DAQ as well as ROC xterm windows.

Tamuna can show you the above

5/18/09

From the manual on the VFAT2

Are we using the Roman Pots or the GEM version for the channel assignments?

If I understand the underlying functionality of the output of the VFAT2 then the basic idea is that it transfers the hit data from SRAM1 to SRAM2 as soon as there is a LV1A signal (100) sent to the VFAT2 via the "T1" line (after the latency time programmed into the Latency Register with a default setting of 6.4us). Once data is transferred from SRAM1 to SRAM2 it immediately starts outputting the information on "DataOut" at the "MCLK" rate of 40Mhz (I assume to be ultimately governed by the v1495). Valid data can be found on the "DataOut" line as long as the "DataValid" line is high. Thus the LV1A signal on "T1" followed by a transition to high on the "DataValid" line should set off the v1495 data capturing routine. Data is clocked out in FIFO order if more LV1A signals are sent to the VFAT2 before all of the data has been transferred out of the VFAT2.

Tamuna and I tried to log onto the ROC from scratch, but the ROC keeps saying that it can't find some boot file. I started to look through the ROC file on Dr. Forest's wiki pages, but I do not find this to be a straightforward process of rebooting the ROC. The following entry is related, and it may be helpful.

Would it be useful to purchase the VMEbus Handbook, 4th Edition by Wade Peterson? I have personally never worked with such a complicated system with so few written resources as the VME system. I have now read quite a bit about the history of the VME system, and yet I have yet to be able to read anything on how to actually use this system. How does one begin to even crack into this system? It is a full-blown microcontroller complete with its own operating system including the complete gamut of hardware and software.

I see only two ways of quickly learning anything productive about the VME system: either to have some formal training from a qualified professional or some manuals. (A combination of both would actually be preferred.) Do they offer seminars on this thing somewhere? When I worked for AMIS they would send test engineers to Microflex training for a week solid for the Microflex testers. I think that this software/hardware package is more complicated than that was!

Where did we get this Quartus II software from and why has the 30-day trial period run out? This may be making it so I cannot compile a project and get it loaded into the v1495 via the ROC. I get this impression from the fact that when I attempt to compile the project only one error comes up and that is that the 30-day evaluation period has expired. Do we have a license for it somewhere?

5/19/09

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