Open Source Scan Converter

Open Source Scan Converter is a low-latency video digitizer and scan conversion board designed mainly for connecting retro video game consoles and home computers into modern displays. Please check the wikipage for more detailed description and latest features.

Requirements for building and debugging firmware

• Hardware

  • OSSC board
  • USB Blaster compatible JTAG debugger, e.g. Terasic Blaster (for FW installation and debugging)
  • micro SD/SDHC card (for FW update via SD card)

• Software

  • Altera Quartus II + Cyclone IV support (v 16.1 or higher - free Lite Edition suffices)
  • RISC-V GNU Compiler Toolchain
  • GCC (or another C compiler) for host architecture (for building a SD card image)
  • Make
  • iconv (for building with JP lang menu)

Architecture

• Reference board schematics
• Reference PCB project

SW toolchain build procedure

1. Download, configure, build and install RISC-V toolchain with Newlib + RV32EMC support:

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/riscv/riscv-gnu-toolchain
   cd riscv-gnu-toolchain
   ./configure --prefix=/opt/riscv --with-arch=rv32emc --with-abi=ilp32e
   sudo make    # sudo needed if installing under default /opt/riscv location

2. Compile custom binary to IHEX converter:

   gcc tools/bin2hex.c -o tools/bin2hex

Building RTL (bitstream)

1. Initialize pulpino submodules (once after cloning ossc project or when submoduled have been updated)

   git submodule update --init --recursive ip/pulpino_qsys

2. Load the project (ossc.qpf) in Quartus
3. Generate QSYS output files (only needed before first compilation or when QSYS structure has been modified)
   • Open Platform Designer (Tools -> Platform Designer)
   • Load platform configuration (sys.qsys)
   • Generate output (Generate -> Generate HDL, Generate)
   • Close Platform Designer
   • Run "touch software/sys_controller_bsp/bsp_timestamp" to acknowledge QSYS update
4. Generate the FPGA bitstream (Processing -> Start Compilation)
5. Ensure that there are no severe timing violations by looking into Timing Analyzer report

NOTE: If the software image (software/sys_controller/mem_init/sys_onchip_memory2_0.hex) was not up to date at the time of compilation, bitstream can be quickly rebuilt with updated hex by running "Processing->Update Memory Initialization File" and "Processing->Start->Start Assembler" in Quartus.

Building software image

1. Enter software root directory:

   cd software/sys_controller

2. Build SW for target configuration:

   make [OPTIONS] [TARGET]

   OPTIONS may include following definitions:

   • OSDLANG=JP (Japanese language menu)
   • ENABLE_AUDIO=y (Includes audio setup code for v1.6 PCB / DIY audio add-on board)

TARGET is typically one of the following:

• all (Default target. Compiles an ELF file)
• generate_hex (Generates a memory initialization file required for bitstream and direct download)
• clean (cleans ELF and intermediate files. Should be invoked every time OPTIONS are changed between compilations, expect with generate_hex where it is done automatically)

3. Optionally test updated SW by directly downloading memory image to block RAM via JTAG

   make rv-reprogram

Installing firmware via JTAG

The bitstream can be either directly programmed into FPGA (volatile method, suitable for quick testing), or into serial flash chip where it is automatically loaded every time FPGA is subsequently powered on (nonvolatile method, suitable for long-term use).

To program FPGA, open Programmer in Quartus, select your USB Blaster device, add configuration file (output_files/ossc.sof) and press Start

To program flash, FPGA configuration file must be first converted into JTAG indirect Configuration file (.jic). Open conversion tool ("File->Convert Programming Files") in Quartus, click "Open Conversion Setup Data", select "ossc.cof" and press Generate. Then open Programmer, add generated file (output_files/ossc.jic) and press Start after which flash is programmed. Installed/updated firmware is activated after power-cycling the board.

Generating SD card image

Bitstream file (Altera propiertary format) must be wrapped with custom header structure (including checksums) so that it can be processed reliably on the CPU. This can be done with included helper application which generates a disk image which can written to a SD card and subsequently loaded on OSSC:

1. Compile tools/create_fw_img.c

   cd tools && gcc create_fw_img.c -o create_fw_img

2. Generate the firmware image:

   ./create_fw_img <rbf> <version> [version_suffix]

   where

   • \<rbf> is RBF format bitstream file (typically ../output_files/ossc.rbf)
   • \<version> is version string (e.g. 0.78)
   • [version_suffix] is optional max. 8 character suffix name (e.g. "mytest")

Debugging

1. Rebuild the software in debug mode:

   make clean && make APP_CFLAGS_DEBUG_LEVEL="-DDEBUG" generate_hex

   NOTE: Fw update functionality via SD card is disabled in debug builds due to code space limitations. If audio support is enabled on debug build, other functionality needs to be disabled as well.

2. Download memory image via JTAG and open terminal for UART

   make rv-reprogram && nios2-terminal

   Remember to close nios2-terminal after debug session, otherwise any JTAG transactions will hang/fail.