How to program BPI ROM with FPGA

Virtex-5 FPGAs and ISE software support configuration from and programming of industry standard, parallel NOR flash memory (BPI PROMs). Industry standard BPI PROMs are an alternate solution for Virtex-5 FPGA designs whose requirements are not met by the Platform Flash XL configuration and storage device. The iMPACT software, included in the ISE development software tools, provides indirect programming for select BPI PROMs during prototyping.

This application note demonstrates how to program a Numonyx StrataFlash P30 BPI PROM indirectly using iMPACT 11.4 and a Xilinx cable. In this solution, the Virtex-5 FPGA serves as a bridge between the IEEE Std 1149.1 (JTAG) bus interface and the BPI bus interface. The required hardware setup, BPI-UP PROM file generation flow, and BPI indirect programming flow are shown. The Virtex-5 FPGA BPI-UP configuration sequence is also described.

View the PDF document for more information.