litex/README

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a high performance and small footprint SoC based on Migen


[> Features
-----------
 * LatticeMico32 CPU, modified to include an optional MMU (experimental).
 * High performance memory controller capable of issuing several SDRAM commands
   per FPGA cycle.
 * Supports SDR, DDR, LPDDR and DDR2.
 * Provided peripherals: UART, GPIO, timer, GPIO, NOR flash controller, SPI
   flash controller, Ethernet MAC, and more.
 * High performance: on Spartan-6, 83MHz system clock frequencies, 10+Gbps DDR
   SDRAM bandwidth, 1080p 32bpp framebuffer, etc.
 * Low resource usage: basic implementation fits easily in Spartan-6 LX9.
 * Portable and easy to customize thanks to Python- and Migen-based
   architecture.
 * Design new peripherals using Migen and benefit from automatic CSR maps
   and logic, etc.
 * Possibility to encapsulate legacy Verilog/VHDL code.

MiSoC comes with built-in support for the following boards:
 * Mixxeo, the digital video mixer from M-Labs [XC6SLX45]
 * Milkymist One, the original M-Labs video synthesizer [XC6SLX45]
 * Papilio Pro, a simple and low-cost development board [XC6SLX9]
MiSoC is portable and support for other boards can easily be added as external
modules.

[> Quick start guide
--------------------
1. Install Python 3.3+, Migen and FPGA vendor's development tools.
  Get Migen from: https://github.com/m-labs/migen

2. Install JTAG tools.
  For Mixxeo and M1: http://urjtag.org
  For Papilio Pro:   http://xc3sprog.sourceforge.net

3. Obtain and build any required flash proxy bitstreams. Flash proxy bitstreams
  give JTAG access to a flash chip through the FPGA.
  For Mixxeo and M1: https://github.com/m-labs/fjmem-m1
  For Papilio Pro:   https://github.com/GadgetFactory/Papilio-Loader
    (xc3sprog/trunk/bscan_spi/bscan_spi_lx9_papilio.bit)

4. Compile and install binutils. Take the latest version from GNU.
  mkdir build && cd build
  ../configure --target=lm32-elf
  make
  make install
  
5. Compile and install GCC 4.5. Take gcc-core and gcc-g++ from GNU.
  rm -rf libstdc++-v3
  mkdir build && cd build
  ../configure --target=lm32-elf --enable-languages="c,c++" --disable-libgcc --disable-libssp
  make
  make install

6. Obtain compiler-rt and set the CRTDIR environment variable to the root of 
  its source tree.
  svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/compiler-rt/trunk compiler-rt
  export CRTDIR=/path_to/compiler-rt

7. Build and flash the BIOS and bitstream. Run from MiSoC:
  For Mixxeo:      ./make.py all
  For M1:          ./make.py -p m1 -s FramebufferSoC all
  For Papilio Pro: ./make.py -t simple all

8. Run a terminal program on the board's serial port at 115200 8-N-1.
  You should get the BIOS prompt.

9. Read and experiment with the source!
  Come to our IRC channel and mailing list!

[> License
----------
MiSoC is released under the very permissive two-clause BSD license. Under
the terms of this license, you are authorized to use MiSoC for
closed-source proprietary designs.
Even though we do not require you to do so, those things are awesome, so please
do them if possible:
 * tell us that you are using MiSoC
 * cite MiSoC in publications related to research it has helped
 * send us feedback and suggestions for improvements
 * send us bug reports when something goes wrong
 * send us the modifications and improvements you have done to MiSoC.
   The use of "git format-patch" is recommended. If your submission is large and
   complex and/or you are not sure how to proceed, feel free to discuss it on
   the mailing list or IRC (#m-labs on Freenode) beforehand.

See LICENSE file for full copyright and license info.

[> Links
--------
Web:
  http://m-labs.hk

Code repository:
  https://github.com/m-labs/misoc

You can contact us on the public mailing list devel [AT] lists.m-labs.hk.