diff --git a/docs/source/manual/file_formats/unique_blocks.rst b/docs/source/manual/file_formats/unique_blocks.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e35c8d844 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/source/manual/file_formats/unique_blocks.rst @@ -0,0 +1,299 @@ +.. _file_formats_fabric_key: + +Fabric Key (.xml) +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +A fabric key follows an XML format. As shown in the following XML code, the key file includes the organization of configurable blocks in the top-level FPGA fabric. + +Configurable Module +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Fabric key can be applied to various modules. Each module can be a top-level FPGA fabric, or a submodule of the FPGA fabric. + +.. option:: + + Under each module, a set of keys can be defined. Note that for the top-level FPGA fabric, not only keys but also regions and shift-register banks can be defined. For non-top-level module, only keys are allowed. + + - ``name`` indicates the unique name of a valid module in FPGA fabric. Note that ``fpga_top`` is the considered as the module name of the top-level FPGA fabric. + + .. note:: ``fpga_core`` is not applicable to fabric key. + +Configurable Region +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +The top-level FPGA fabric can consist of several configurable regions, where a region may contain one or multiple configurable blocks. Each configurable region can be configured independently and in parrallel. + +.. option:: + + - ``id`` indicates the unique id of a configurable region in the fabric. + + .. warning:: The id must start from zero! + + .. note:: The number of regions defined in the fabric key must be consistent with the number of regions defined in the configuration protocol of architecture description. (See details in :ref:`config_protocol`). + +The following example shows how to define multiple configuration regions in the fabric key. + +.. code-block:: xml + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Configurable Block +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Each configurable block is defined as a key. There are two ways to define a key, either with alias or with name and value. + +.. option:: + + - ``id`` indicates the sequence of the configurable memory block in the top-level FPGA fabric. + + - ``name`` indicates the module name of the configurable memory block. This property becomes optional when ``alias`` is defined. + + - ``value`` indicates the instance id of the configurable memory block in the top-level FPGA fabric. This property becomes optional when ``alias`` is defined. + + - ``alias`` indicates the instance name of the configurable memory block in the top-level FPGA fabric. If a valid alias is specified, the ``name`` and ``value`` are not required. + + - ``column`` indicates the relative x coordinate for a configurable memory in a configurable region at the top-level FPGA fabric. This is required when the memory bank protocol is selection. + + .. note:: The configurable memory blocks in the same column will share the same Bit Line (BL) bus + + - ``row`` indicates the relative y coordinate for a configurable memory in a configurable region at the top-level FPGA fabric. This is required when the memory bank protocol is selection. + + .. note:: The configurable memory blocks in the same row will share the same Word Line (WL) bus + +.. warning:: For fast loading of fabric key, strongly recommend to use pairs ``name`` and ``alias`` or ``name`` and ``value`` in the fabric key file. Using only ``alias`` may cause long parsing time for fabric key. + +The following is an example of a fabric key generate by OpenFPGA for a 2 :math:`\times` 2 FPGA. +This key contains only ``alias`` which is easy to craft. + +.. code-block:: xml + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +The following shows another example of a fabric key generate by OpenFPGA for a 2 :math:`\times` 2 FPGA. +This key contains only ``name`` and ``value`` which is fast to parse. + +.. code-block:: xml + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +The following shows another example of a fabric key generate by OpenFPGA for a 2 :math:`\times` 2 FPGA using memory bank. +This key contains only ``name``, ``value``, ``row`` and ``column``. + +.. code-block:: xml + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +BL Shift Register Banks +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +.. note:: The customizable is only available when the shift-register-based memory bank is selected in :ref:`config_protocol` + +Each Bit-Line (BL) shift register bank is defined in the code block ````. +A shift register bank may contain multiple shift register chains. +- each shift register chain can be defined using the ``bank`` syntax +- the BLs controlled by each chain can be customized through the ``range`` syntax. + +.. option:: + + - ``id`` indicates the sequence of the shift register chain in the bank. The id denotes the index in the head or tail bus. For example, ``id="0"`` means the head or tail of the shift register will be in the first bit of a head bus ``head[0:4]`` + + - ``range`` indicates ``BL`` port to be controlled by this shift register chain. Multiple BL ports can be defined but the sequence matters. For example, ``bl[0:3], bl[6:10]`` infers a 9-bit shift register chain whose output ports are connected from ``bl[0]`` to ``bl[10]``. + + .. note:: When creating the range, you must know the number of BLs in the configuration region + + .. note:: ports must use ``bl`` as the reserved port name + + +WL Shift Register Banks +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +.. note:: The customizable is only available when the shift-register-based memory bank is selected in :ref:`config_protocol` + +Each Word-Line (WL) shift register bank is defined in the code block ````. +A shift register bank may contain multiple shift register chains. +- each shift register chain can be defined using the ``bank`` syntax +- the BLs controlled by each chain can be customized through the ``range`` syntax. + + +.. option:: + + - ``id`` indicates the sequence of the shift register chain in the bank. The id denotes the index in the head or tail bus. For example, ``id="0"`` means the head or tail of the shift register will be in the first bit of a head bus ``head[0:4]`` + + - ``range`` indicates ``WL`` port to be controlled by this shift register chain. Multiple WL ports can be defined but the sequence matters. For example, ``wl[0:3], wl[6:10]`` infers a 9-bit shift register chain whose output ports are connected from ``wl[0]`` to ``wl[10]``. + + .. note:: When creating the range, you must know the number of BLs in the configuration region + + .. note:: ports must use ``wl`` as the reserved port name +