
FPGA EZ-Extender Overview
1-4 Blackfin FPGA EZ-Extender Manual
The FPGA EZ-Extender contains 2 MB of asynchronous SRAM memory,
powered by a 3.3V supply. The SRAM memory connects to banks 6 and 7
of the FPGA and can perform simple data storage instructions in applica-
tion-specific code.
The FPGA EZ-Extender includes a 25 MHz oscillator (U6) connected to
the FPGA via the dedicated global clock 1 (GCLK1) pin, facilitating devel-
opment of applications that require a clock. A second clock socket (U7) is
left unpopulated to allow a user to place an oscillator with a specific fre-
quency for the FPGA. The second clock socket connects to the global
clock 6 (GCLK6) pin of the FPGA.
The extender has eight LEDs (LED1–8) and two push buttons (SW3–4) for
applications that require status reporting and user control. The push but-
tons are active low and when pressed, provide a logic 0 to the respective
FPGA nets. For inputs that require a permanent input low, use the jumper
inputs on JP4. When a jumper is populated on one of the four nets of JP4,
the respective pin is hard wired to a logic 0. For more information about
the LEDs, push button switches, and jumper inputs, refer to “FPGA
EZ-Extender Hardware Reference” on page 2-1.
There are various ways to program the FPGA. By default, the FPGA is
programmed in its slave serial mode by the flash programming utility in
CCES or VisualDSP++. The program configures the FPGA using the
Blackfin processor’s flag pins and/or serial port pins. For more informa-
tion on how to use the flash programming utility within the development
environment, refer to the readme file located in the Examples folder of the
installation directory.
A second method of programming the FPGA is by using a Xilinx JTAG
cable and software. The Xilinx JTAG cable connects to the FPGA JTAG
header (P15). For more information about programming the FPGA via a
Xilinx JTAG cable, refer to the manufacturer’s website at www.xilinx.com.
The third and final way to program the FPGA is via the Xilinx serial
ROM on the FPGA EZ-Extender. The serial ROM used for FPGA is