Instrument Rack - Soft Devices

The following content has been imported from Legacy Help systems and is in the process of being checked for accuracy.

Function

The Instrument Rack - Soft Devices panel is used to contain and display soft device instruments detected in the Soft Devices chain. These devices can include processor cores and any of the virtual instruments - frequency generators, frequency counters, digital I/O modules and logic analyzers.

Content and Use

When the panel is initially opened, it contains no instruments and therefore appears empty. To populate the panel, double-click on the icon for the soft device whose controls you wish to access, in the Soft Devices chain of the Devices view.
The example image below illustrates a single instrument added to the panel.

Right-click Menu

Right-clicking anywhere on the instrument panel for a soft device, away from fields and controls, will pop-up a menu providing the following commands that are applicable to the main Instrument Rack - Soft Devices panel:

• Order By JTAG ID - rearranges soft device instruments within the rack, so that the instruments are placed in ascending JTAG ID order, with ID 0 at the top of the rack. The JTAG ID for an instrument is displayed at the top left of its panel
• Resize Panel To Fit - use this command to resize the main panel such that it fits exactly around all soft device instruments that are displayed
• Show/Hide Instruments sub-menu - provides entries for each soft device instrument currently displayed in the main panel. Use these entries to toggle the display of instruments in the main rack panel as required.

The controls available on an instrument panel for a soft device depend on the type of device. The following sections discuss each of the soft device instruments that can populate the main rack panel.

Processor Core

For processors, such as the TSK165B_D illustrated in the image above, the Nexus protocol enables you to debug the core through communication with an OCDS unit. This unit provides debug controls that allow you to:

• Interrogate the processor's registers.
• Define/control hardware breakpoints (if supported).
• Read/write Program and/or Data memory spaces.

The Instrument Rack - Soft Devices panel provides buttons allowing you to Step, Pause, Continue and Reset the processor. As you step-debug, the status of various registers is presented in the panel. The exact registers displayed will again depend on the type of processor used.

Clicking on the Nexus Debugger button will access the corresponding debug panel for the type of processor you are using. This panel contains a greater array of debug controls, providing access to the internal registers, memory spaces and also shows a disassembly view of the embedded source code as you debug.
For more detailed information with respect to the debug panel, refer to the Processor Debug Panel topic in this reference.

Frequency Generator

The frequency Generator instrument takes a reference clock as its input (time-base) and produces output frequencies that are even divisors of this time base frequency.
For detailed information concerning use of the panel to 'drive' the instrument, refer to the CLKGEN Frequency Generator Core Reference, which can be found in the FPGA Hardware Design\FPGA Instruments area of the Altium Designer Documentation Library.

Frequency Counter

This instrument provides a two-channel, three-mode frequency counter. For each input signal, the device counts the number of edges - rising or falling - detected within a specific gating period. Depending on the mode of operation selected, each channel can display the frequency of the signal, its period, or the total number of edges counted.
For detailed information concerning use of the panel to 'drive' the instrument, refer to the FRQCNT2 Frequency Counter Core Reference, which can be found in the FPGA Hardware Design\FPGA Instruments area of the Altium Designer Documentation Library.

Digital I/O Module

A range of 1, 2 and 4-channel instruments of this type are available, catering for 8- and 16-bit digital I/O. Each device features separated inputs and outputs, with the ability to synchronize the two.
For detailed information concerning use of the panel to 'drive' the instrument, refer to the IOB_x Digital I/O Module Core Reference, which can be found in the FPGA Hardware Design\FPGA Instruments area of the Altium Designer Documentation Library.

Logic Analyzer

A range of 8-channel or 16-channel logic analyzer instruments are available. The device family includes analyzers with predefined storage memories for captured data, as well as analyzers that provide a memory interface - allowing you the freedom to connect a block of RAM, the size of which is determined by an address bus of up to 20 bits.
For detailed information concerning use of the panel to 'drive' the instrument, refer to the LAX_x Logic Analyzer Core Reference, which can be found in the FPGA Hardware Design\FPGA Instruments area of the Altium Designer Documentation Library.

Notes

• If you have used multiple soft devices within your design, the Soft Devices chain will reflect each detected device. Each soft device instrument will only appear in the Instrument Rack - Soft Devices panel after its corresponding icon in the chain has been specifically double-clicked.
• If there is only one soft device instrument currently displayed in the main rack panel, using the Show/Hide Instruments command from the right-click menu will essentially close the panel. You would then need to open the panel and add the instrument back in.
• You can manually change the order of instruments in the main rack panel. Simply click anywhere on an instrument's panel - away from fields and controls - and drag it to the position required. The instrument will be slotted into that position, moving the current 'resident' and subsequent instruments below it, downward in the rack.
• The Step, Pause, Continue and Reset controls on a processor's instrument panel provide the same functionality as the menu commands of the same name, accessed by right-clicking over the icon for the processor in the Soft Devices chain of the Devices view.

See Also