NanoTalk

The NB2DSK01 includes Altium's proprietary communications protocol, referred to as NanoTalk. This protocol defines and provides a communication path between a PC running Altium Designer and one or more NanoBoards. NanoTalk is implemented as part of the firmware running in a Xilinx Spartan-3 1500 FPGA device (XC3S1500-4FG676C) on the motherboard. This device is commonly referred to as the NanoTalk (or NanoBoard) Controller.

The NanoTalk Controller manages the routing of the multiple JTAG chains that communicate with both the physical devices on the board and the soft devices contained within your design running on the target daughter board FPGA. It also handles the multiplexing of these various chains for transmission to the software running on the PC, over the USB or parallel link.

NanoTalk has been designed to be plug-and-play, in the sense that all NanoTalk communications paths automatically configure when multiple NanoBoards are daisy-chained together, or user boards are attached to a NanoBoard. Altium Designer scans the NanoTalk system and automatically maintains a map of all Hard JTAG and Soft JTAG devices.

NanoTalk Installation

NanoTalk is field-upgradeable, by using Altium Designer to install configuration data – the NanoBoard firmware – into a Xilinx serial Flash configuration PROM (XCF08PFS48C). Upon power-up, the firmware is loaded into the NanoTalk Controller.

The NB2DSK01 is shipped with the firmware already pre-installed, but future revisions can be installed at any time using a dedicated 'SYSTEM JTAG' port on the NB2DSK01 motherboard. This port provides Altium Designer with Hard JTAG access only to the NanoTalk Controller and the associated configuration PROM. All other resources are invisible to the software. The configuration PROM can then be reprogrammed with the new firmware. This process is described in detail in Updating the Firmware on the Desktop NanoBoard NB2DSK01.