Introduction
During a previouw internship we have developed a Smart Network Tool. This tool consists of a Smart SFP with a softcore running on Linux and a driver that communicates with a mobile App. Via this App, the Smart SFP can be configured to generate and process traffic.
The current smart device is not only limited in hardware resources. Firstly the RAM and Flash resources are almost entirely usurped by Linx itself. Secondly, the data cache of the Softcore is not working, which hampers the CPU to reach maximum performance.
Project Description
The internship consists of replacing Linux with FreeRTOS and porting the embedded Linux driver to the FreeRTOS environment. Secondly, we want to extend the current test features of the Smart Network Tool.
To create more space in the FPGA for additional features and increase efficiency, we have developed a new Ethernet MAC FPGA code. This new MAC also requires a new FreeRTOS network driver in the softcore to function and can be added by the intern/graduate.
Complexity
The complexity of this project lies within the following;
– Exchanging Linux with FreeRTOS. This requires a boot loader change as well.
– The boot loader and FreeRTOS need to be added via the AMD FPGA tool chain.
– Replacing the Ethernet MAC which requires VHDL modifications and developing a new software driver for the FreeRTOS
Keywords for this project
Linux, FreeRTOS, embedded softcore, driver.
