Xilinx Spartan 7 FPGA Boards

Saturn S7  is an upgraded version of Saturn S6 FPGA development board. It is an easy to use FPGA Development board featuring Spartan 7 FPGA. It was created specifically for the development and integration of FPGA-based features into other designs. It is pin compatible with many other FPGA development boards such as Narvi S7, Spartan S6 etc…  Saturn S7 is a great platform for implementing Soft processors such as Microblaze to make it a complete embedded platform. The USB 2.0 host interface based on popular FT2232H offers high bandwidth data transfer and board programming without the need for any external programming adapters. Saturn S7 provides the user with the flexibility of adding their own peripherals through IO Expansion Headers. Additional external reset pin, help the designers to synchronize the signal.

The following connection diagram should be used for reference only. The schematics are available at the end of this document for detailed information.

The onboard high-speed USB controller helps a PC/Linux/Mac computer to communicate with this module. Use a USB A to Mini B cable to connect with a PC.

By default, the module is powered by USB so make sure not to overcrowd unpowered USB hubs (the picture on the right shows the Mini B connector)

JTAG connector allows the FPGA’s JTAG registers to be accessed using a JTAG cable, compatible with Xilinx Platform Cable USB. Use this header, to attach a JTAG cable for programming and debugging.

Saturn S7 features a Push-button S2 normally used as a “Reset” signal for designs running on FPGA. Push-button S2 is connected to FPGA pin T14. Push-button S2 is active-high. This push button can also be used for any other input and is not limited to being used as a Reset signal.

* BCBUS0 – BCBUS7 are pins of FTDI FT2232H Dual-Channel USB device.

Windows

>> sudo modprobe ftdi_sio
>> echo 2a19 100F > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/ftdi_sio/new_id

The bitstream can be generated for Saturn S7 in Vivado by following the steps below:

Step 1: It is recommended to generate a .bin bitstream file along with a .bit bitstream file. Click “Bitstream Settings”.

Step 2: Select the “-bin_file*” option in the dialog window and Click OK.

Step 3: Finally click “Generate Bitstream”.

Saturn Spartan 7 FPGA Module features an onboard JTAG connector which facilitates easy reprogramming of SRAM and onboard SPI flash through a JTAG programmer like “Xilinx Platform cable USB”. The following steps illustrate how to program FPGA on Saturn using JTAG.

Step 1: By using a JTAG cable, connect Xilinx platform cable USB to Saturn and power it up.

Step 2: Open the Vivado project and open the target by clicking on the “Open Target” in “Open Hardware Manager” in the “Program and Debug” section of the Flow Navigator window. Select “Auto Connect”.

Step 3: If the device is detected successfully, then select “Program Device” after right-clicking on the target device “xc7s50_0 (1)” as shown below.

Step 4: In the dialog window which opens up, Vivado automatically chooses the correct bitstream file if the design was synthesized, implemented and bitstream generated successfully. If needed, browse to the bitstream which needs to be programmed to FPGA. Finally, click “Program”.

As soon as “Program” is clicked, a green-colored DONE LED (D1) on Saturn should light up, indicating that the programming process is going on. This LED will turn off when the configuration is complete.

Step 1: Open Xilinx Vivado Hardware Manager. Connect the board, click “Generate Memory Configuration File….” from the “Tools” menu. “Write Memory Configuration File” pop up window will open.

Step 2: Select the ‘Format’ and Configuration Memory Part as shown below. Choose the format as MCS/BIN/HEX depending on your requirement. Now, click “OK”.

Step 3: Browse to the path where you wish to save the Configuration File and type the file name as “Saturn_S7_demo.bin” (or any name as per your wish/requirement) to save the memory configuration file (the format of the file may change depending on your “Format”). Select the “Load bitstream files” under the “Options” tab and browse to the “.bit” file we already generated then click “OK” to generate the memory configuration file.

A .bin or .mcs file is required for programming Saturn’s onboard QSPI flash.

Step 1: Open the Vivado project and open the target by clicking on the “Open Target” in “Open Hardware Manager” in the “Program and Debug” section of the Flow Navigator window. Select “Auto Connect”.

Step 2: If the device is detected successfully, then select “Add Configuration Memory Device” after right-clicking on the target device “xc7s50_0” as shown below.

Step 3: Select the memory device “mt25ql128-spi-x1_x2_x4 (which is equivalent to n25q128-3.3v-spi-x1_x2_x4)”, then click OK.

Step 4: After completion of Step 3 the following dialog box will open. Click OK.

Step 5: Browse to the working .bin file or the .mcs file (whichever is applicable) and click OK to program as shown below. If programming is successful, a confirmation message will be displayed.

For steps on how to program Saturn S7 using Tenagra, refer to the Getting started with Tenagra FPGA System Management Software article.

Saturn S7 Schematics

Saturn S7 GPIO Trace Length Details

Saturn S7 GPIO easy reference