IAM Electronic - Instrumentation And Measurement Electronics FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer 


DS#T0009 REV 2020/03/20 
PDF version (coming soon), HTML version

FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) FRU
EEPROM Programmer

Features
  • Easy FMC FRU EEPROM programming and readout
  • In-circuit configuration of FRU records
  • Supports I2C EEPROMs with 1 byte and 2 byte addressing
  • Fully open-source product
  • USB serial port device
  • USB powered 3P3VAUX voltage rail
  • External power supply for 12 V and 3.3 V voltage rails
  • Write enable/protection output
  • Selectable GA[1:0] addressing pins
  • Selectable PG_C2M flag
  • AVR ISP programming header
Block diagram

FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer block diagram

The photo below shows the top side of the FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer.

  FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer with FMC carrier card connector (CC-LPC-10) and peripherals for USB data interface and power supply.
Applications
  • Small batch FMC module programming
  • Compliance and production tests
  • Professional production of FMC boards
  • Prototyping of FMC modules


1. Description

The FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer and the related toolchain is a powerful programming tool for FMC FRU (Field Replacable Unit) records. The programming adapter is designed for in-circuit configuration of ANSI/VITA 57.1 FPGA Mezzanine Cards (FMC) according to the IPMI Platform Management FRU Information Storage Definition. The board runs with open-source firmware and software for user-friendly configuration of I2C-compatible serial EEPROMs. Its microcontroller (Microchip ATmega32U4) translates a user command protocol from the serial interface into corresponding I2C read/write accesses to any compatible EEPROM devices. A user application on the PC host simplifies file transfers to the EEPROM via a USB cable. By eliminating the need for customer-specific FPGA firmware to program an FMC module, the standalone programming adapter is suitable for reliable small-batch production and prototyping.


2. Application information

For easy programming of an FMC EEPROM, we recommend the use of our complete open-source toolchain consisting of FMC EEPROM programming hardware, User command protocol implemented in ATmega32U firmware, and command line tool for the PC. All parts of the FMC FRU programmer toolchain are freely available on GitHub.
By default, the microcontroller is programmed with the latest firmware revision on delivery!

2.1 FMC EEPROM Programming Hardware
Putting the hardware into operation is quite simple. Just plug a USB cable into the Micro-USB socket. The red LED lights up as soon as the USB power supply is present. The green and orange LEDs should also (briefly) show some activity (fig. 1).

FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer Hardware
Fig. 1: Putting the FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer into operation. The red LED (D3) indicates the power-on state. The orange LED (D1) and green LED (D2) also show some activity.

An FMC module can be plugged into the programming adapter at any time. As long as a compatible module is plugged in (PRSNT_M2C_L is low), the green LED lights up permanently (fig. 2).
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer with FMC Module plugged in
Fig. 2: The green LED (D2) lights up continuously when an ANSI/VITA 57.1 compliant FMC module is plugged in.

If there is the need to overwrite the firmware of the ATmega32U microcontroller, any AVR programmer with AVR ISP connector can be used. The connector must simply be plugged onto the 6-pin header (fig. 3). The signals are also marked on the carrier board.
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer with Atmel programmer plugged in
Fig. 3: The FMC programmer board is compatible with the AVR ISP header.

2.2 Microchip ATmega32U4 microcontroller firmware
The microcontroller will be identified via the USB interface as serial port / terminal. The following parameters must be set for communication with a host PC.

Baudrate: 115200
Data:     8 data bits
Start/Stop:     1 start bit, 1 stop bit
Parity bit: none
Flow control: none

The complete implementation of the firmware for the microcontroller is available on the FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer GitHub repository. It can be compiled by using Atmel Studio 7. The source code implements the user command protocol, which interprets the following commands:

Tab. 1: Serial port commands from host PC to FMC programmer
Command Description Example (hex) Response (hex)
 
'b' (0x62) set number of bytes to read in a burst
Argument 1: n bytes to read (1 byte)
Response 1: ACK (0x06)
Response 2: Argument 1 value
0x62 0x08 0x06 0x08
 
'f' (0x66) returns always 0xFF
Argument 1: -
Response 1: 0xFF
0x66 0xFF
 
'g' (0x67) get global address (GA) pins
of dip switch SW1
Argument 1: -
Response 1: GA[1:0] in hex (0x00 .. 0x03)
0x67 0x03
 
'p' (0x70) get plugged-in state
(inverted PRSNT_M2C_L pin)
Argument 1: -
Response 1: 0x00=not plugged, 0x01=plugged
0x70 0x01
 
'P' (0x50) get protection polarity
Argument 1: -
Response 1: 0x00 or 0x01
0x50 0x01
 
'r' (0x72) read with 1 byte addressing
Argument 1: I2C Addr (1 byte)
Argument 2: Mem Addr (1 byte)
Response 1: ACK (0x06)
Response 2: Mem data (up to n byte)
0x72 0x50 0x01 0x06 0xFF
 
'R' (0x52) Read with 2 byte addressing
Argument 1: I2C Addr (1 byte)
Argument 2: Mem Addr MSB (1 byte)
Argument 3: Mem Addr LSB (1 byte)
Response 1: ACK (0x06) or NACK (0x3F)
Response 2: Mem data (up to n byted)
0x72 0x50 0x00 0x01 0x06 0xFF
 
's' (0x73) scan for EEPROM addresses
Argument 1: -
Response 1: I2C Addr (7 bit format)
Response n: 0xFF (end of list)
0x73 0x50 0xFF
 
'v' (0x76) version of firmware
Argument 1: -
Response 1: Major version
Response 2: Minor version
Response 3: Build no.
Response 4: 0xFF
0x73 0x01 0x01 0x01 0xFF
 
'w' (0x77) write with 1 byte addressing
Argument 1: I2C Addr (1 byte)
Argument 2: Mem Addr (1 byte)
Argument 3: Mem Data 1 (1 byte)
Argument n: Mem Data n-2 (1 byte)
Response 1: ACK (0x06) or NACK (0x3F)
0x77 0x50 0x00 0xFF 0x06
 
'W' (0x57) Write with 2 byte addressing
Argument 1: I2C Addr (1 byte)
Argument 2: Mem Addr MSB (1 byte)
Argument 3: Mem Addr LSB (1 byte)
Argument 4: Mem Data 1 (1 byte)
Argument n: Mem Data n-3 (1 byte)
Response 1: ACK (0x06) or NACK (0x3F)
0x77 0x50 0x00 0x01 0xFF 0x06

2.3 Command line tool
For easy use and out-of-the-box functionality, there is a simple console application for Microsoft Windows. The executable binaries and the source code are available on FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer GitHub repository.
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer command line tool
Fig. 4: Example usage of the command line tool with parameters -p -s -i and -m. The application reports all necessary status information of the FMC module's EEPROM.

The most important calls for uploading and downloading files are shown in the examples below:

2.3.1 File download
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer command line tool, Download command
Fig. 5: Example usage of the command line tool with parameters -m and -d. Firstly, the application sets the EEPROM parameters by memory autodetect function. Secondly, the application transfers the content from the FMC EEPROM to a file on the host PC (download).


2.3.2 File upload
FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer command line tool, Upload command
Fig. 6: Example usage of the command line tool with parameters -m and -u. Firstly, the application sets the EEPROM parameters by memory autodetect function. Secondly, the application transfers a file from the host PC to the FMC EEPROM (upload).


2.3.3 Driver installation
In case you are using Microsoft Windows 7, the FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer needs an addiotional driver file. It is located in the GitHub repository DRIVER directory. On Windows 10, the driver files for the hardware will be automatically installed.


3. Electrical data

The schematics can be downloaded from GitHub:
https://github.com/FMCHUB/FMC_FRU_EEPROM_PROGRAMMER/.../Schematic_FRU_Programmer.pdf

T.B.D.


4. Mechanical data


FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer mechanical data
Fig. 7: Mechanical dimensions of the FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer.


5. Ordering information
The FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer can be ordered at various online market places, or you can request a quotation by sending an e-mail to info@iamelectronic.com.

Tab. 3: Assembly variants of FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer with product numbers and market places.
Product no. Description Market place Request quote Standard lead time
T0009 FMC FRU EEPROM Programmer
with CC-LPC-10 connector and ATmega32U4.
IAM Electronic Shop

Ebay #185422171646

Tindie
#19594

info@iamelectronic.com Normally in stock, otherwise 4 weeks

6. Document history
Document number:
DS#T0009

Version history:
2020/03/21: Minor changes in features list and ordering information
2020/03/20: Initial release

7. Imprint
Name and registered office of the company:
IAM Electronic GmbH
Bucksdorffstr. 43
04159 Leipzig
Germany

Contact:
Phone: +49 341 26496031
E-Mail: info@iamelectronic.com

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Philipp Födisch

Commercial register:
Register court: Amtsgericht Leipzig
Register number: HRB 34071
Value Added Tax Identification Number: DE313797981