Device Design Guidelines: Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs

ID 813741
Date 4/01/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

4.1.1. Configuration Consideration

The SDM in all Agilex™ 5 devices has a BootROM which loads the initial FPGA configuration bitstream. Once the initial configuration bitstream or firmware is loaded, the SDM continues to load the rest of the bitstream which contains the I/O and core fabric sections. For Agilex™ 5 SoC devices, this bitstream also contains the HPS First Stage Bootloader (FSBL) binary.

Configuration Sources

The initial FPGA configuration and the HPS FSBL are part of the initial configuration bitstream and the full bitstream can be obtained from several sources:
  • Avalon® -ST Data Source: An external Avalon® -ST master provides the bitstream.
  • JTAG Interface: An external JTAG master (usually driven by a host tool) provides the bitstream.
  • SDM Flash: A flash device connected on SDM side provides the bitstream.

GUIDELINE: When configuring FPGA from flash, select a compatible QSPI device.

GUIDELINE: Select the QSPI device that fits your design. Using a larger device allows for increases in the design bitstream size.

GUIDELINE: Connect the serial flash or quad SPI flash reset pin to the AS_nRST pin.

The SDM must fully control the QSPI reset. Do not connect the quad SPI reset pin to any external host.

Configuration Clock

GUIDELINE: In the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition GUI, select the configuration clock speed to match the capabilities of the QSPI flash device that you selected.

System Reset Considerations

Table 14.  System Reset Checklist
Number Done? Checklist Item
1   Intel strongly recommends using the Reset Release IP in your design to hold your design in reset until configuration is complete and to provide a known initialized state for your logic to begin operation. The Reset Release IP is described in the Device Configuration User Guide: Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs

Remote System Update

All Agilex™ 5 devices supports the Remote System Update (RSU) feature. When you use this feature, you have the option to store multiple application images alongside a failsafe factory image on the external SDM flash. Upon exiting POR, SDM attempts to load the application images in your specific sequence. If all the application images fail to load, then the failsafe factory image is loaded.

For more information Device Configuration User Guide: Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs .