Hey guys, sorry if I've posted in the wrong forum.
I'm working on a project and I'm fairly new to VHDL and FPGAs.
For now, I want to practice writing and reading from a Flash using a FPGA and RS-232.
I will be using a Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGA and an Atmel AT45DB32 DataFlash.
I have several ideas on how to approach this design:
1. The dataflash is working with SPI, so I'll need to code an interface for writing and reading using SPI.
2. RS232 requires an interface. UART that is.
3. I'll need some sort of RAM to store each sector, in case I'll want to re-write/read it if any error occurs, for instance a checksum error.
4. Here's the dilemma: should I use two blocks of RAM to act as a buffer? The Flash is much faster than the RS232 and in order to read a whole sector in a burst I'll need a buffer, I think. Plus it will also work as the last sector storage component. Or maybe I should just use a 528 single block of RAM for last sector storage and attach the same clock to both the flash modules and the UART ?
If you have any better ideas, please please post them!!!
I'm working on a project and I'm fairly new to VHDL and FPGAs.
For now, I want to practice writing and reading from a Flash using a FPGA and RS-232.
I will be using a Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGA and an Atmel AT45DB32 DataFlash.
I have several ideas on how to approach this design:
1. The dataflash is working with SPI, so I'll need to code an interface for writing and reading using SPI.
2. RS232 requires an interface. UART that is.
3. I'll need some sort of RAM to store each sector, in case I'll want to re-write/read it if any error occurs, for instance a checksum error.
4. Here's the dilemma: should I use two blocks of RAM to act as a buffer? The Flash is much faster than the RS232 and in order to read a whole sector in a burst I'll need a buffer, I think. Plus it will also work as the last sector storage component. Or maybe I should just use a 528 single block of RAM for last sector storage and attach the same clock to both the flash modules and the UART ?
If you have any better ideas, please please post them!!!