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Xilinx ISE 9.2 and programming FPGA

Can anyone tell me how should I configure Xilinx ISE to get fastest FPGA programming speed ?

I have Spartan 3 Starter Board (FPGA chis is xc3s200). I'm not sure what's the name of programming cable, but I plug it in my computer to LPT1 (parallel port) and other side to JTAG header in the Spartan 3 board. Currently it takes over 1 minute to program it, and my project isn't that big (it's only beginner stuff).

Also, I've notices that now I need to turn on "Create ReadBack Data Files" and "Create Mask File" options. If they aren't checked, I can't program the FPGA.

Can anyone tell what are best Xilinx ISE options for FPGA programming ?

Thanks :)

P.S. I should tell you that I am running Xilinx ISE inside Windows XP virtual machine. Is maybe that what is causing the speed problem ? If it is, can you at least tell me how to get rid of that Mask file, because before I didn't create it and everything worked ...

Solution

  • 1 minute is a looong time for a device that small.

    Is that including a certain amount of compile time, or does impact take a long time to load on your system?

    Anyway, speed improvements can come from:

    • Bitstream compression - you can turn this option on to produce a smaller bitstream, which loads faster
    • Faster configuration clock (change this in the configuration software, eg Impact) - no idea how fast the parallel cable will go, but I can do 12MHz with my USB cable on most boards I've tried and 6MHz on some of them which weren't quite so well-designed.