JP2007233761A - Method and unit for revision control of configuration data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an operator (a designer) to perform revision control of configuration data without consciousness and to confirm revision information with a configuration ROM itself. <P>SOLUTION: The operator designates configuration data to be written in the configuration ROM. When there is no written history of the designated configuration data, revision information is generated, the generated revision information is written in the configuration ROM with the designated configuration data, and the written history is updated. When there is written history of the designated configuration data, revision information obtained from the designated configuration data and the written history is written in the configuration ROM. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a revision management method for managing revision information of configuration data of a circuit composed of program logic such as an FPGA (Field Programmble Gate Array), and a revision management device used directly when executing the management method. It is.

  When a circuit is configured in a programmable logic, for example, an FPGA, as shown in FIG. 3, the configuration data 50 is fetched by the computer 30 and written in the configuration ROM (usually EEPROM) 20A and written in the configuration ROM 20A. The configuration data is read into the configuration RAM (usually SRAM) 12 in the FPGA 10A using an interface such as JTAG, and the circuit defined by the configuration data is configured for the logic module 11, and the state is changed. Hold. Therefore, when the required circuit specifications are changed, the configuration data corresponding to the specifications is created, written in the configuration ROM 20A, and supplied, so that the circuit in the FPGA 10A can be changed quickly. .

  In circuit generation by FPGA, circuit data (RTL data) generated using a CAD tool is usually compiled using a tool supplied by the FPGA manufacturer to be used, and logic elements are arranged in accordance with the type used. Create configuration data that defines the wiring between them. Of course, if the circuit data is different, the configuration data is different. Even configuration data created from the same circuit data generates different configuration data depending on the setting. Therefore, a plurality of configuration data are generated including those corresponding to different circuit data and those corresponding to the same circuit data.

  When data to be stored in the FPGA is specified from the plurality of configuration data, the configuration data is written in the configuration ROM. If the wrong configuration data is stored in the configuration ROM, the desired operation is not performed (even if the configuration data is generated from the same circuit data, it operates normally with the configuration data generated with different settings. Therefore, it is preferable that the configuration ROM can identify which configuration data is written.

  Conventionally, for this identification, revision information consisting of numbers and symbols indicating unique data such as file names, folder names, and update dates related to the configuration data is created, and a label displaying the revision information is prepared. The label is attached to the configuration ROM, and revision management of the configuration ROM (or configuration data written in the ROM) is performed.

  However, the label has a problem that the revision information cannot be confirmed unless the board to which the configuration ROM is attached is removed from the device. Also, the label display may be unclear or an incorrect label may be attached.

Therefore, it has been proposed to provide version information (same as revision information) as a part of configuration data and to provide a storage unit for storing the version information in the FPGA (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-169701 A

  However, in the method of providing a storage unit for storing version information in the FPGA, the version information is generated as a circuit configured as an FPGA, so the designer must create it in advance as part of the circuit data. The burden on the person is heavy and mistakes are likely to occur. Further, since it is created as a part of circuit data, the same version information is given to a plurality of configuration data created from the same circuit data even if the settings at the time of generation are different. Therefore, the version information provided by this method has a limit that a plurality of configuration data generated with different settings cannot be distinguished.

  In addition, since version information is stored in the FPGA, the version information can only be confirmed after the configuration data is read into the FPGA (configuration is performed).

  An object of the present invention is to enable revision management of configuration data without the operator (designer) being conscious, and to provide revision information in the configuration ROM itself regardless of whether or not the configuration is executed. To provide a revision management method and apparatus that can be confirmed.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a method of performing revision management when writing configuration data for configuring a circuit into programmable logic in a configuration ROM. And the past writing history of the specified configuration data is referred to. If there is no writing history of the specified configuration data, the revision information of the specified configuration data is generated and the specified Write the configuration data and the generated revision information to the configuration ROM, update the writing history, and if there is a writing history of the specified configuration data, The revision information of the configuration data the specified obtained from the configuration data and the write history and serial specified and writes the configuration ROM.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the configuration data is specified from a plurality of configuration data including different configuration data generated from the same circuit information with different settings. It is characterized by that.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for performing revision management when writing configuration data for configuring a circuit into programmable logic into a configuration ROM, and a plurality of configuration data and past data for the configuration ROM. When the configuration data to be written is designated from among the plurality of configuration data, the writing history is referred to, and there is no writing history of the designated configuration data. The revision information of the specified configuration data is generated, and the specified configuration data and the generated region information are written to the configuration ROM, and Update history, and if there is a write history of the specified configuration data, the specified configuration data and the revision information of the specified configuration data obtained from the write history are stored in the configuration ROM. It is characterized by writing.
The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of configuration data includes different configuration data generated from the same circuit information with different settings.

  According to the present invention, when the configuration data is written into the configuration ROM, the revision information of the configuration data is simultaneously written into the configuration ROM, so that the revision can be made without the operator (designer) being conscious. Management can be performed. Further, by reading the configuration ROM, it becomes possible to check the revision information regardless of the configuration ROM alone, that is, the programmable logic.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a storage area for revision information is provided in the configuration ROM for storing the configuration data separately from the storage area for the configuration data, and the revision information of the configuration data is written therein.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an FPGA writing system having revision management. An FPGA 10 includes a logic module 11 that generates a desired circuit and a configuration RAM 12 that holds configuration data that defines a circuit to be generated by the logic module 11. A configuration ROM 20 is a configuration data storage unit 21 for storing configuration data, and a revision information storage unit 22 for storing revision information of configuration data stored in the configuration data storage unit 21. It has. A computer 30 also functions as a ROM writer, and writes configuration data and revision information to the configuration ROM 10, displays revision information in the configuration ROM 10, manages configuration data write history, and so on. Reference numeral 40 denotes a database that stores the writing history, and reference numeral 50 denotes a storage unit that stores a plurality of configuration data.

  When writing a circuit to the FPGA 10, first, on a program for rewriting the configuration ROM 20, configuration data to be written to the configuration ROM 20 is specified from among a plurality of configuration data stored in the storage unit 10. . Then, the program extracts fixed data of the configuration data. Examples of the fixed data that can be used include a file name, a folder name, an update date and time, and random data generated when creating configuration data. As history data stored in the writing history database 40, this fixed data and additional information such as the writing date and time are used.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing for writing and reading configuration data to the configuration ROM 20. When writing data (S1-Y), one piece of configuration data to be written is designated from a plurality of pieces of configuration data (S2). The plurality of configuration data includes different configuration data generated with different settings from the same circuit information. Next, the writing history as to whether or not the designated configuration data has been written in the past is searched with reference to the database 40 using the fixed data of the configuration data as a key (S3).

  If there is no writing history in the database 40 (S4-N), revision information including numbers and symbols indicating the fixed data of the designated configuration data is generated (S5), and then stored in the configuration ROM 20 The designated configuration data is written into the configuration data storage unit 21, and the revision information is written into the revision information storage unit 22 (S7). Then, in addition to the unique data and additional information of the written configuration data, the revision information is stored in the writing history of the database 40, and the history is updated (S8).

  On the other hand, when the writing history of the designated configuration data can be searched in the database 40 (S4-Y), the revision information of the designated configuration data is read with reference to the writing history (S6), and the configuration ROM 20 The designated configuration data and its revision information are written in the same manner as described above (S7). Further, additional information indicating the writing date and time may be added to the writing history of the database 40, and the history may be updated (S8).

  When reading data (S1-N), the revision information stored in the revision information storage unit 22 of the configuration data ROM 20 is read (S9), and the writing history of the database 40 is referred to using the revision information as a key (S9). S10). Then, along with the revision information, unique data and additional information specified by the revision information are displayed (S11). Thereby, the revision information can be confirmed by the configuration ROM 20 alone. Note that the display in step S11 does not display unique data or additional information, but may include only revision information (that is, numbers and symbols), and in this case, writing history reference (S10) is unnecessary.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the case where the configuration data is written to one FPGA by one computer has been described. However, the configuration data of the same project is transferred to two or more FPGAs using two or more computers. When writing to the database, it is desirable to manage the writing history with a common database. In addition, when writing configuration data of two or more projects to two or more FPGAs, it is desirable to manage the writing history for each configuration data in a separate database regardless of the number of computers used. .

  As described above, the revision information of the configuration data written therein is automatically written in the configuration ROM 20. This eliminates the need for special work for creating and managing revision information. In addition, the revision information written in the configuration ROM 20 can be read regardless of the FPGA, and the unique data and additional information specified by the revision information are also managed in the database 40 as a writing history. It can also be used for confirmation.

It is a block diagram of the FPGA writing system of the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of a process of writing / reading a configuration ROM. It is a block diagram of the conventional FPGA writing system.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10A: FPGA, 11: Logic module, 12: Configuration RAM
20: Configuration ROM, 21: Configuration data storage unit, 22: Revision information storage unit 30: Computer 40: Database 50: Storage unit

Claims (4)

A method of performing revision management when writing configuration data for configuring a circuit to programmable logic in a configuration ROM,
Specify the configuration data to be written, refer to the past writing history for the specified configuration data,
When there is no writing history of the specified configuration data, the revision information of the specified configuration data is generated, the specified configuration data and the generated revision information are written to the configuration ROM, and Update your writing history,
When there is a writing history of the specified configuration data, the configuration data and the revision information of the specified configuration data obtained from the writing history are written to the configuration ROM. Data revision control method.   2. The revision management method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration data is specified from a plurality of configuration data including different configuration data generated from the same circuit information with different settings. A device for performing revision management when writing configuration data for configuring a circuit into programmable logic in a configuration ROM,
Along with a plurality of configuration data, it has a past writing history for the configuration ROM,
When one piece of configuration data to be written is designated from among the plurality of pieces of configuration data, the writing history is referred to,
When there is no writing history of the specified configuration data, the revision information of the specified configuration data is generated, and the specified configuration data and the generated region information are written to the configuration ROM, Update the writing history,
When there is a writing history of the specified configuration data, the configuration data and the revision information of the specified configuration data obtained from the writing history are written to the configuration ROM. Data revision management device.   4. The revision management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of configuration data includes different configuration data generated from the same circuit information with different settings.

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