Released: A Linux + FPGA jump-start kit for SoCKit

[Altera_Forum]

Hi all, 

 If you're looking for a jump start with the SoCKit board, this may be for you:  The Xillinux distribution is a software + FPGA code kit for running a full-blown graphical desktop on the sockit board (http://www.altera.com/b/arrow-sockit.html), attaching a monitor, keyboard and mouse to the board itself. The full package, along with setup instructions is free for download. The setup takes 30-60 minutes, the majority of which consists of waiting for Quartus to implement some logic components. No prior knowledge in FPGA nor Linux is necessary to carry out the setup process.  Key features:  

• Based upon Ubuntu LTS 12.04 for ARM, it makes the sockit (http://www.rocketboards.org/foswiki/edit/projects/sockit?topicparent=projects.xillinuxforsockit) board behave like a PC with the microsd (http://www.rocketboards.org/foswiki/edit/projects/microsd?topicparent=projects.xillinuxforsockit) card as its hard disk. Just plug a USB mouse and keyboard to the OTG port and use the board like any computer running Linux. 
• The (analog) VGA output of the board functions as the computer's screen output, displaying both Linux text console and the X-Windows desktop (Gnome). 
• Comes with a FPGA development kit for establishing xillybus (http://xillybus.com/) pipes with the host: Connect your application logic to plain FIFOs in the logic part, and use plain file operations to send and receive data. As a matter of fact, for just data acquisition and transmission, Linux' "cat" command-line utility will do the job. Setting this up requires no knowledge about the processor setup, Linux kernel, drivers etc. 
• Also includes the xillybus lite (http://xillybus.com/xillybus-lite) kit for a bare-metal-like interface with peripherals. 
• Native compilation of user applications and kernel modules on the board: Edit and compile your program on the board's desktop and processor, rather than using cross-compilers. 

  The entire distribution is available for immediate download at xillinux' home page (http://xillybus.com/xillinux): http://xillybus.com/xillinux  Regards,  Eli

[Altera_Forum]

I don't know whether you will find many takers for this port, especially as on the one hand Xillibus lite is very limited and on the other hand the full IP is (quite) expensive. Xillibus Lite might be usable for low-throughput projects so I will give it a closer look.

[Altera_Forum]

Hello, 

 Just to make sure there's no confusion here: xillinux (http://xillybus.com/xillinux) is a full Linux distribution, including a few extra IP cores, which the end user may choose to license, if they are used for commercial purposes. There are other Linux distributions out there as well, and I guess each one makes his or her choice of taste.  Since Linux itself is free software, those who choose not to use Xillbus' IP cores have no licensing issues whatsoever.  Indeed, the xillybus lite ip core (http://xillybus.com/xillybus-lite) is quite basic, but it allows setting and reading registers on the FPGA side, not needing to deal with hardware buses, setting up Qsys, the device tree, kernel programming etc. And it has a no-fee license no matter what.  The "full" xillybus ip core (http://xillybus.com/doc/xilinx-pcie-principle-of-operation), which is intended for data transport, has a no-fee license for academic use. Companies may evaluate it at no cost, including integration in their own products. The license fee is required only when the company wants to start making profit from a product including the core. It may appear high, but it's in line with the real-life development costs of getting a reliable data transport between the FPGA and HPS. The advantage is saving time and risks.  As for how many takers there are, it's a bit difficult to tell by the number of downloads, which currently stands at ~100/month, after announcing the project at Rocketboards in the beginning of this month. I suppose time will tell...  Regards, Eli

[Altera_Forum]

I too downloaded the Development kit and other collaterals. Thanks. 

Now I'll first have to make/find time to try it all out. By takers I meant those who will eventually buy a commercial license. At an average of US$ 35,000,- it is not an evident 'let's do it' thing. I'm not sure I can convince our customer(s) to commit to that.    Regards,  Josy

[Altera_Forum]

Hey Eli, 

 I've been playing around with your Xillinux distro with the Arrow SoCKit and I find it quite nice to get up and going very quickly.   A few questions:  what is the kernel version that are you using ? do you have a version with lxde?  Thanks

[Altera_Forum]

Hello, 

 The kernel is based upon the git repository at https://github.com/altcrauer/linux.git + patches which can be found on the microSD card's image under /usr/src/xillinux/kernel-patches. These patches are with respect to commit ID 85cc90fd0a6409b6ed7ff50d9fdeb011cf893929 (possibly arrow_sockit_vga). Configuration and device tree can be found at /boot.  As for LXDE, have you tried "apt-get install lxde"?  Regards,  Eli