February
2006, Issue 187
Robust
Bootloader for FPGAs
Colin
built his LoonBoard Unified Bootloader (LUB) to program
Xilinx FPGAs. The LUB, which takes only 207 words
of program memory, can self-calibrate its internal
RC oscillator.
by
Colin O'Flynn
My
Atmel ATmega88-based LoonBoard Unified Bootloader (LUB)
is a powerful bootloader capable of loading both an
FPGA bitstream and an AVR file. What makes this bootloader
better than any of the other bootloaders out there?
Well,
in short, it’s capable of programming Xilinx FPGAs,
it has a robust communications protocol with CRC8, it
has redundant bootloader support, and it can self-calibrate
it’s internal RC oscillator based on an external real-time
clock to enable 115,200-bps communications without a
crystal. Did I mention it takes only 207 words of program
memory? Plus it has a convenient three-letter acronym
for its name to make sure you can confuse people instead
of speaking clear English!
