Official bladeRF forum

Hi Jon,
Could you please tell me how to upload our new custom FPGA firmware and where i can find default FPGA firmware ?

You can find binaries here:

• Official FPGA bitstreams
• Official FX3 firmware

Custom FPGA bitstreams can be loaded manually via: Make sure you're removed any hostedx40/115.rbf files from the autoload locations.


Custom FX3 firmware can be written to flash:

Hello Jon,
I have another question for you.if its possible to upload firmware.rbf to Altera using Quartus?

Hi Konstantin,

Let's be careful with our nomenclature here to avoid getting confused (or confusing others):

• Let's use "firmware" when talking about the FX3 firmware (the ARM code running on the USB 3.0 peripheral controller.)
• We'll use "bitstream" when referring to the Cyclone IV (FPGA) configuration

Yes, it is possible to load FPGA bitstream in Quartus, using the Programmer under the Tools menu. You will need to purchase a Terasic Blaster to use this.

Hi Jon,
Thanks,yes now i will use proper nomenclature.
I have altera usb blaster,this is also ok for load bitstream ?and one more question about jampers,I should change something in case with altera bitstream,because in case with FX3 we need to do it

And one more question,how to convert hostedx115-latest.rbf into hostedx115-latest.sof or other format which compatible with quartus for upload bitstream,or where i can find .sof or other programming format files

The rbf is generated from an sof file; I don't believe there's a way to work backwards.

The sof file will be in $BLADERF/hdl/quartus/work/output_files. It will be named hosted.sof. Reports and summaries are also in this directory.

thanks Jon)I found it)

Hi Jon,
I faced with problem,how to add signaltap in FPGA bitstream,i follow by instructions which describe ho to build bitstream,but i also want to add signaltap,i typed this command "quartus_sh -t ../build.tcl -rev hosted -size 115 -stp ../signaltap/debug_rx.stp" but its not working.Could you please clarify in details how to add signaltap in my bitstream ?because is not clear how to work with TalkBack
i put link with my terminal code
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/560 ... .48.49.png

Hi Konstantin,

Looks like the script is looking for QIP files at /fpga/platforms/bladerf/bladerf.qip. Is this a valid path? It doesn't seem like it would be. This QIP file adds the necessary top-level VHDL files and settings to the Quartus project, without it, it wont work.

If you're doing something custom, you may have to edit the paths in the various build scripts to point to a valid bladerf.qip location. The bladerf.qip also calls other .qip files, so you'll have to make sure those paths are valid as well.

Let us know how this goes.

Hi,
I solved problem with building project.but i have one question about -stp ../signaltap/debug_rx.stp because debug_rx.stp are not exist in signaltap folder after building is it ok?or i should choose files which exist in signaltap folder? After building firmware Signaltap should displayed in the summary or not?Im trying to use signaltap analyzer and add rx.signals.stp.signaltap shows that instance not found
As I understand i should follow the next steps for add signal tap in my firmware
1 go to quartus folder cd /home/kostya/bladeRF/hdl/quartus
2 create a project quartus_sh -t /home/kostya/bladeRF/hdl/quartus/bladerf.tcl -rev hosted -size 115
3.quartus_sh -t /home/kostya/bladeRF/hdl/quartus/build.tcl -rev hosted -size 115 -force TalkBack-stp /home/kostya/bladeRF/hdl/quartus/signaltap/debug_rx.stp
4. start building firmware ./build_bladerf.sh -r hosted -s 115 -a /home/kostya/bladeRF/hdl/quartus/signaltap/debug_rx.stp
Could you please give me some hints if i do something wrong
Quartus 15.0 ubuntu 14.04

The .stp file can reside anywhere on your machine, you'll just need to provide a valid path to the .stp file when running the build script.

A few points to remember when creating a SignalTap instance:
- Use the Node Finder to select your clock and data signals.
- In the Node Finder window, there is a "Filter" drop-down, make sure this is set to either "SignalTap II: Pre-synthesis" or "SignalTap II: Post-fitting" as this will ensure you only select valid nets.
- Remember to set a reasonable sample depth. "Reasonable" depends on what you're trying to look at. Don't make it too large or you risk running out of block memory in the device.

I'm a little confused about your build process. Why are you doing steps 2 and 3 (quartus_sh)? You should just be able to run build_bladerf.sh with appropriate options, and it will handle all the calls to quartus_sh, ip-generate, etc. for you.

In the past, I've sometimes had issues with SignalTap not being enabled even though it should be. I've only seen this manifest in a scripted build, and I'm not sure if it has been fixed. At any rate, to get around this glitch (if you run into it), I've opened the Quartus project in the GUI, verified SignalTap is enabled and using a valid .stp file, then re-run Analysis & Synthesis, Fitter, and Generate Programming File manually using the GUI.

Hi,
Thanks for reply)Im solved my problem when im using GUI,i think a scripted build is not working properly.Better to use GUI

Okay, great! Just want to clarify that the build script does work when you're not adding SignalTap to the design. If you need to add SignalTap, you'll have to open the GUI. It's a bug in Quartus that has existed for ages. However, to setup your SignalTap file you'll generally have the GUI open anyway, so you should be able to just go from that back to Quartus to rebuild the project. I hope that helps.

Thanks a lot for clarifications)If its possible,I think it would be better,if you will mention about it on the GitHub