FPGA DE0-nano with RFS for serial communication

[rosesea]

Hi, I'm new new new newbie using FPGA I am having difficulty in sending processed signal data using the DE0-Nano FPGA to my PC. I've read some suggested methods on this forum, one of which involves using additional drivers. I have an RFS module equipped with UART to USB (CP2102N). What are the steps for me to utilize this RFS module to send my signal processing results to my PC? I'm having trouble finding existing examples. Which library should I add to my platform design so that my DE0-Nano FPGA can connect to the UART to USB (CP2102N) on the RFS? Thank you, rosesea

[Farabi]

Hello,

Is this the RFS(Radio Freq and Sensor) board you are using? link : https://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=65&No=1025&PartNo=4

regards,

Farabi

[rosesea]

Indeed, the board has UART to USB, aand I think I can use it for serial communication to my laptop.

Thank you,

rosesea

[AqidAyman_Intel]

Hello rosesea,

There is the document named RFD_UserManual.pdf provided in the link provided by @Farabi.

Have you check the document?

There are the RTL Example designs provided as well as the demonstration setup that you can follow and see if it can help you with your difficulty.

Regards,

Aqid

[rosesea]

Hai Aqid,

Thank you for your advice. I have tried to search for demonstrations on the use of UART to USB, but I am having difficulty finding ones that only use UART to USB.

Then, I attempted to use the DE10-Standard, which in its system builder has an RFS port declaration. I have also added the UART (RS-232 Serial Port) library to my platform design and created a program on NIOS II to send "hello world" with transmission configuration for the host PC as per the tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJ9dhVDCwU.

There were no errors, but the "hello world" message did not transmit to the host PC. Is there any advice on what else I should ensure for my project?

Thank you,

rosesea

[FvM]

If you are using NIOS II in your design, Intel UART IP is a reasonable choice. Don't know why your test doesn't work.
For designs without soft processor, I'd prefer a simple fixed baud rate UART module. I'm not aware of suitable Intel IP, but there are many examples on the internet. I'm usually writing it from the scratch. It's basically a shift register, a baud generator and a state machine.

[AqidAyman_Intel]

Hi Rosesea,

May I know if you need more support on this issue?

Or did you find the solution.

If no, please let me know.

Regards,

Aqid

[rosesea]

Hi Aqid, 

Thank you for asking me, I'm still unable to send data from DE10-Standard using RFS to my laptop. I'm not using the USB to UART (serial communication) available on the DE10-Standard because I find it difficult to activate that port since it requires activating its HPS system and I haven't found any examples of its usage yet.

Thank you,
rosesea

[FvM]

Your first post is talking about DE0-Nano (Cyclone IV), now you tell that you apparently have DE0-Nano-SoC (with Cyclone V HPS). I presume there are examples how to setup the SoC system, e.g. on Rocketboard. But it's basically the same as I said about Nios soft processor. If your application doesn't need it, you'll rather use a basic FPGA UART.

[AqidAyman_Intel]

Hi rosesea

Can you help to confirm on the usage of the basic UART as suggested by @FvM?

Regards,

Aqid

[FvM]

I'll send you an example of basic TX UART.

[AqidAyman_Intel]

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