How to start

This chapter describes steps for building the FPGA firmware, loading it into the FPGA card, and using it.

What dependencies are needed to build an FPGA firmware

The NDK build system is for Linux operating systems only. We recommend using any RHEL-compatible OS, for example, Rocky Linux 8+.
The dtc/libfdt package is required. On RHEL-compatible OS, you can use the following command: sudo dnf install dtc.
To build the FPGA firmware, you must have Intel Quartus Prime Pro or Xilinx Vivado (depending on the target card) installed, including a valid license.
You can always find information about the required version of the synthesis tools (Quartus/Vivado) in the <NDK-APP-XXX_root_directory>/README.md file.

How to build an FPGA firmware with an NDK-based application

Go to the <NDK-APP-XXX_root_directory>/build/<your_card>/ directory.
Check or modify the app_conf.tcl file, where you can change the firmware configuration.
Build the FPGA firmware with Quartus/Vivado by the make command in the same folder.
If you do not have a DMA IP (it is not part of the open-source NDK), you must use the make DMA_TYPE=0 command to disable the DMA and create a loopback instead.
Wait until the FPGA firmware build successfully finishes.
The FPGA firmware file (bitstream) is in the same directory in the NDK format (.nfw) or the Quartus/Vivado format (.sof/.bit).

List of make parameters:

PCIE_CONF – Allows you to set the PCIe configuration, for example: make PCIE_CONF=1xGen4x16. More information can be found in the documentation of the PCIe module.
DMA_TYPE – Allows you to select the DMA controller, for example make DMA_TYPE=0. More information and allowed values can be found in the documentation of the DMA module.
BOARD_REV – Allows you to set the board revision number, for correct firmware settings. This parameter is not available for all FPGA cards. You can find the allowed values in the NDK documentation for the specific card.

How to prepare the FPGA card and the host PC

The target FPGA card may require proper switch settings. Check the card manufacturer’s instructions.
Plug the target FPGA card into the PCIe slot of the host PC.
Install the NDK drivers and tools on the host PC. The pre-built .rpm and .deb packages can be found here.

Warning

The FPGA card and its firmware are designed for a specific PCIe generation and a specific number of PCIe lines. If you plug an FPGA card into a slot that does not support such PCIe configuration, you may experience slower data transfer over the PCIe interface or a general malfunction.

How to load the firmware to an FPGA card

The NDK platform uses the nfb-boot tool to load the new firmware into the FPGA (booting). You can find an example of how to use it to load firmware into an FPGA card below.

Warning

The nfb-boot tool expects that some NDK firmware is already loaded in the FPGA. If this is not your case, follow the FPGA card manufacturer’s instructions for loading the FPGA firmware.

Note

The method of booting the FPGA firmware may vary from card to card; the nfb-boot tool does not support all cards. Please refer to your card’s documentation for more detailed information. For example, the firmware can be uploaded to the Intel Stratix 10 DX FPGA Development Kit using Quartus and prepared scripts.

Copy the your_ndk_firmware.nfw file into the host PC with your connected card (if it is not already there).
Boot the NDK firmware by using the nfb-boot -f0 your_ndk_firmware.nfw command.
Wait until the NDK firmware boot successfully finishes.

How to check the NDK firmware in the FPGA

The NDK platform uses the nfb-info tool to read the basic information about the NDK firmware from the FPGA card. Using this tool, we can check that our NDK firmware has booted correctly. An example of the output of the nfb-info tool can be seen below:

$ nfb-info
--------------------------------------- Board info ----
Board name                 : COMBO-GENERIC
Serial number              : 0
Network interfaces         : 2
------------------------------------ Firmware info ----
Card name                  : N6010
Project name               : NDK_MINIMAL
Project variant            : 100G2
Project version            : 0.5.8
Built at                   : 2024-02-07 08:45:45
Build tool                 : Quartus Version 22.4.0 Build 94 12/07/2022 SC Pro Edition
Build author               : no-reply@liberouter.org
RX queues                  : 16
TX queues                  : 16
ETH channels               : 2
-------------------------------------- System info ----
PCIe Endpoint 0:
* PCI slot                : 0000:17:00.0
* PCI speed               : 16 GT/s
* PCI link width          : x16
* NUMA node               : 0

Further work with the NDK

After you have completed the first steps with the NDK firmware, you may want to learn more about the NDK architecture or start testing the NDK firmware. The following references provide the information to do just that.