What's Firmware?
Firmware
In this context,"firmware" designates the content of the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) device of a Coaxlink card.
It defines the functionality of the card including the PCI Express end-point.
Firmware EEPROM
The FPGA used on Coaxlink card is a RAM-based FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that needs to be loaded every power up.
Considering that a PCI Express end point must be ready within 150 milliseconds of the power-up time, the FPGA content, must be loaded quickly after having applied power to the card. Therefore, the firmware is stored into a non-volatile flash EEPROM allowing a fast start-up of the FPGA.
Note: This situation differs from other Euresys products, such as Grablink cards, where the FPGA content is loaded by the MultiCam Driver when it starts or at any time if a FPGA configuration change is requested during operation.
Note: The Coaxlink driver will never modify the content the FPGA during operation.
Firmware Modifications
Any modification of the FPGA content requires a two-step operation:
| 1. | The new firmware is written into the Flash EEPROM of the card using a firmware management tool. Refer to: "Firmware Manager Tool". |
| 2. | The new firmware is activated by cycling the system power. |