PIC core for Spartan/Virtex?

Thomas Blake · Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 22 Location: Burbank CA

Not specifically CCS - but - I've been thinking about canning all separate MCUs in my future designs and using the Xilinx MicroBlaze core instead. This is partly to be able to program everything at once via JTAG and partly about customization. However, I sort of hate to give up the old familiar tools. Has anyone done a soft core for PIC, preferably for Xilinx Cool Runner, Spartan-II, and/or Virtex?

TIA

tcb

kender · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 768 Location: Silicon Valley

I recall seeing a PIC core on OpenCores.org.

Thomas Blake · Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 22 Location: Burbank CA

You're right! They call it mini-RISC and that's why I didn't recognize it at first.

Thanks!

kender · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 768 Location: Silicon Valley

Thomas,

Were you able to use the PIC core with the CCS compiler? How did it go?

Nick

kender · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 768 Location: Silicon Valley

Thomas,

How did your plan to switch to MicroBlaze on a Xilinz FPGA work out?

My last projects had a lot of glue logic in them, so I've started to use Xilinx XC9500 CPLDs. But I think that I'll run into limitations of these CPLDs soon, and I will have to switch to FPGAs. For future reference I'm investigating the possibility of putting a microprocessor into the FPGA.

Cheers,
Nick

Eugeneo · Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 155 Location: Calgary, AB

I don't know much about FPGAs but when use the IP block do you have to program it using the same program logic, or just load the "virtual" flash?