The flash subsystem's SCLK previously reused the boot config-SPI's CCLK
pad via the ECP5 USRMCLK primitive to save one pin. This made the
"exclusive flash bus" claim misleading (SCLK still depended on the
config engine's own pad electrically) and carried an unresolved
verification gap (USRMCLKTS pad-enable timing never checked against
the primary Lattice sysCONFIG Usage Guide).
flash_sclk is now a genuine 4th ordinary GPIO pin (E3, bank 7), added
purely additively to the real .lpf (git diff: one new line, no existing
ball moved). The flash bus is now 4 fully independent wires
(sclk/mosi/miso/cs_n), zero pins shared with any ECP5 config primitive
-- confirmed by the full-system synthesis reporting USRMCLK 0/1 (0%)
utilisation.
All 33 project testbenches re-run clean after the port rename (no
functional change, only sclk_sim -> sclk). Full-system real synthesis
re-verified: 0 constraint errors, Fmax 67.91MHz (up slightly from
66.68MHz, same critical path, not a regression).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013xXuuRUWZScuo1DeYJxs3v
Adds FPGA-exclusive access to the onboard W25Q128JV SPI NOR flash for
weights/bias/network persistence, layered as spi_flash_master (raw SPI,
USRMCLK-driven) -> flash_copy_engine (flash<->PSRAM streaming, erase-
before-write, Page Program loop) -> flash_slot_manager (16-slot catalog
with CRC32), exposed via 8 new SPI opcodes (0x40-0x47). Fixes two
pre-existing bugs found during bring-up: a psram_controller.v request
lost during power-up, and a one-cycle-pulse race in the PSRAM arbiter
request handshake. Full simulation + real Yosys/nextpnr-ecp5 synthesis
verification (0 errors, Fmax 66.68MHz) in WORKLOG.md and
docs/FPGA-Neural-Flash-Subsystem-Verification.md.
Also updates docs/pinout to reflect the 56-signal real .lpf (3 new
flash pins) and documents the WRITE_RAM/READ_RAM host backpressure
risk found while testing this subsystem.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013xXuuRUWZScuo1DeYJxs3v
PSRAM page-mode read burst support in psram_controller.v: enables the
ISSI IS66WVE4M16EBLL-70BLI's page mode via its configuration-register
software-access sequence at boot (disabled by default on the real
chip), then keeps CE#/OE# asserted after a read so a same-page
continuation only pays tAPA (20ns) instead of a full tAA (70ns)
random access, with automatic tCEM-safe session closing. Only a WRITE
closes the page -- byte-enable changes do not, since
int8_memory_access.v alternates them on nearly every access and an
early implementation attempt that treated them as a close condition
measured a real regression (53.25->61.25 cycles/edge) before being
corrected (53.25->37.53 cycles/edge, +42% gather bandwidth).
sim/psram_model.v gained independent tAPA/tAA and tCEM enforcement
(with a real Verilog same-timestep event-ordering race found and
fixed via a #0 sync) so the regression proves real timing compliance,
not just data correctness. New sim/psram_page_mode_tb.v; full 26-file
regression suite re-run clean. Real nextpnr-ecp5 Fmax re-measured on
the full spi_neuron_top system: 75.73MHz (P2, up from 55.59MHz) and
65.13MHz (P8) -- still under the 80MHz target but not regressed, with
the critical path confirmed (not assumed) to remain entirely inside
neuron_parallel's accumulate chain, never psram_controller.
Also includes this session's other already-validated work: the graph
engine (Type #2 sparse-graph network: act_buffer, graph_engine,
netasm host assembler), real CABGA381 pinout (.lpf, place&route
verified) and physical IRQ_N/DATA_READY_N pins, and Phase 7 timing
closure logs -- all previously uncommitted, documented in WORKLOG.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01LH3jPeJ3eFMfF2v8SQhpkk
Bumps ADDR_WIDTH's default from 22 to 23 bits across every RTL
module (neuron_memory, layer_sequencer, spi_engine, spi_neuron_top,
mem_arbiter, int8_memory_access, memory_interface, psram_controller,
memory_model) and every testbench that mirrors it, so the system's
byte-address space reaches the full 8 MiB the recommended PSRAM part
(ISSI IS66WVE4M16EBLL-70BLI, docs/FPGA-Neural-Hardware-Design.md §3)
actually provides -- previously only 4 MiB (half the chip) was
reachable, since int8_memory_access.v's byte->word address shift
(addr >> 1) turned the old 22-bit byte address into only 21 real word
bits, one short of the chip's real 22-bit word address (A0-A21). At
23 bits, that same shift lands exactly on all 22 chip address lines,
so the whole part is usable now instead of deferred to a future
widening.
Also fixes a stray 22'd11-sized literal in layer_sequencer.v's
descriptor-table address increment (numerically already safe via
Verilog's zero-extension, but now correctly unsized so it always
matches ADDR_WIDTH instead of silently assuming 22).
Updated docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md's SPI protocol address-field
note (23 bits, top 1 reserved bit instead of 2) and
docs/FPGA-Neural-Hardware-Design.md's PSRAM section (the "chip has
one spare address line" framing is gone now that all 22 are wired
and used).
Full regression (all 11 ADDR_WIDTH-touching testbenches, plus a
Yosys elaboration check of spi_neuron_top with the new default and
no override) passes clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WQV3vS9TXaGDJ5cRfnfidt
Phase 7 (docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md): re-ran nextpnr-ecp5 on
the already-synthesized Phase 5 spi_neuron_top netlists (top.json
reused, only placement re-seeded) at --seed 1/2/3 for both P8 and P2.
Both land in a tight band regardless of seed (P8: 39.5-40.6 MHz,
2.6% spread; P2: 42.5-45.0 MHz, 5.8% spread) -- confirms the Phase 5
timing shortfall is a real structural bottleneck, not placement
noise, unlike the much smaller same-tier benchmark design (<2%
utilization, huge placer freedom, genuinely noisy). Corrected the
earlier "pipeline the saturate stage" candidate fix, which targeted
Phase 4's critical path and not the one Phase 5's logic actually
shifted to; block RAM for x_mem/w_mem remains the leading candidate,
not yet implemented.
New docs/FPGA-Neural-Hardware-Design.md: draft hardware design doc
for a board carrying the project's actual target device
(LFE5U-45F-8BG381C) plus the parallel PSRAM rtl/psram_controller.v
is written for. Covers: why not the basic-ecp5-pcb reference board
(wrong package/speed grade, no RAM), a real I/O pin budget from
Lattice's own CABGA381 pinout table, a researched PSRAM part
(ISSI IS66WVE4M16EBLL-70BLI -- 70ns access matches the controller's
timing assumption exactly, with a note on the byte/word address
shift in int8_memory_access.v so the chip's top address line is
correctly left as spare headroom, not a wiring error), clock
(16 MHz, no PLL exists yet so CLK_FREQ_MHZ must match whatever
oscillator is fitted), power/config reusing the reference board's
proven circuitry and errata (config-SPI pin can't double as the
application SPI interface), and a BOM/open-items list.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WQV3vS9TXaGDJ5cRfnfidt
micheleandClaude Sonnet 5