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
Two related Phase 5 additions, both threaded the same way (a new
runtime field defaulting to the pre-existing behavior, settable
per-layer via the descriptor table or per-run via SET_BASE):
Configurable activation functions:
- neuron_parallel.v gains a 2-bit `activation` port (ACT_NONE =
linear + two-sided INT8 saturate, ACT_RELU = the original
hardwired behavior, kept as the default so every pre-existing
caller/testbench is unaffected), threaded through neuron_memory.v.
- spi_engine.v: SET_BASE sel=6 (single-layer path); the descriptor
table gains a 7th byte (multi-layer path).
- Verified in neuron_parallel_tb.v (negative pass-through + negative
saturation to -128) and end-to-end in
spi_neuron_top_runnetwork_tb.v (a real negative accumulator that
ACT_RELU would clamp to 0 comes through unclamped under ACT_NONE,
over real SPI/RAM).
Runtime network width (one bitstream, any topology up to its
build-time max, entirely host-configured over SPI):
- neuron_parallel.v gains n_inputs_real, bounding its MAC group loop
(n_inputs_real/PARALLEL groups instead of the fixed build-time
count). neuron_memory.v gains n_inputs_real/n_neurons_real,
bounding its X/W RAM-read loop and its neuron loop. All default to
the build-time max, so unconnected callers are unaffected.
n_inputs_real must stay a multiple of PARALLEL (same constraint
N_INPUTS itself is held to at elaboration time, now the caller's
runtime responsibility).
- spi_engine.v: SET_BASE sel=7/8 (single-layer path); the descriptor
table grows to 11 bytes/layer (+n_inputs_real +n_neurons_real,
multi-layer path) -- layer_sequencer.v also now copies only
n_neurons_real bytes into the ping-pong buffer, not the full
build width.
- This is real early termination, not bookkeeping: no RAM
zero-padding needed for the unused tail, and it measurably
completes faster. neuron_parallel_tb.v TEST 7: 3 cycles vs 6 for a
reduced-vs-full run, with garbage loaded into the skipped lanes to
prove they're never read. neuron_memory_tb.v TEST 5: through the
real PSRAM stack, 209 cycles vs 788. layer_sequencer_tb.v proves a
reduced n_neurons_real shortens the ping-pong copy-out itself
(bytes beyond the real count stay untouched, not just differing).
docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md: §8.1 opcode/SET_BASE table, new
"Runtime network width" subsection, Phase 5 checklist, Current
Status table, and the "Core architectural principle" statement
updated to reflect that topology (not just trained parameters) is
now host-configured at runtime up to a build-time ceiling.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WQV3vS9TXaGDJ5cRfnfidt
neuron_memory.v only handled a single neuron. Added an N_NEURONS
parameter (default 1, fully backward compatible) and a memory-bound
neuron loop: X is read once (shared layer input), and for each
neuron in turn W and bias are re-read from PSRAM and fed to a
single, reused neuron_parallel instance -- no change to the
validated compute datapath (neuron_parallel/mac8/mac_unit).
Addressing follows layer.v's neuron-major convention: neuron n's
weights live at w_base + n*N_INPUTS bytes, its bias at
bias_addr + n. Output changed from a single `y` port to a packed
`y_bus` (DATA_WIDTH*N_NEURONS bits, neuron-major), matching
layer.v's y_bus.
- rtl/neuron_memory.v: N_NEURONS parameter, neuron_index/
w_group_base/bias_group_addr tracking, y_reg[] array assembled
into y_bus, STATE_WAIT_N now loops back to STATE_READ_W for the
next neuron instead of finishing after one.
- sim/neuron_memory_tb.v: updated to the new y_bus port
(N_NEURONS=1 explicit); all 5 existing tests still pass unchanged,
confirming backward compatibility.
- sim/neuron_memory_multi_tb.v: new end-to-end test (full
memory_interface + psram_controller + psram_model stack) with
N_NEURONS=3, validating per-neuron addressing and a single done
pulse at the end of the sequence (scale, larger value, ReLU).
- Full regression re-run: all existing testbenches still pass.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WQV3vS9TXaGDJ5cRfnfidt
micheleandClaude Sonnet 5