FPGA-Neural/docs/FPGA-Neural-Hardware-Design.md

FPGA-Neural — Hardware Design Document

Status: draft, pre-schematic. Component choices below are researched against current distributor listings (2026-09-02) but not yet ordered/prototyped. No PCB layout exists yet.

Goal: a board carrying the project's actual target device (LFE5U-45F-8BG381C) plus the parallel PSRAM the current RTL (rtl/psram_controller.v) is written for, so real hardware exists to run everything already synthesized/benchmarked in this repo.

---

1. Why a new board (not basic-ecp5-pcb)

A reference ECP5 dev board (Matt Venn's basic-ecp5-pcb, OSHWA-approved, in this workspace at ../basic-ecp5-pcb) exists and is a useful source of proven power/config circuitry — but it carries the wrong chip for this project and has no RAM at all:

	basic-ecp5-pcb	This project's target
Device	LFE5U-45F-6BG256C	LFE5U-45F-8BG381C
Package	256-ball CABGA	381-ball CABGA
Speed grade	-6 (slowest ECP5 grade)	-8 (fastest ECP5 grade)
RAM	none (6 PMODs, no memory chip)	parallel PSRAM required

Same die (LFE5U-45F, same 44K LUT / 72 DSP), different package and a materially slower speed grade. All Fmax numbers measured so far in this repo (docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md §15 "Phase 7 — Optimization") target the -8 grade; they do not directly transfer to a -6 part.

What we reuse from it anyway: the power tree and bitstream-config approach (§4, §5) are package-independent and already validated on real, shipped hardware — no reason to redesign those from scratch.

---

2. I/O pin budget (real ball data, CABGA381)

Extracted from Lattice's own ECP5-45 pinout table (../basic-ecp5-pcb/docs/ECP5Upinouts.ods, sheet ECP5U45Pinout, CABGA381 column) — not estimated:

Bank	Usable I/O balls
0	29
1	35
2	35
3	36
6	36
7	35
8	22
40 (config-related)	4
Total usable	~232
Power/ground/NC (remaining of 381 balls)	149

Signal budget this design actually needs:

Function	Pins
PSRAM (psram_a 22b worst case, psram_dq 16b, ce_n/oe_n/we_n/lb_n/ub_n/zz_n 6b)	up to 44 (real usage likely less — see §3, address lines can be trimmed to match actual chip density)
Application SPI (sclk/mosi/miso/cs_n)	4
clk, rst	2
Config SPI (to onboard FLASH)	4
JTAG (recommended, for bring-up/debug)	4
Total	~58

~58 of ~232 usable I/O used — plenty of headroom (~170+ spare pins) for LEDs, buttons, a debug PMOD-style header, or a second SPI host, without any pin-count pressure. This board does not need to be pin-constrained the way a 256-ball/PMOD-only design would.

---

3. PSRAM subsystem (the piece basic-ecp5-pcb doesn't have)

rtl/psram_controller.v implements a plain asynchronous parallel interface — address bus, 16-bit data bus, ce_n/oe_n/we_n and byte-lane lb_n/ub_n, plus zz_n — and its timing already hardcodes a 70 ns access latency assumption (ACCESS_CYCLES = ceil(70ns × CLK_FREQ_MHZ / 1000)). This is a classic async-SRAM-style bus, not QSPI — most "PSRAM" sold today (including what's on typical ESP32 boards) is serial/QSPI and will not plug into this controller without a rewrite.

Recommended part: ISSI IS66WVE4M16EBLL-70BLI

• 64 Mbit (4M × 16), parallel pseudo-SRAM, async, 70 ns access — matches the controller's timing assumption exactly, no RTL change needed.
• TSOP-44/48 package — hand-solderable-adjacent, real distributor listings (DigiKey, Mouser) at time of writing.
• Address bus note: the chip is 4M×16 words (8 MB total, needs a real 22-bit word address, A0–A21). The current RTL's ADDR_WIDTH=22 is a byte address (4 MiB space) that int8_memory_access.v right-shifts by 1 (addr >> 1) into a word address before it reaches psram_controller — so only 21 word-address bits are actually driven today. Wire all 22 chip address balls, but the chip's topmost line (A21) stays unused/tied low until ADDR_WIDTH is widened to 23 to use the chip's full 8 MB instead of today's 4 MiB. Free headroom, not a defect.

Fallback: ISSI IS61WV6416DBLL / IS61WV102416BLL (true async SRAM, not pseudo-SRAM) — electrically drop-in on the same ce_n/oe_n/we_n/lb_n/ub_n signals, no internal refresh (so zz_n can just be tied inactive), faster than needed (~10 ns), useful if the ISSI PSRAM specifically is out of stock. Smaller density (1–16 Mbit depending on exact part) — fine for this project's current memory footprint (weights/biases/activations for the networks exercised so far are well under 1 MB).

Real part numbers, not yet ordered — verify current stock/pricing before BOM lock.

---

4. Clock

basic-ecp5-pcb uses a fixed 16 MHz MEMS oscillator (SiTime SiT2001B family) — no crystal driver on the ECP5, the clock input must come from an oscillator IC into a PCLK pad.

Recommendation: keep 16 MHz, same SiT2001B family (or SiT1602/SiT8008, same vendor, also in stock). Rationale, not just "reuse what worked":

• No PLL exists anywhere in this project's RTL yet — CLK_FREQ_MHZ is a timing parameter, not a clock generator. Whatever oscillator is fitted drives clk directly.
• Every Fmax measured so far for the full integrated system (spi_neuron_top, Phase 5) sits at 39.5–45 MHz across a seed sweep (docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md §15 "Phase 7 — Optimization") — confirmed structural, not placement luck. 16 MHz sits well under that with real margin.
• CLK_FREQ_MHZ must be set to match whatever oscillator is actually fitted (16, if this recommendation is taken) — it feeds the PSRAM access-timing formulas directly (§3); using the RTL's default of 80 with a 16 MHz real clock would under-time the PSRAM by 5×.

A higher oscillator (e.g. 25 or 32 MHz) is possible with margin to spare, but revisit once the Phase 7 timing-closure work (docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md) lands rather than guessing a number now.

---

5. Power

Reuse basic-ecp5-pcb's proven three-rail tree as-is (same device family, same rail requirements regardless of package):

Rail	Value	Part	Load	Status
Core	1.1 V	TLV62568 (buck)	≥600 mA	Confirmed in production, DigiKey/Mouser listed
I/O	3.3 V	TLV62568 (buck)	1 A (all banks + PSRAM + PMODs share this)	Confirmed in production
Auxiliary	2.5 V	TLV73325 (LDO)	10 mA	Confirmed in production

Decoupling: one cap per I/O bank minimum, per Lattice's ECP5 Hardware Checklist (referenced by basic-ecp5-pcb, not re-derived here).

---

6. Configuration (bitstream load)

Reuse basic-ecp5-pcb's SPI-FLASH-boot approach:

• W25Q128JV SPI NOR flash (16 MB) — confirmed in production, multiple package options (WSON, SOIC) currently listed.
• ECP5 reads its bitstream from this flash at power-on (sysCONFIG SPI master mode); no external programmer needed for normal power-up, only for the initial flash write.

Lessons reused from basic-ecp5-pcb's errata (do not re-discover these the hard way):

• Config-mode select pins should tie directly to GND, not through a 10 k resistor — the ECP5 test point is ~1 V, too close to the 3.3 V bank's input threshold through a resistor divider.
• Not every SPI flash that claims QSPI actually has a usable QE (quad-enable) bit in practice — basic-ecp5-pcb hit this with an IS25LP016D and switched to the W25Q12x family instead. Stick with W25Q128JV rather than substituting on price alone.
• The dedicated config-SPI clock pin cannot be reused as a general input post-configuration without extra board-level workaround (basic-ecp5-pcb needed a bodge wire to let a Raspberry Pi talk SPI to the FPGA over the same physical pin used for flash boot). This project's application SPI (spi_neuron_top's sclk/mosi/miso/cs_n, the host-facing protocol in docs/FPGA-NeuralNetwork-Engine.md §8.1) must land on separate, ordinary I/O pins — never the config-SPI pins — precisely to avoid needing that same workaround.

---

7. Signal map (draft — not yet a real LPF)

No .lpf pin constraints exist for this device/package combination yet (all .lpf files in synth/ are currently empty — nextpnr has been auto-placing I/O for every synthesis run so far, fine for Fmax/resource benchmarking, not sufficient for a real board). Before schematic capture, someone needs to:

1. Pick actual CABGA381 ball numbers for each signal below from the pinout table referenced in §2 (bank-aware: keep the PSRAM data/ address bus in one or two adjacent banks to ease layout and timing).
2. Write a real .lpf with those assignments and re-run nextpnr-ecp5 with it (current benchmark runs deliberately skipped this — see tools/fpga_benchmark.py).
3. Confirm bank voltage compatibility (all banks are 3.3 V I/O in this design, per §5 — fine for both the PSRAM candidates in §3 and standard SPI-level signaling).

Signal group	Port(s)	Count	Target bank (TBD)
PSRAM address	psram_a[21:0]	22	one bank
PSRAM data	psram_dq[15:0]	16	same or adjacent bank
PSRAM control	psram_ce_n/oe_n/we_n/lb_n/ub_n/zz_n	6	same bank as above
Application SPI	sclk/mosi/miso/cs_n	4	any bank, NOT the config-SPI bank (§6)
Clock/reset	clk, rst	2	clk must land on a PCLK-capable pad
Config SPI	to onboard flash	4	dedicated config bank (bank "40" balls, §2)
JTAG (debug)	TCK/TMS/TDI/TDO	4	dedicated JTAG balls

---

8. Bill of materials (draft)

Ref	Part	Function	Availability
U1	LFE5U-45F-8BG381C	FPGA	Already the project's confirmed target (see main docs, price/stock table)
U2	ISSI IS66WVE4M16EBLL-70BLI	Parallel PSRAM, 64Mb, 70ns	Verified listed, DigiKey/Mouser
U3, U4	TLV62568	Buck converter, core + IO rails	Confirmed in production
U5	TLV73325	LDO, 2.5V aux rail	Confirmed in production
U6	W25Q128JV	SPI NOR flash, config	Confirmed in production, multiple packages
Y1	SiT2001B, 16 MHz	System clock oscillator	Confirmed in production

Not yet specified: exact package/footprint per part, decoupling cap values, JTAG header, PSRAM address-bus trim if a smaller/cheaper density than 4M×16 turns out to be sufficient once real network sizes are decided.

---

9. Open items before schematic capture

• Decide real PSRAM density needed (drives whether ADDR_WIDTH stays 22 or can shrink, and whether the fallback true-SRAM part in §3 is sufficient instead of the pseudo-SRAM)
• Real .lpf pin assignment (§7) and a synthesis run against it (current benchmark results all use auto-placed I/O)
• Confirm PSRAM/SPI signal integrity at whatever clock is actually fitted (§4) — no signal integrity analysis done yet
• JTAG header footprint choice
• KiCad (or other) schematic capture — none exists yet for this device/package combination