[Libre-soc-dev] arctic tern twin FPGA modules into talos2 server

[Jacob Lifshay]

On Fri, May 20, 2022, 12:54 Timothy Pearson via Libre-soc-dev <
libre-soc-dev at lists.libre-soc.org> wrote:

> If anyone's curious just what Arctic Tern is, here's one plugged into a
> Blackbird system on my desk:
> https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/File:Tpearson_arctic_tern_blackbird_bmc.png
>
> The ASpeed is completely bypassed here, Kestrel (running on Arctic Tern)
> is doing all the work.  The second module isn't even configured, the base
> Kestrel system fits quite comfortably on the first module alone.
>

Neat!

>
> We're still finishing up documentation etc., but the initial Kestrel port
> is here:
>
>
> https://gitlab.raptorengineering.com/kestrel-collaboration/kestrel-litex/litex-boards
>
> https://gitlab.raptorengineering.com/kestrel-collaboration/kestrel-firmware/bare-metal-firmware
>
> For the curious, the ribbon cable running off to the right is RS-232
> serial (same pinout and electrical configuration as the Talos II /
> Blackbird mainboards).  The CPU fan is plugged directly into the carrier
> card, and the alphanumeric display is showing the BMC status code (single
> character on the left) and the last seen system IPL POST code (three
> characters on the right).  It is plugged into a PCIe slot, and the
> electrical wiring exists to bring the PCIe link up, but is currently only
> pulling power from the slot since (at least right now) there is no open
> source HDL to implement a PCIe slave core.
>

litepcie doesn't implement a pcie slave? i'd guess it actually does support
slave mode since it has been used in a few add-in boards afaict:
https://github.com/enjoy-digital/litepcie#-fpga-proven

>
> On the left, you have gigabit Ethernet and one mini HDMI port for each
> module (IT6612 transceivers, same as the Blackbird).  Each module has 1GB
> (yes, gigabyte) of DDR3 RAM onboard.
>

ooh!

Jacob