INTRO(4) (EMIPS)

INTRO(4) | Kernel Interfaces Manual (EMIPS) | INTRO(4)

# NAME

intro — introduction to emips special files and hardware support

# DESCRIPTION

This section describes the special files, related driver functions, and networking support available in the system. In this part of the manual, the SYNOPSIS section of each configurable device gives a sample specification for use in constructing a system description for the config(1) program. The DIAGNOSTICS section lists messages which may appear on the console and/or in the system error log /var/log/messages due to errors in device operation; see syslogd(8) for more information.

This section contains both devices which may be configured into the system and network related information. The networking support is introduced in netintro(4).

# DEVICE SUPPORT

This section describes the hardware supported on eMIPS (Microsoft Extensible MIPS processor)-based platforms. Software support for these devices comes in two forms. A hardware device may be supported with a character or block device driver, or it may be used within the networking subsystem and have a network interface driver. Block and character devices are accessed through files in the file system of a special type; see mknod(8). Network interfaces are indirectly accessed through the interprocess communication facilities provided by the system; see socket(2).

A hardware device is identified to the system at configuration time and the appropriate device or network interface driver is then compiled into the system. When the resultant system is booted, the autoconfiguration facilities in the system probe for the device and, if found, enable the software support for it. If a device does not respond at autoconfiguration time it is not accessible at any time afterwards. To enable a device which did not autoconfigure, the system must be rebooted.

The autoconfiguration system is described in autoconf(4). A list of the supported devices is given below.

# SEE ALSO

config(1), autoconf(4)

# SUPPORTED SYSTEMS

The following systems are supported:

BeSquare BErkeley Emulation System-3 FPGA development board
  known as the "BEE3". This is a quad-chip FPGA system where eMIPS can run on each FPGA separately, on multiple FPGAs in concert, and in multi-processor configurations.
Xilinx University Program board
  known as "XUP". This is the Xilinx reference board for the Virtex-5 series chips. It can use the same XL110T FPGA chip present on the BEE3.
Xilinx ML402
  Xilinx reference board for the Virtex-4 series chip, including the SX35.
Xilinx ML401
  Same as the above, but with the smaller LX25 chip.

# LIST OF DEVICES

The devices listed below are supported in this incarnation of the system. Devices are indicated by their functional interface. Not all supported devices are listed.

ace
  Xilinx SystemACE interface for Compact-FLASH cards, bears similarities to the IDE interface. Present on XUP and ML40x boards. Not present on BEE3.
dz
  serial driver for the eMIPS console serial device. Present on all systems.
enic
  Ethernet driver for the eNIC device. Present on XUP and BEE3 systems. Not present on ML40x systems.
eclock
  System clock, must be configured on all systems.
ebus
  Extensible BUS, present on all systems.

# HISTORY

This eMIPS intro appeared in NetBSD 6.0.

July 17, 2010 | NetBSD 7.0