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CDBUS IP Core

(This is an 8-bit version, please switch to the corresponding branch for the 32-bit version.)

  1. CDBUS Protocol
  2. Block Diagram
  3. Registers
  4. Interface
  5. Examples
  6. Simulation
  7. Ready To Use Devices
  8. License

CDBUS is a simple protocol designed for serial ports and serial bus communication, commonly employed in RS-485 buses. It utilizes hardware arbitration and other mechanisms to avoid data conflicts, allowing nodes to freely transmit and receive data packets, thereby overcoming the limitations of single-master polling.

CDBUS Protocol

CDBUS has a 3-byte header: [src_addr, dst_addr, data_len], followed by user data, and concluding with a 2-byte CRC (identical to MODBUS CRC).

The CDBUS protocol at the byte level can be directly used for traditional serial communication, such as traditional UART, RS-232, RS-485, and USB virtual serial ports.

The full CDBUS protocol at the bit level requires dedicated hardware controllers (or software emulation) to achieve conflict avoidance, higher speeds, and strong real-time performance.

Arbitration Mode (CDBUS-A)

  • It introduces an arbitration mechanism, similar to the CAN bus, to automatically avoid conflicts.
  • Supporting dual baud rates achieves high-speed communication, with the maximum baud rate during the high-speed phase up to: sysclk ÷ 3. (e.g. 50 Mbps for 150 MHz sysclk.)
  • Supports unicast, multicast and broadcast.
  • The maximum user data size is 253 bytes.
  • Hardware packing, unpacking, verification and filtering, saving your time and CPU usage.
  • Compatible with traditional RS-485 hardware (arbitration function remains effective).

The protocol timing example, consisting of only one byte of user data:
(You can configure the lengths of idle time and transmission permit time.)

protocol

Tips:

  • When a high-priority node needs to send unimportant data, we can dynamically increase the transmission permit time (TX_PERMIT_LEN).

Arbitration example:

arbitration

Example waveforms for TX output and TX_EN pins:

arbitration

The RX data sampling point for reception is at 1/2 bit; for TX readback, it's at 3/4 bit.

Break Sync Mode (CDBUS-BS)

In CDBUS-A mode, if the low-speed portion takes longer, it can become a bottleneck for communication efficiency.

To address this, single-rate peer-to-peer bus communication can be achieved using CDBUS-BS mode:

  • Different nodes have different configurations for the TX_PERMIT_LEN parameter, requiring sufficiently large differences to avoid conflicts.
  • If any node has pending data frames waiting to be sent before the transmission permit point, transmission starts from that point.
  • Otherwise, wait until the idle time exceeds MAX_IDLE_LEN. When there are pending data frames waiting for transmission, first send a break character to bring the bus out of the idle state.

arbitration

The CDBUS-BS mode is suitable for high-speed applications with few nodes, and it is also suitable for software implementation.

Block Diagram

block_diagram

Operation

operation

Registers

Register Name Addr Access Default Description (8-bit width by default if not specified)
VERSION 0x00 RD 0x0e Hardware version
SETTING 0x02 RD/WR 0x10 Configs
IDLE_WAIT_LEN 0x04 RD/WR 0x0a Waiting time to enter idle
TX_PERMIT_LEN_L 0x05 RD/WR 0x14 Waiting time to allows sending (10 bits)
TX_PERMIT_LEN_H 0x06 RD/WR 0x00
MAX_IDLE_LEN_L 0x07 RD/WR 0xc8 Max idle waiting time in BS mode (10 bits)
MAX_IDLE_LEN_H 0x08 RD/WR 0x00
TX_PRE_LEN 0x09 RD/WR 0x01 Enable TX_EN how long ahead than TX output (2 bits)
FILTER 0x0b RD/WR 0xff Local address
DIV_LS_L 0x0c RD/WR 0x5a Low-speed rate setting (16 bits)
DIV_LS_H 0x0d RD/WR 0x01
DIV_HS_L 0x0e RD/WR 0x5a High-speed rate setting (16 bits)
DIV_HS_H 0x0f RD/WR 0x01
INT_FLAG 0x10 RD n/a Status
INT_MASK 0x11 RD/WR 0x00 Interrupt mask
RX 0x14 RD n/a Read RX page
TX 0x15 WR n/a Write TX page
RX_CTRL 0x16 WR n/a RX control
TX_CTRL 0x17 WR n/a TX control
RX_ADDR 0x18 RD/WR 0x00 RX page read pointer (rarely used)
RX_PAGE_FLAG 0x19 RD n/a RX page flag
FILTER_M0 0x1a RD/WR 0xff Multicast filter0
FILTER_M1 0x1b RD/WR 0xff Multicast filter1

SETTING:

FIELD DESCRIPTION
[6] Full duplex mode
[5] Break Sync mode
[4] Enable arbitration
[3] Save broken frame
[2] CRC maintained by user
[1] Invert tx pin output
[0] Enable push-pull output for tx and tx_en pin
[6] [5] [4] DESCRIPTION
0 0 1 CDBUS-A mode (default)
0 1 0 CDBUS-BS mode
1 0 0 Full-duplex mode
0 0 0 Traditional half-duplex mode

TX_PRE_LEN:

Example waveforms for TX output and TX_EN pins (TX_PRE_LEN = 1 bit):

arbitration

Unused for Arbitration mode and the break character automatically generated by BS mode.

FILTERS:

Match from top to bottom:

SRC_ADDR DST_ADDR FILTER FILTER_Mx Receive or not Remarks
not care not care 255 not care Receive Promiscuous mode
= FILTER not care != 255 not care Drop Avoid loopback
!= FILTER 255 not care not care Receive Broadcast
!= FILTER != 255 not care any = DST_ADDR Receive Multicast
!= FILTER != 255 = DST_ADDR not care Receive Unicast
not care != 255 != DST_ADDR all != DST_ADDR Drop

For example, addresses from 0xe0 to 0xfe can be reserved for multicast address.

The default value 0xff of FILTER_Mx means not enabled.

DIV_xx_x:

Baud rate divider value: DIV_xx[15:0] = sysclk ÷ baud_rate − 1

The minimum value is 2.

For single rate, DIV_HS needs to be set to the same value as DIV_LS.

INT_FLAG:

FIELD DESCRIPTION
[7] 1: TX error: TX is 0, but RX is sampled as 1
[6] 1: TX collision detected
[5] 1: TX page released by hardware
[4] 1: RX error: frame broken
[3] 1: RX lost: no empty page for RX
[2] 1: Break character received
[1] 1: RX page ready for read
[0] 1: Bus in IDLE mode

Reading this register will automatically clear bit7, bit6, bit4, bit3 and bit2.

INT_MASK:

Output of irq = ((INT_FLAG & INT_MASK) != 0).

RX_CTRL:

FIELD DESCRIPTION
[4] Reset RX block
[1] Switch RX page
[0] Reset RX page read pointer

TX_CTRL:

FIELD DESCRIPTION
[5] Send break character
[4] Abort TX
[1] Switch TX page
[0] Reset TX page write pointer

RX_PAGE_FLAG:

A value of zero indicates that the frame in the current RX page is correct;
Non-zero indicates the pointer to the last received byte of the disrupted frame, including CRC.

Always zero if save broken frame is not enabled.

Interface

    parameter DIV_LS = 346,         // default: 115200 bps for 40MHz clk
    parameter DIV_HS = 346


    input           clk,            // core clock
    input           reset_n,        // async active-low reset
    input           chip_select,
    output          irq,            // interrupt output

    // avalon-mm slave interface, read and write without latency
    // support burst read and write (normally for REG_TX and REG_RX)
    input   [4:0]   csr_address,
    input           csr_read,
    output  [7:0]   csr_readdata,
    input           csr_write,
    input   [7:0]   csr_writedata,

    // connect to external PHY chip, e.g. MAX3485
    input           rx,
    output          tx,
    output          tx_en

Examples

    # Configuration
    
    write(REG_SETTING, [0x11])               # Enable push-pull output
    
    
    # TX
    
    write(REG_TX, [0x0c, 0x0d, 0x01, 0xcd])  # Write frame without CRC
    while (read(REG_INT_FLAG) & 0x20) == 0:  # Make sure we can successfully switch to the next page
        pass
    write(REG_TX_CTRL, [0x03])               # Trigger sending by switching TX page
    
    
    # RX
    
    while (read(REG_INT_FLAG) & 0x02) == 0:  # Wait for RX page ready
        pass
    header = read(REG_RX, len=3)
    data = read(REG_RX, len=header[2])
    write(REG_RX_CTRL, [0x03])               # Release RX page

Test

Install iverilog (>= v10) and cocotb, goto tests/ folder, run ./test_all.sh or ./test_all.sh test_xxx.py. (You can checkout the waveform cdbus.vcd by GTKWave.)

Ready To Use Devices

The CDCTL controllers family incorporates the CDBUS IP Core, providing peripheral interfaces such as SPI, I2C, and PCIe.
E.g. The tiny CDCTL-Bx module supports SPI and I2C interfaces:
(The source code and gerber files for this module are fully open-source and located in the example/ directory.)
cdctl_bx

For a list of CDBUS-related ASIC chips, please refer to the wiki page.

More relevant projects that may interest you:

License

This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla
Public License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed
with this file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
Notice: The scope granted to MPL excludes the ASIC industry.
The CDBUS protocol is royalty-free for everyone except chip manufacturers.

Copyright (c) 2017 DUKELEC, All rights reserved.

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