|
How Can I Tell Which Version of the In general, if you purchased any Triscend A7S20 production devices recently, you are using the latest “BB” revision silicon. Production devices do not have an “ES” designation in the part number. “ES” indicates that the device is an “Engineering Sample.” Revision HistoryThere were three revisions of the A7S20 silicon and revision “BB” is the current and final revision. Revision “AB” constituted the original A7S20 silicon. This revision was only used for early samples of the A7S20 device. The revision “AB” devices are obsolete and no longer supported by the FastChip Development System. Revision “BA” provided fully functional samples of the A7S20, although obscure flaws were discovered in the on-chip cache controller. Revision “BA” devices were only used for prototyping applications. The “BA” devices are fully functional although the cache should be disabled in the application. Revision “BB” is the current and final revision. The cache controller is fully functional and should be enabled in most applications. Determining Which Revision You HaveThere are two methods to determine which version of the A7S20 you are using. Visual InspectionThe top marking on an A7S20 device shows the silicon revision within the package. Figure 1 shows the top marking revision number for a TA7S20-60QC device. Table 1 shows the top marking revision numbers. The revision “AB” devices have no revision number.
Figure 1. Location of Revision Number on Top Marking for TA7S20Q. Via Software or Via JTAGThe revision code is also available as part of an internal register called REMAP_REVISION_REG. This register can be read by a software application executing on the embedded ARM7TDMI CPU or read via JTAG using FastChip Device Link (FDL) or other debugger. Table 1 shows the revision code stored in the register. Table 1. A7S20 Revision Numbers.
© 2001 by Triscend Corporation. All rights reserved. |
