While using the monitor interface is optional, AMD strongly recommends having a method in place to connect the monitor interface. The monitor interface provides information that is crucial in debugging potential problems or answering questions that might arise. The MON shim in the system-level design example is a UART that can be connected to a standard RS232 port, or to USB through a USB-to-UART bridge.
To confirm the SEM controller is operational, observe the initialization report issued by the SEM controller over the monitor interface. It generally has the following form:
X7_SEM_V4_1
SC 01
FS 02
ICAP OK
RDBK OK
INIT OK
SC 02
O>
The first line lists the device and core version. The second line indicates the SEM controller feature set, which is a summary of the SEM controller core options selected when the core was generated.
If the MON shim is used, and the initialization report appears scrambled or garbage characters appear, verify that the terminal program communication settings match those listed in Monitor Interface . Also verify that the frequency of the actual clock provided to the SEM controller, coupled with the MON shim V_ENABLETIME parameter value, yield a standard baud rate and that the terminal program communication settings match the bit rate. This is described in This Equation and This Equation .
If the SEM controller cannot achieve communication with the FPGA configuration logic through the internal configuration access port (ICAP) primitive, the initialization report does not get past the ICAP line, and OK is not present because the controller cannot communicate with the FPGA configuration logic. In such a scenario, the initialization report looks like this:
X7_SEM_V4_1
SC 01
FS 02
ICAP
If this happens, it is necessary to determine why the ICAP is not responding. Some possible items to check:
• Ensure the instantiation of the ICAP is correct for the device being used.
° Use the example design to get the correct instantiation.
° For implementations in Zynq 7000 devices, review the hardware and software control of the SEM controller icap_grant input.
• Ensure that no other process is blocking the ICAP.
° Verify no JTAG access is occurring and that SelectMAP persist is not set.
• The connection between the SEM controller and the ICAP must be direct, unless the ICAP sharing method documented in XAPP517 is used. Never add pipelining between the SEM controller and the ICAP.
As documented in Additional Considerations , the SEM controller is not compatible POST_CRC, POST_CONFIG_CRC, or any other related constraints. If the initialization report does not get past the ICAP, RDBK, or INIT lines, verify that none of these have been used.