Using XILINX XPS with Microblaze - quickest way to program the fpga

Question

I'm designing a micro controller based around the microblaze microprocessor on a xilinx fpga. Most of the hardware setup is done. All I'm updating at this point is the c code to be run on the microblaze. Is there a way in XPS to not have to rebuild the entire project, just the c code portion. It takes around 20 minutes to rebuild the entire project - would be nice if i didn't have to. Thanks.

Answer 1

Right click on the top-level C file. The option is there.

Answer 2

+1 for asking a hardware programming question. SO needs more of these.

I'm fairly certain this has been done before, but you would have to build into your controller the ability to rewrite the ROM where the c program is stored. If you specifically tell the programmer where to put the program ROM, some devices may offer the capability to write to specific sections of dedicated memory without reconfiguring the entire fpga. I don't know if the virtex does this though.

Answer 3

Once you've built the hardware system, you do not need to recompile it everytime. Now, just export the hardware to Xilinx SDK (it should be very familiar if you've used Eclipse). From the SDK, you can modify your C program and run it on the FPGA.