Documented Verilog UART

Description

Open Source Documented Verilog UART

Purpose

This module was created as a result of my own need for a UART (serial line I/O) component and frustration at the difficulty of integrating the existing available components in to my own project. All the open source UART modules I found were difficult to interface with, usually due to being more clever than I wanted them to be, and had poor documentation for their interfaces. They were also generally written in VHDL, which since I've never written VHDL made it a little difficult to read to work out the interfacing issues for myself. The frustration of finding such a simple component so hard to use prompted the decision to create my own, and document it for beginners like myself.

I hope that this module will be documented to a better standard than most I've come across. Please send me a message if you have trouble understanding it. Confusing documentation should be treated as much like a bug as a flaw in the code - please feel free to file one. Improvements are also welcome!

This is released under the MIT licence, which freely permits use in both open source and closed source / commercial projects.

What would I use this for?

A UART is a useful component for controlling asynchronous (without a separate clock line) serial buses. It can be used via a level converter to talk to the RS232 serial port of a computer. This is not, however, the only application. It can also be used in a circuit to communicate with peripherals, or over other types of cables (such at RS485 with a differential driver) to connect to other circuits over quite long distances.

I/O Standards, Compatability

This follows standard UART signalling methods with the following properties:

* Expects to send and receive data as 8 data bits, no parity bits.
* Default baud rate is 9600 with a 50MHz clock. This is configurable.
* Samples values roughly in the middle of each bit (may drift slightly).
* Sends and receives least significant bit first.
* Expects to receive at least 1 stop bit. Will not check for more, but won't fail if more are present either.
* Transmits 2 stop bits.
* Tested connecting over a computer serial port at standard rates up to 57600 baud.

Speeds, Recommended Testing

The maximum speed this can operate at depends on the clock rate used, the accuracy of the UART at the other end and connection quality. At the moment I'd recommend testing this at a low baud rate such as 9600 baud, then scaling it up until you encounter errors. For example, using a 50MHz clock I encounter quite a few errors at 115200 baud. I will be working to increase stability and allow higher rates in the near future.

Source Control

The source for this project is maintained using Git ( http://git-scm.com ). The latest source can be obtained by installing Git and running:

git clone git://goddard.net.nz/osdvu

The source can be browsed online at:

http://goddard.net.nz/cgi-bingitweb.cgi?p=osdvu.git

The OpenCores SVN will be updated with each packaged release, but does not contain interim development.