MB-Lite+/tumbl Info and Downloads

The MB-Lite+ is a 32-bit RISC soft-core (codename of the core 'tumbl') processor which closely follows (a subset of) the instruction set of the well-known MicroBlaze from Xilinx. From the outside, it is supposed to be completely cycle accurate and bit accurate with the MicroBlaze.

tumbl's internal modules tumbl's internal modules

Like the original MicroBlaze, the MB-Lite+ can be equipped with Fast Simplex Link (FSL) ports, while Memory Mapped I/O is used for accessing 'more common' peripheral devices. Moreover, it also features the possibility to address instruction and data memories for programming and read-out by means of JTAG signals.

tumbl SoC tumbl SoC

All hardware (including memory selector, adapters, etc) has been described in VHDL, and the code is available in the package freely downloadable from this page. Software for the MB-Lite+ can be compiled and linked with the public domain mb-gcc compiler from the GNU tool chain.

ZIP  MB-Lite+ Release Package v12.1.2 (zip file)

ZIP  Update November 2012 (zip file), which contains 3 files to replace the original ones, viz:

  1. hdl/core_ctrl.vhd (interrupt handling corrected),
  2. sw_utils/src/elf2bins.c (handles the latest Xilinx/gcc versions),
  3. sysC/mblite_cid_iss.h (signed cmp corrected).

PDF   MB-Lite+ User Guide v12.1.2 (PDF file)

A number of example/reference design are described in detail in a separate manual:

PDF   Example Designs Manual v12.1.2 (PDF file)

Part of the block scheme of one of these designs, an integer DCT communicating over FSL channels, is shown here:

FST-IDCT block scheme FST-IDCT block scheme

Revision History:

  • November, 2012: added 1 file to the September update
  • September, 2012: update with 2 files to be overwritten in v12.1.2
  • April, 2012: updated to v12.1.2 including 4th design example
  • March, 2012: first release, v12.1

| November 16, 2012 |