One Hot FSM stuck !!

Hi

I have a desgn that has a one hot FSM.
I'm using ISE Webpack 6.1 and XST to synth the VHDL.
Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.

This is impossible I know.

Does anyone have any idea on how this could happen ?
This problem is driving us mad.

Thanks

Nic

Nic

Nic wrote:


> Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
> the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.

Maybe a hazard on an asynchronous reset?
Maybe a hazard on a signal, that chooses which state is next short
before the clock-edge?

Ralf

Ralf Hildebrandt

Nic wrote:
> Hi
>
> I have a desgn that has a one hot FSM.
> I'm using ISE Webpack 6.1 and XST to synth the VHDL.
> Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
> the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.
>
> This is impossible I know.
>
> Does anyone have any idea on how this could happen ?
> This problem is driving us mad.
>
> Thanks
>
> Nic

Hi,

The only way to have the trouble are :

- asyncronous circuit
- frequency system too high for you circuit.

First, makesure to synchronize all input of your FSM.
Second, goto to the P&R static timing report of your design and check
the max frequency corresponding with the most significant pass in your
logic level.

Regards,
Laurent
www.amontec.com

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Amontec Team, Laurent Gauch

Nic wrote:

> I have a desgn that has a one hot FSM.
> I'm using ISE Webpack 6.1 and XST to synth the VHDL.
> Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
> the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.
>
> This is impossible I know.
>
> Does anyone have any idea on how this could happen ?
> This problem is driving us mad.

Consider binary encoding.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=on...g2+utilization

-- Mike Treseler

Mike Treseler

Nic <> wrote in message news:<>. ..
> Hi
>
> I have a desgn that has a one hot FSM.
> I'm using ISE Webpack 6.1 and XST to synth the VHDL.
> Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
> the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.
>
> This is impossible I know.
>
> Does anyone have any idea on how this could happen ?
> This problem is driving us mad.
>

I had a similar problem. My FSM was sometimes stuck when a cable was
removed or inserted while the board was powered. All inputs to the FSM
where synchronised with dual flip-flops. Then solution was to put an
attribute in the VHDL code to get binary coding of the FSM. To cover
all unused states in the FSM is also good design practice.

/Peter

Peter Hermansson

(Peter Hermansson) wrote in message news:<. com>...
> Nic <> wrote in message news:<>. ..
> > Hi
> >
> > I have a desgn that has a one hot FSM.
> > I'm using ISE Webpack 6.1 and XST to synth the VHDL.
> > Somtimes the design locks up, using Chipscope, I've been able to probe
> > the state of the FSM machine and it's locked up with no states active.
> >
> > This is impossible I know.
> >
> > Does anyone have any idea on how this could happen ?
> > This problem is driving us mad.
> >
>
> I had a similar problem. My FSM was sometimes stuck when a cable was
> removed or inserted while the board was powered. All inputs to the FSM
> where synchronised with dual flip-flops. Then solution was to put an
> attribute in the VHDL code to get binary coding of the FSM. To cover
> all unused states in the FSM is also good design practice.
>
> /Peter

Are you using async. reset? That is suspicion, as someone suggested
earlier. If this async. reset isn't taken care of properly, it can
cause exactly what the orig. poster described. Making the state var.
binary would solve the problem, but that doesn't cure the underlying
issue. Using GSR of startup block would exacerbate the problem, by
the way.

I used to code with async. reset, and now I'm a big proponent of sync.
reset. It requires more work, but pays off.

FGreen