98 MicroBlaze Development Kit Spartan-3E 1600 Edition User Guide
www.xilinx.com UG257 (v1.1) December 5, 2007
Chapter 12: SPI Serial Flash R
Downloading the Design to SPI Flash
There multiple methods to program the SPI Flash, as listed below.
xUse the XSPI programming software provided with XAPP445. Download the SPI
Flash via the parallel port using a JTAG parallel programming cable (not provided
with the kit).
xUse the PicoBlaze based SPI Flash programmer reference designs. Use a terminal
emulator, such as Hyperlink, to download SPI Flash programming data via the PC’s
serial port to the FPGA. The embedded PicoBlaze processor then programs the
attached SPI serial Flash. See “Related Resources,” page 104.
xVia the FPGA’s JTAG chain, use a JTAG tool to program the SPI Flash connected to the
FPGA. See the link to the Universal Scan SPI Flash programming tutorial in “Related
Resources,” page 104.
xAdditional programming support will be provided in the ISE 8.2i software.
Downloading the SPI Flash using XSPI
The following steps describe how to download the SPI Flash PROM using the XSPI
programming utility.

Download and Install the XSPI Programming Utility

Download application note XAPP445 and the associated XSPI programming software (see
“Related Resources,” page 104). Unzip the XSPI software onto the PC.

Attach a JTAG Parallel Programming Cable

The XSPI programming utility uses a JTAG parallel programming cable, such as:
xXilinx Parallel Cable IV with flying leads
xDigilent JTAG3 programming cable
These cables are not provided with the MicroBlaze Development Kit board , but can be
purchased separately, either from the Xilinx Online Store or from Digilent, Inc. (see
“Related Resources,” page 104).
Figure 12-14: PROM File Formatter Succeeded
UG257_12_14_060806