FPGA firmware framework for MTCA.4 AMC modules

Many of the modules in specific hardware architectures use the same or similar communication interfaces and IO connectors. MicroTCA (MTCA.4) is one example of such a case. All boards: communicate with the central processing unit (CPU) over PCI Express (PCIe), send data to each other using Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGT), use the same backplane resources and have the same Zone3 IO or FPGA mezzanine card (FMC) connectors. All those interfaces are connected and implemented in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips. It makes possible to separate the interface logic from the application logic. This structure allows to reuse already done firmware for one application and to create new application on the same module. Also, already developed code can be reused in new boards as a library. Proper structure allows the code to be reused and makes it easy to create new firmware. This paper will present structures of firmware framework and scripting ideas to speed up firmware development for MTCA.4 architecture. European XFEL control systems firmware, which uses the described framework, will be presented as example. (author)