Difference between revisions of "Ikos Pegasus reverse engineering"

From Tmplab
(Programming the auxiliary boards)
(CPLD access)
Line 47: Line 47:
 
|}
 
|}
 
Legend: X = missing pin (key), NC = No Connect
 
Legend: X = missing pin (key), NC = No Connect
 +
 +
We can use urJTAG to access the CPLD, with the BSDL files released by Xilinx to enable boundary scan. For an unknown reason, the Xilinx iMPACT tool fails to recognize the CPLD.

Revision as of 20:57, 11 August 2010

Device overview

  • The rack with the power supply can hold up to 7 boards connected via a backplane.
  • One main board with:
    • SCSI controller
    • 8051
    • CPLD
    • FPGAs
    • SDRAM
  • 5 auxiliary boards with (each):
    • 1 XC95216 CPLD
    • 64 XC4036 FPGAs
    • lots of SRAM
  • One auxiliary board was destructively reverse engineered, so only 4 are remaining.

Some device photos are here.

Programming the auxiliary boards

Situation

In normal operation, the CPLD receives configuration data from the backplane (originating from the mainboard through the SCSI port) and distributes it to the FPGAs. The CPLD uses JTAG to send data to the FPGAs. The 64 FPGAs on each auxiliary board are arranged to form one big JTAG chain driven by the CPLD.

Because this mode of operation uses a proprietary protocol which is especially hard to reverse engineer since we do not have the original software and SCSI device driver, we are trying to program the boards with a JTAG probe.

CPLD access

The CPLD's JTAG port is accessible on each board with a HE10 connector following the MultiLINX pinout.

Vref GND NC NC NC NC NC NC NC
NC TDO NC X TDI TCK TMS NC NC

Legend: X = missing pin (key), NC = No Connect

We can use urJTAG to access the CPLD, with the BSDL files released by Xilinx to enable boundary scan. For an unknown reason, the Xilinx iMPACT tool fails to recognize the CPLD.