Master Mode

Versal Adaptive SoC Technical Reference Manual (AM011)

Document ID
AM011
Release Date
2023-10-05
Revision
1.6 English

In master mode, the SPI I/O interface transmits data to a slave or initiates a transfer to receive data from a slave. In this mode, the controller drives the serial clock and slave selects with an option to provide a multi-master functionality. The serial clock is derived from the SPI_REF_CLK from the LPD clock controller.

The SPI selects one slave device at a time using one of the three slave select lines. If more than three slave devices need to be connected to the master, a 3-to-8 decoder can be added on the MIO or EMIO interface. The multiplexer is enabled using the Config [PERI_SEL] bit.

The controller initiates messages using up to three individual slave select output signals that can be externally expanded. The controller reads and writes to the slave devices by writing bytes to the 32-bit read/write data port register.

Multi-master Functionality

For multi-master, the controller is programmed for master mode [MODE_SEL] and can initiate transfers on any of the slave selects. When the software is ready to initiate a transfer, it enables the controller using the [SPI_EN] bit. When the transaction is finished, the software disables the controller. The controller cannot be selected by an external master when the controller is in master mode.

When the multi-master feature is enabled, the controller’s output signals are 3-stated when the controller is not active. The controller detects another master on the bus by monitoring the open-drain slave select signal (active-Low). The detection mechanism is enabled by the [Modefail_gen_en]. When the controller detects another master:

  • I/O outputs are put into tristate mode
  • Sets the ISR [MODE_FAIL] interrupt status bit to indicate the fault
  • Clears the Enable [SPI_EN] control bit

The [MODE_FAIL] interrupt enables the software to abort the transfer, reset the controller, and resend the transfer.