SoftConsole
Overview
SoftConsole is Microsemi’s free software development environment facilitating the rapid development of bare-metal and RTOS based C/C++ software for Microsemi CPU and SoC based FPGAs. It provides development and debug support for all Microsemi SoC FPGAs and 32-bit soft IP CPUs:
- PolarFire SoC FPGAs with an RV64 64-bit RISC-V multiprocessor-based Microcontroller Subsystem (MSS)
- Mi-V RV32 32-bit RISC-V soft IP Cores for Microsemi PolarFire, RTG4, IGLOO2 and SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs
- SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs with a 32-bit Arm® Cortex™-M3 based MSS
- SmartFusion SoC FPGAs with a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M3 based MSS
- ARM Cortex-M1 soft IP soft IP CPU cores for Microsemi PolarFire and RTG4 FPGAs
- Arm Cortex-M1 pre-placed design block for M1 variant Microsemi IGLOO/e, ProASIC3/e/L, and Fusion FPGAs
Built on Open Source
SoftConsole is built using state of the art de facto industry standard open source components including:
- OpenJDK Java/Eclipse/CDT based graphical IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
- GNU MCU Eclipse plugins extending Eclipse/CDT to provide RISC-V and Arm development and debugging
- GNU GCC/GDB/Binutils based toolchains for RISC-V and Arm
- Newlib (and Newlib nano) C standard library for resource constrained embedded targets
- OpenOCD for JTAG-based embedded debugging using GDB and FlashPro
- Antmicro Renode™ embedded systems emulator for PolarFire SoC and Mi-V RISC-V based system emulation
- cppcheck static analysis tool for C/C++ code plus the cppcheclipse IDE plugin
Key Features
- SoftConsole runs on Windows and GNU/Linux operating systems for cross development targeting the embedded platforms
- Complemented by Libero SoC and Firmware Catalog for the generation of firmware artefacts matching the FPGA design
- Built using the latest state of the art de facto industry standard open source components for embedded software development
- Easy to use Eclipse based GUI IDE
- GCC based toolchains for developing bare-metal and lightweight RTOS based software for RISC-V and Arm Cortex-M based Microsemi FPGAs/SoCs
- Newlib (and Newlib nano) providing a lightweight C standard library suitable for resource constrained embedded platforms
- OpenOCD for debugging using JTAG and FlashPro and program download to/debug from various memories (embedded SRAM, embedded NVM, external DDR etc.)
- Antmicro Renode emulation models for PolarFire SoC and Mi-V RISC-V targets allowing software development and debugging even where no hardware target is available
- Integrated “Develop and Debug” perspective included in example workspaces avoids the need for switching between separate “C/C++” and “Debug” perspectives
- cppcheck static analysis of C/C++ code can catch bugs early in the development cycle thereby saving wasted time debugging on hardware or emulation
- Arm Cortex-M semi-hosting redirection of standard I/O from embedded targets to the host debugger IDE
- Allows users to install arbitrary additional Eclipse software/plugins
- Integration with Git via the EGit plugin
- Integrated terminal emulator for connecting to a target’s UART for I/O purpose
Important Notes
Please read the release notes for the relevant version of SoftConsole to be aware of all relevant features, known issues, troubleshooting tips etc.
SoftConsole User Interface IDE
Documents
Application Notes
Tutorials
TU0546: SoftConsole v4.0 and Libero SoC v11.7 Tutorial
|
9/2017 |
TU0775: PolarFire FPGA: Building a Mi-V Processor Subsystem Tutorial
|
03/2019 |
TU0778: PolarFire FPGA Building a Cortex-M1 Processor Subsystem Tutorial
|
11/2017 |
FAQ
| SoftConsole FAQ | 5/2013 |
Downloads
SoftConsole v6.1 Release (08/27/2019)
- Must read SoftConsole v6.1 Release Notes before working with software
- SoftConsole v6.1 Download for Windows
- SoftConsole v6.1 Download for Linux
Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, please refer to the SoftConsole v6.1 Release Notes or visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v6.1 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC or Libero SoC PolarFire software
SoftConsole v6.0 Release (12/03/2018)
- Must read SoftConsole v6.0 Release Notes before working with software
- SoftConsole v6.0 Download for Windows
- SoftConsole v6.0 Download for Linux
Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, please refer to the SoftConsole v6.0 Release Notes or visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v6.0 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC or Libero SoC PolarFire software
SoftConsole v5.3 Release (07/18/2018)
- Must read SoftConsole v5.3 Release Notes before working with software
- SoftConsole v5.3 Download for Windows
- SoftConsole v5.3 Download for Linux
Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, please refer to the SoftConsole v5.3 Release Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v5.3 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC or Libero SoC PolarFire software
SoftConsole v5.2 Release (11/24/2017)
- Must read SoftConsole v5.2 Release Notes before working with software
- SoftConsole v5.2 Download for Windows
- SoftConsole v5.2 Download for Linux
Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, please refer to the SoftConsole v5.2 Release Notes
- For operating system and minimum requirements, visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v5.2 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC or Libero SoC PolarFire software
SoftConsole v5.1 Release (06/06/2017)
- Must read SoftConsole v5.1 Release Notes before working with software
- SoftConsole v5.1 Download for Windows
- SoftConsole v5.1 Download for Linux
Notes
- SoftConsole v5.1 is the first release that supports RISC-V on Windows platform
- SoftConsole v5.1 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC or Libero SoC PolarFire software
- For operating system and minimum requirements, visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v5.1 Release Notes contain instructions for installing
SoftConsole v5.0 For RISC-V Introduction (11/16/2016)
- Microsemi SoftConsole v5.0 Release Notes
- Microsemi SoftConsole v5.0 Download Linux (Linux only available at this time)
SoftConsole v4.0 Release (10/21/2015):
- Downloads
- Documentation
- SoftConsole v4.0 is available as a standalone installer and not bundled with Libero SoC v11.8
- For operating system and minimum requirements, visit Libero SoC page.
- SoftConsole v4.0 Release Notes contain instructions for installing
- Download the SoftConsole v4.0 License Agreement for licensing
-
SoftConsole workspaces/projects generated by Libero (into the "SoftConsole" folder of a Libero project) are for use with SoftConsole v3.4 SP1 and are not compatible with and should not be used with SoftConsole v4.0. Firmware exported by Libero into the "firmware" folder of a Libero project is compatible with SoftConsole v4.0 and should be copied/imported into a SoftConsole v4.0 project. Refer to the SoftConsole v4.0 release notes for more information about using Libero SoC generated firmware in SoftConsole v4.0 projects. SoftConsole v4.0 should not be configured as a Software IDE Tool Profile in Libero.
Soft Console v3.4 SP1 Release (Previous Release)
- Microsemi SoftConsole v3.4 SP1 Software (7/21/14) -Windows® Version(545 KB)
- Microsemi SoftConsole v3.4 Software (4/8/13) - Windows® Version (162 MB)
- SoftConsole Version v3.4 Release Notes (4/8/2013)
Supported Platforms
Microsemi tests and supports the latest releases of the specific operating systems shown in the chart below. We are committed to resolving problems encountered by customers on these supported operating systems. We do not support untested operating systems or versions.
| Operating Systems | Libero | FlashPro/Express | Firmware Catalog | SoftConsole |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 |  1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Windows 8.1 | 1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Windows 7 | 1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| RHEL 51,2 | |
|
N/A | N/A |
| RHEL 6 | 1 |
1 |
N/A | 3 |
| RHEL 7 | 1 |
1 |
N/A | 1,3 |
| CentOS 51,2 | |
|
N/A |
N/A |
| CentOS 61 | 1 |
1 |
N/A | 4,3 |
| CentOS 7 | 1 |
1 |
N/A | 1,3 |
| SUSE 11 SP4 | 1 |
N/A | N/A | 3,5 |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 |
| Opensuse Leap 42.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1,3 |
| Debian 9.2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 |
- Tools are supported on 64-bit operating systems, 32-bit operating systems are not supported.
- RHEL 5 and CentOS 5 do not support programming using FlashPro5.
- Only SoftConsole v4.0, v5.0, v5.1 and v5.2 standalone tools support Linux operating systems. CentOS and RHEL v6.9 is not supported.
- Tools Supports 32-bit and 64-bit operating system.
- SoftConsole has not been validated on SUSE platform.
Important Note:
1. Windows XP is no longer supported.
2. 32-bit operating systems are no longer supported.
