[hpsdr] Angelia_v3.0 (FULLY CONSTRAINED)

[Joe Martin K5SO]

All,

Angelia_v3.0 is available for download from: 

http://k5so.com/Angelia_v3.0.zip

and soon it will also be available from the Apache Labs download page I think.  

This version is a substantial (even critical!) improvement over previous versions of firmware in that, for the first time in fact, the Angelia firmware design is now FULLY constrained.  All previous versions of Angelia firmware were only partially constrained, as is the case for all firmware for the HPSDR boards (to my knowledge), in fact.  A recent advancement in my understanding of the TimeQuest timing program and how to effectively use it has enabled me to be able to successfully constrain all paths in this firmware design, analyze them, detect any paths that fail to meet timing requirements, and to manually apply appropriate time delays to each of them so that the design as a whole can fully meet the timing required; for ALL paths.  This advancement will undoubtedly result in more robust firmware designs and, hopefully, substantially reduce the instances of firmware working for some users but not working for others with seemingly the same hardware setups.

In particular, it is my expectation that this firmware version, while it is identical in the Verilog code to that of Angelia_v2.9, will remove the problems experienced previous by some users of Angelia_v2.9 wherein some users observed a high baseline noise problem while others using v2.9 did not.  The big difference is in the timing constraint file for the design, not in the Verilog code itself.  If you were among the users who previously experienced high baseline noise with v2.9 I believe that this new firmware will cure that issue for you.  

Thanks Bill KC9XG for verifying for me that the baseline noise issue you observed previously with v2.9 is now gone on your system when using this Angelia_v3.0 firmware.  

73,  Joe K5SO