Switch on LED after receiving Ethernet packets - vhdl

Question

I'm a novice in VHDL programming and currently try to execute a program where the LED on the FPGA board should switch on after transmitting every 10 Ethernet packets which I generate from a Linux server. The code I've written is in the following which doesn't work properly. I'm trying to figure out the problem but still undone. Any help would be much appreciated.
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library IEEE;
use IEEE.std_logic_1164.all;
use IEEE.std_logic_arith.all;
use IEEE.std_logic_unsigned.all;
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entity notification is
port (clk, reset, qdv: in std_logic;
LED: out std_logic
);
end notification;
architecture behavior of notification is
signal qdv_a: std_logic;
signal qdv_b: std_logic;
signal packet_count: std_logic_vector (3 downto 0);
begin
no_1: process(clk, reset)
begin
if (reset = '1') then
qdv_a <= '0';
elsif rising_edge (clk) then
qdv_a <= qdv;
end if;
end process no_1;
qdv_b <= qdv and (not qdv_a);
no_2: process(clk, reset)
begin
if (reset = '1') then
packet_count <= "0000";
elsif rising_edge (clk) then
if qdv_b = '1' then
if packet_count < "1010" then
packet_count <= packet_count + 1;
LED <= '0';
else
LED <= '1';
packet_count <= (others => '0');
end if;
end if;
end if;
end process no_2;
end behavior;

Answer 1

I am making assumptions based on your code:
1) You are trying to increment packet_count every time you see a rising edge on qdv,
2) The pulse width of qdv is longer than a period of the 25MHz clock (clk_25MHz) - 40ns and
3) You want an asynchronous reset. (Trying to decide which is better - a synchronous or asynchronous reset - is like trying to decide which is a better - a Mac or a PC.)
So,
If (1) and (2) are true, you need a synchronous edge detector:
signal qdv_d : std_logic;
signal qdv_r : std_logic;
...
process (clk_25MHz, reset)
begin
if reset = '1' then
qdv_d <= '0';
elsif rising_edge (clk_25MHz) then
qdv_d <= qdv;
end if;
end process;
qdv_r <= qdv and not qdv_d;
Please draw this out as a schematic so that you can see how it works.
Then, assuming (3), you need to sort out your main process. If you're coding sequential logic, you should stick to a template. Here is the template for sequential logic with an asynchronous reset, which all synthesis tools should understand:
process(clock, async_reset) -- nothing else should go in the sensitivity list
begin
-- never put anything here
if async_reset ='1' then -- or '0' for an active low reset
-- set/reset the flip-flops here
-- ie drive the signals to their initial values
elsif rising_edge(clock) then -- or falling_edge(clock)
-- put the synchronous stuff here
-- ie the stuff that happens on the rising or falling edge of the clock
end if;
-- never put anything here
end process;
Only clock and reset go in the sensitivity list, because the outputs of the sequential process (though they depend on all the inputs) only change when clock and/or reset change. On a real D-type flip-flop, reset takes priority over clock, so we test that first and do the resetting should reset be asserted. If there is a change on clock (when reset is not asserted) and that change is a rising edge, then do all the stuff that should happen on the rising edge of a clock (stuff that will get synthesised to combinational logic driving the D inputs of the flip-flops).
So, using that template, here is how I would write your main process:
process(clk_25MHz, reset)
begin
if reset = '1' then
packet_count <= "0000";
elsif rising_edge (clk_25MHz) then
if qdv_r = '1' then
if packet_count < "1010" then
packet_count <= packet_count + 1;
LED <= '0';
else
LED <= '1';
packet_count <= (others => '0');
end if;
end if;
end if;
end process;
Now we have a synchronous process which increments packet_count and drives the LED output. (What is q bringing to the party?)
Please
bear in mind that I haven't simulated any of this
don't just type it in without trying to understand how it works