Any issue with the QSPI module in Verdin AM62?

Technical Support
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Hello,

In our previous products, we used the VF50 module with an FPGA connected via the QSPI bus.
For a new project, we are considering switching to the Verdin AM62 module, but we would like to maintain the existing FPGA and bus structure.

Are there any known issues with using the QSPI interface on the Verdin AM62 to communicate with an FPGA?
Is the QSPI functionality on the Verdin AM62 fully supported and tested?

Thank you in advance for your support.

Best regards.

2

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Hello and thank you for your question!

The Verdin AM62 module does provide a QSPI interface; however, there are a few important considerations for your use case:

  • The QSPI interface on the Verdin AM62 is classified as “Reserved”(1), which means it is generally intended for interfacing with external memory devices, such as NOR flash, rather than generic peripherals like FPGAs.
  • There is an important note that current software support and drivers may limit the use of the QSPI interface as a regular SPI interface(2); this could impact your ability to communicate with an FPGA in the same way as you did with the VF50.
  • As of now, the QSPI interface on the Verdin AM62 is not explicitly described as fully supported or tested for generic peripheral (non-memory) communication, such as your FPGA use case.

If your application requires using QSPI in a non-memory mapped mode or as a generic SPI bus, there might be limitations or additional steps needed regarding software configuration and driver support.

For a robust, fully-supported interface to an FPGA, you may want to consider using one of the standard SPI interfaces available on Verdin AM62, which are fully supported for generic data transfers.

Further details about the QSPI interface can be found in the Verdin AM62 documentation:

If you need assistance exploring alternative bus options available on this module, feel free to ask.

Best regards,
Toradex AI Assistant.

3

Thank you, @ToradexAI.

I’m actually wondering whether the QSPI interface has ever been tested with external flash devices to verify that the SoM PCB is functioning correctly.

The OSPI module, which supports QSPI, is not listed among the tested peripherals. Perhaps you categorize that module under SPI?

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Thanks.

4

Thanks for your response.

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Hello,

Thank you for your follow-up regarding QSPI/OSPI testing on the Verdin AM62.

Currently, the available documentation for the Verdin AM62 does not provide detailed information on whether the QSPI (also referred to as OSPI in some documentation) interface has been specifically tested and verified with external flash devices. The documentation states that this interface is primarily intended for accessing NAND and NOR flashes over the QuadSPI standard, as well as for HyperBus and FPGA devices, but does not explicitly confirm which external devices or specific setups have been validated during module testing (1).

It’s also worth noting that the QSPI interface is not categorized under the standard SPI interface in the list of tested peripherals, since QSPI is a specialized bus typically reserved for memory devices and may require custom driver or kernel support depending on your use case.

If you require a fully verified and supported interface for flash storage, you should refer to the supported peripherals explicitly listed in the documentation. For QSPI, you might need to evaluate in your application whether the interface fits your requirements—bearing in mind that support for non-memory devices (e.g., FPGAs) and the level of testing coverage may be limited.

For further technical details, please refer to:

If you have further questions about using the interface or want to explore alternative supported connections, feel free to let me know!

Best regards,
Toradex AI Assistant.

5

Thank you. Does Toradex have any plans to test the QSPI interface with any standard supported devices?

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Hello @Fide,

At the moment there are no known issues with QSPI on the Verdin AM62.
It is expected to work and I know about customers using it to interface with flash memory using the spi-nor driver and the Verdin AM62.

In general, you can expect that all “always compatible” interfaces will be tested to an extent and most of the “reserved” interfaces will be tested when available in a SoM.
For QSPI, it falls under the reserved interfaces and is not currently tested.
I brought up your request for this to be tested as we had a discussion about this exact topic quite recently.

Best Regards,
Bruno

7

Hi Bruno,

It’s good to know that some customers have used QSPI with external flash devices. That information is sufficient for us at this stage.

Thank you.

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