Upgrading FPD

In general terms, field-programmable devices (FPDs) are hardware devices implemented on router cards
that support separate software upgrades. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a type of programmable
memory device that exists on most hardware components of the router. The term FPD has been introduced
to collectively and generically describe any type of programmable hardware device on FPGAs. Cisco IOS XR
software provides the Cisco FPD upgrade feature to manage the upgrade of FPD images .
For complete descriptions of the FPD commands listed in this module, see Related Documents, on page
5. .

Table 1: Feature History for Upgrading FPD Software on Cisco IOS XR Software

Release Modification
Release 5.0.0 This feature was introduced.

Release 6.4.1 Support for parallel FPD upgrade for power modules.

This module contains the following topics:

• FPD, page 1
• Prerequisites for FPD Image Upgrades, page 2
• Overview of FPD Image Upgrade Support, page 2
• FPD upgrade service, page 2
• Additional References, page 5

FPD
An FPD is a field programmable logic device which contains non-volatile, re-programmable memory to define
its internal wiring and functionality. The contents of this non-volatile memory are called the FPD image or
FPD firmware. Over the lifespan of an FPD, FPD firmware images may need upgrades for bug fixes or
functionality improvements. These upgrades are performed in the field with minimum system impact.

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Prerequisites for FPD Image Upgrades

Prerequisites for FPD Image Upgrades

Before upgrading the FPD on your router you must install and activate the fpd.rpm package.
This is for the manual upgrade using the upgrade hw-module FPD command.

Overview of FPD Image Upgrade Support

An FPD image is used to upgrade the software on an FPD.
FPD versions must be compatible with the Cisco IOS XR software that is running on the router; if an
incompatibility exists between an FPD version and the Cisco IOS XR software, the device with the FPGA
may not operate properly until the incompatibility is resolved.

Related Topics
show hw-module fpd Command Output: Example

Automatic FPD Upgrade

FPD auto-upgrade can be enabled and disabled. When auto FPD is enabled, it automatically updates FPDs
when a SMU or image changes, including an updated firmware revision. Use the fpd auto-upgrade command
to disable or enable auto-fpd.

FPD upgrade service

The main tasks of the FPD upgrade service are:
• FPD image version checking to decide if a specific firmware image needs an upgrade or not.
• Automatic FPD Image Upgrade (if enabled).
• Manual FPD Image Upgrade using the upgrade hw-module fpd command.
• Invoke the appropriate device driver with a name of the new image to load.

An FPD image package is used to upgrade FPD images. The install activate command is used to place the
FPD binary files into the expected location on the boot devices.
Supported Upgrade Methods
Method Remarks
Manual Upgrade Upgrade using CLI, force upgrade supported.

Auto Upgrade Upgrade using install SMU activation or during image upgrade. User
can enable/disable auto upgrade feature.

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Determining Upgrade Requirement

Determining Upgrade Requirement

Use the show hw-module fpd command to determine if an FPD upgrade is required. Check for NEED UPGD
in the Status column.
Use the show fpd package command to find out which FPGAs are supported with your current software
release and minimum hardware requirements for each module.

Automatic FPD upgrade

Use the fpd auto-upgrade enable command to enable the auto upgrade feature.
The FPD images are upgraded as part of the install activation of the new image. The FPDs are upgraded before
the router is reloaded.
During an FPD auto-upgrade, the installed FPD rpm package includes an FPD image with a new version of
software that is different than the version of the image running on the hardware. Once the FPDs have been
upgraded, even if the base image is rolled backed to the older version, the FPD will not be downgraded to its
previous version.
When a reload package is installed with new FPD images, the FPD images are upgraded before the router
gets reloaded. This feature is controlled through an fpd auto-upgrade configuration option. The auto-upgrade
feature does not address the following:
• FPD Upgrade during initial boot
• FPD Upgrade during new card insertion

Manual FPD upgrade

Manual FPD upgrade is performed using the upgrade hw-module fpd command. All cards or all of FPGA
in a card can be upgraded. If reload is required to activate FPD , the upgrade should be complete. All line-cards,
fabric cards and RP cards cannot be reloaded during the process of the FPD upgrade.
FPD upgrade is transaction-based:
• Each fpd upgrade cli execution is one transaction
• Only one transaction is allowed at any given time
• One transaction may include one or many FPD upgrade(s)

The force option can be used to forcibly upgrade the FPD (regardless of whether it is required or not). It
triggers all FPDs to be upgraded or downgraded. The force option can also be used to downgrade or upgrade
the FPGAs even after the version check.

Note In some cases, FPDs can have primary and backup images.

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FPD upgrade

FPD upgrade
The key to understanding the FPD output is that nodes can have two firmware versions. One, which is currently
running, and a downloaded version, which will become the running version after the next boot. The running
version and downloaded version can be the same. There are circumstances where this is not the case, and that
would be if a node was recently upgraded, and requires a reboot to load the new updated package. Generally,
the downloaded version is the latest version, when compared to the running version. FPD packages that do
not require a reload to activate the new firmware version would not see the version skew. Below is a sample
output showing version skew on the CCC FPGA. After reload, both running and downloaded versions will
be the same. CCC Power-On is in need of an upgrade. To see what version is expected, issue the command
show fpd package and find the FPD device for that card type which is in need of upgrade.
show hw-module fpd
FPD Versions
================
Location Card type HWver FPD device Status Running Download
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 CCC FPGA UPGD DONE 1.13 1.14
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 BAO-MB FPGA READY 1.00 1.00
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 CCC Power-On NEED UPGD 1.28 1.28
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 Ethernet Switch READY 1.32 1.32
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 BIOS FPD READY 9.10 9.10
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 1.0 Slice-0 GN2411 READY 2.07 2.07
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 1.0 Slice-1 GN2411 READY 2.07 2.07
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 0.6 BAO-DB FPGA READY 1.00 1.00
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 1.0 S2 GN2411 READY 2.07 2.07
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 1.0 S3 GN2411 READY 2.07 2.07
0/0 NC6-10X100G-L 1.0 S4 GN2411 READY 2.07 2.07
show fpd package
Mon Oct 7 18:08:21.994 UTC

=============================== ================================================
Field Programmable Device Package
================================================
Req SW Min Req Min Req
Card Type FPD Description Reload Ver SW Ver Board Ver
=================== ========================== ====== ======= ======== =========
P-L-1xPAT_SFP BAO-MB FPGA NO 0.20 0.20 0.0
CCC FPGA YES 1.14 1.14 0.0
CCC Power-On YES 1.30 1.30 0.0
Ethernet Switch YES 1.32 1.32 0.0
BIOS FPD YES 9.10 9.10 0.0
SB Certificates NO 1.00 1.00 0.0

To upgrade an fpd device, such as the one above, use the upgrade hw-module location 0/0 fpd CCC\
Power-On command or if it is more desirable to upgrade all components that need upgrading at the same
time, use the upgrade hw-module location all fpd all command. Note that this upgrade will require a reload
of the node to take effect. Adding the force option will upgrade all FPD devices regardless if they require
upgrading or not. This is not recommended.
The command used for upgrade is: upgrade hw-module location location of node fpd fpd device
The show fpd package command displays 4 very critical pieces of information with regard to firmware that
is imbedded in the current running XR image. The first column displays whether a reload would be required
to make the updated FPD version the running version. The second column shows the version number of
firmware residing on the running XR image. The forth and fifth columns show, based on the current running
XR image, what the minimum requirements are for both firmware and hardware versions for each programmable
device.

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Additional References

Additional References
The following sections provide references related to FPD software upgrade.

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

Cisco IOS XR command master list

Cisco IOS XR FPD upgrade-related commands System Management Command Reference for Cisco
NCS 6000 Series Routers

Initial system bootup and configuration information

for a router using the Cisco IOS XR Software.

Information about user groups and task IDs Configuring AAA Services on module of System
Security Configuration Guide for Cisco NCS 6000
Series Routers

Standards

Standards Title
No new or modified standards are supported by this —
feature, and support for existing standards has not
been modified by this feature.

MIBs

MIBs MIBs Link

There are no applicable MIBs for this module. To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms
using Cisco IOS XR Software, use the Cisco MIB
Locator found at the following URL: http://cisco.com/
public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml

RFCs

RFCs Title
No new or modified RFCs are supported by this —
feature, and support for existing RFCs has not been
modified by this feature.

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Additional References

Technical Assistance

Description Link
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can log in from this page to access even more content.

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