Is it possible for a single-die QSPI NOR flash module be simultaneously used for both XiP and a file system? By simultaneous I mean that a function running from XiP accesses data elsewhere on XiP.
The MCU, in this case, is an NXP Kinetis K8x (ARM Cortex M4), which has an onboard QSPI peripheral. The symptom is:
- Code executing from internal flash can access the file system on QSPI flash without any problem.
- Code executing from external flash that does not access the file system runs without a problem.
- Code executing from external flash that accesses the file system hangs the system. In the debugger I see that the QSPI peripheral's busy-bit remains set forever.
Can anyone explain what's going on? Will a dual-die flash module solve this? Should I be looking at the QSPI peripheral settings?
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More Info:
How to use Quad SPI on KL8x Series: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/application-note/AN5244.pdf
A dual-die flash module won't solve anything, as both dies share one QSPI controller on the MCU, with one set of buffers, etc.
If I use memory-mapped reads for the file system, then, of course, the same internal mechanism is used to fetch and buffer both instructions and data. And the system does not hang.
So, all I need to do is isolate the file system write functions, and make sure that these run from internal flash, or as RAM functions.