Detect USB Cable Connection?

I have an application using a XEM6010 which has two modes: a normal operational mode with no USB/FrontPanel control of the FPGA required, and a debug mode in which the FrontPanel application takes over control of certain things in the FPGA. I’d like the FPGA to automatically enter the debug mode when the USB cable is attached or a valid USB connection has been established.

Is there a simple way to detect the USB cable connection using one of the signals which connects to the USB microcontroller? (hi_in, hi_inout, hi_aa, etc)

If not, is there another recommended way of doing this? I’ve thought about using a timer in the FPGA which is reset periodically by a TriggerIn to detect when the USB connection is present, but I am hoping there is a cleaner, more direct way of detecting the presence of a USB connection.

Thanks.

Hm. Not really. There isn’t a reliable way to do this, unfortunately.

Ok, thanks for the reply.

Initially I will probably use a WireIn driven from FrontPanel to toggle between Normal and Debug modes. This won’t be as automated and will require user intervention to toggle the mode, but seems to be a clean and simple approach from a hardware perspective.