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Discussion Groups | FPGA-CPU | Newbie needs help

This list is for discussion of the design and implementation of field-programmable gate array based processors and integrated systems. It is also for discussion and community support of the XSOC Project (see http://www.fpgacpu.org/xsoc).

Newbie needs help - Kathy Andrea Quinlan - Sep 6 1:27:00 2004

Hi all,

I am looking at learning FPGA, and I need some help, I regularly use
the Atmel AVR uC, I have used 8051, z8 etc in the past.

I have never had a need for FPGA's in the past, but it seems a waste
to put a uC in just to solve small logic problems.

In future I would like to impliment cpu cores and PCI bridges etc.

I really need help to decide what is a good starting platform and an
entry level dev kit.

Regards,
Kat.

Perth AU.





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Re: Newbie needs help - Kathy Andrea Quinlan - Sep 17 8:17:00 2004

Hi all,

Yeah it took a while for the mods to pass the email ;)

I bought a spartan 3LC board from insight memec, cost me $370 but it
has a jtag cable, webpack ise, powersupply and dev board.

I am yet to plug it in (had a hectic afternoon lol)

I am sure I will have problems ;) but it is the best way to learn :)

Regards,

Kat. --- In , "Kathy Andrea Quinlan"
<kat-yahoo@k...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am looking at learning FPGA, and I need some help, I regularly use
> the Atmel AVR uC, I have used 8051, z8 etc in the past.
>
> I have never had a need for FPGA's in the past, but it seems a waste
> to put a uC in just to solve small logic problems.
>
> In future I would like to impliment cpu cores and PCI bridges etc.
>
> I really need help to decide what is a good starting platform and an
> entry level dev kit.
>
> Regards,
> Kat.
>
> Perth AU.




(You need to be a member of fpga-cpu -- send a blank email to fpga-cpu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )

Re: Newbie needs help - rtstofer - Sep 17 11:14:00 2004


Well, at the high end you can talk to Tony Burch at www.BurchED.biz -
he's in Sydney. His B5 system is quite complete and a large
Spartan 2E FPGA at 300k gates.

You can also look at the offerings for deveopment boards at Xilinx -
there are two of interest: the CPLD board for $50 and the FPGA
starter board for $100. These are made by Digilent
(www.digilentinc.com) and they have add-on boards and prototyping
kits.

If you just want to do some quick logic the CPLD is the answer. At
least the packages are usable, like the PLCC 44 for the Xilinx
XP9536 and XC9572. I have no idea how to deal with the more dense
packages as a hobbyist so I have to use development boards. The
CPLD board contains two different devices and, although I haven't
done much with it, appears to be very handy.

The 200k gate starter board is quite complete and I like it a lot
but I am using Tony's B5 board for my Z80 retro computer project
and, at the rate the scope is creeping, I will need all 300k gates.

Neither of these solutions is as cheap or fast to develop as a PIC.
In my opinion, if I could do it easily with a PIC, I would. If I
need glue to tie components together (or just a barn full of logic
with limited memory) I would go with a CPLD. If I want to build a
computer then the FPGA is outstanding. Although I understand there
is a PicoBlaze processor running on a CPLD!

As the WebPack software is free from Xilinx it makes it easy to get
started. Other manufacturers have similar offerings but my
experience is limited to Xilinx. --- In , "Kathy Andrea Quinlan" <kat-
yahoo@k...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am looking at learning FPGA, and I need some help, I regularly
use
> the Atmel AVR uC, I have used 8051, z8 etc in the past.
>
> I have never had a need for FPGA's in the past, but it seems a
waste
> to put a uC in just to solve small logic problems.
>
> In future I would like to impliment cpu cores and PCI bridges etc.
>
> I really need help to decide what is a good starting platform and
an
> entry level dev kit.
>
> Regards,
> Kat.
>
> Perth AU.



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