Hi 

You can have a look at MYIR's Z-turn Board which is Xilinx Zynq-based Single board computer pricing start at only US$99.
http://www.myirtech.com/list.asp?id=502 



&#22312; 2013&#24180;10&#26376;16&#26085;&#26143;&#26399;&#19977; UTC+8&#19979;&#21320;7:28:44&#65292;Tom Gardner&#20889;&#36947;&#65306;
> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. Avnet and Digilent
> are front-runners, but any info/opinions about other
> suppliers would be helpful too.
> 
>    - ease of using their embedded linux. My needs
>      are simple, requiring a shell and TCP/IP protocols
>      over ethernet. GUI not required, but might be
>      used if it didn't complicate the development.
> 
>    - quality of online support. How easy is it
>      likely to be to find the information so that
>      I can (a) duplicate any supplied demo environment
>      and (b) mutate it so that my code accesses my
>      programmable logic
> 
>    - board production longevity. I'm not concerned
>      about decades, but I would be concerned if a
>      board was unobtainable within months
> 
>    - ISE or Vivado environment
> 
> Background and context...
> 
> I'm intending to develop something based around a small
> Xylinx Zynq device. Cost is an issue, but not to the
> extent that I will be developing a board containing
> the FPGA itself. I will, however, be developing a small
> simple add-on board containing my analogue circuits.
> 
> Now I can read a datasheet and schematic and outline
> to determine the extent to which a board is suitable.
> However, as we are all aware, those documents /don't/
> cover all the important points when choosing a board!
> 
> I've created many stand-alone hardware and software
> embedded systems, but *not* based on linux *nor* on ARM
> *nor* in the Xilinx ecosystem. Since Zynq devices
> represent a complex environment, I'll have a learning
> curve (good, I like challenges), and I'm interested
> in the quality of the resources and support that
> I'll need to overcome my misapprehensions.

I'd like to make a couple of comments based on my experience,
in the hope they might be helpful to other netizens.

In the end I purchased an Avnet MicroZed and JTAG cable in
January. The ordering process was smooth but the delivery
wasn't. An email confirmed the stated 3 week delay for
the MicroZed, and that the JTAG cable /was/ in stock.
However, the next day the website showed an 18(!) delay
until May. I quickly cancelled the now out of stock
JTAG cable, and the MicroZed turned up in March, after
maybe 8 weeks.

That is unacceptable and makes me unlikely to choose
to use Avnet as a distributor.

More positively, the MicroZed documentation and support
have been exemplary; the potential concerns I raised
in the note below haven't been bourne out. Indeed Avnet
have expanded their range and appear to be making concerted
efforts to make a business in this area.

So far I have /no/ concerns about having chosen to use
a MicroZed, although nowadays I would probably choose
to use the MicroZed SBC board variant.

On 16/10/13 12:28, Tom Gardner wrote:
> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. Avnet and Digilent
> are front-runners, but any info/opinions about other
> suppliers would be helpful too.
>
>    - ease of using their embedded linux. My needs
>      are simple, requiring a shell and TCP/IP protocols
>      over ethernet. GUI not required, but might be
>      used if it didn't complicate the development.
>
>    - quality of online support. How easy is it
>      likely to be to find the information so that
>      I can (a) duplicate any supplied demo environment
>      and (b) mutate it so that my code accesses my
>      programmable logic
>
>    - board production longevity. I'm not concerned
>      about decades, but I would be concerned if a
>      board was unobtainable within months
>
>    - ISE or Vivado environment
>
> Background and context...
>
> I'm intending to develop something based around a small
> Xylinx Zynq device. Cost is an issue, but not to the
> extent that I will be developing a board containing
> the FPGA itself. I will, however, be developing a small
> simple add-on board containing my analogue circuits.
>
> Now I can read a datasheet and schematic and outline
> to determine the extent to which a board is suitable.
> However, as we are all aware, those documents /don't/
> cover all the important points when choosing a board!
>
> I've created many stand-alone hardware and software
> embedded systems, but *not* based on linux *nor* on ARM
> *nor* in the Xilinx ecosystem. Since Zynq devices
> represent a complex environment, I'll have a learning
> curve (good, I like challenges), and I'm interested
> in the quality of the resources and support that
> I'll need to overcome my misapprehensions.

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> writes:
> The good part is that the design, including Gerbers, is fully public,...
> I hope they are serious about it. They have sure invested a lot so far.

That big wire on the back of the board in your photo is interesting.
Although red in color, it looks like what's traditionally called a "blue
wire", i.e.  maybe they're out of stock right now because the board is
in the process of being revved.

On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:28:24 +0000, Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk>
wrote:

>On 11/11/13 03:08, John Larkin wrote:
>> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:47:57 +0100, Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 20/10/13 03:02, Paul Rubin wrote:
>>>> Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>>>>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>>>>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards.
>>>>
>>>> Do you know anything about the microzed?  I just heard of it, and it
>>>> looks interesting:
>>>>
>>>> http://microzed.org
>>>> http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-sbc-runs-linux-on-xilinx-zynq-arm-fpga/
>>>>
>>>> Also the Zybo:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ZYBO
>>>
>>> They do indeed look interesting for my purposes, but I only
>>> know what I can read on the web.
>>>
>>> So, we would /both/ like some info about the suppliers :)
>>>
>>>
>>
>> We're just starting on a uZed signal-processing project. It will be a uZed
>> plugged into a motherboard that has power, clock, signal input and output
>> networks, ADC, DAC, connectors, and miscellaneous stuff. We bought two uZed
>> boards from Avnet and they power up running Linux. My programmer and FPGA guys
>> are just now learning how to write a C app that interacts with the FPGA, but the
>> documentation seems good and they are making good progress. I'll be doing the
>> architecture and designing the hardware.
>>
>> I took some pictures. The ones in the ZED documentation are mediocre.
>>
>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Top.JPG
>>
>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Bottom.JPG
>>
>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_End.JPG
>
>Thanks, that's useful, and I will be *most* interested to hear how
>it goes.
>
>Out of curiosity, how long ago did you buy them and how long did
>they take to materialise? Currently Avnet are showing no stock
>and 5 weeks lead time.
>
>Worryingly, it has been "5 weeks" for the past 3 weeks - so I'm
>concerned that Avnet have "lost interest" in the board. Any info
>about Avnet's support practices would be useful.
>

It took about a week to get two, several weeks ago. They can probably find some
for good customers. We buy a lot of stuff from them, and it was "get us a couple
and we'll design them in."

The good part is that the design, including Gerbers, is fully public, so we (or
someone) can build them if we have to. It will save us a ton of time, as
compared to doing all that pcb-layout/flash/dram/ethernet/power supply/software
stuff ourselves.

I hope they are serious about it. They have sure invested a lot so far.

The carrier/demo board is apparently not real yet. We'll have our own
application board first, with spare room, so we'll add in some development hooks
for future projects. Suggestions are welcome....

Mictor connector for a logic analyzer
Pots for the ADC inputs
A few SMB connectors for scope trigger/signal snooping
Shunts to measure Vcc and bank currents
Easy ways to vary iobank voltages
Dip switches and LEDs
Temperature sensor IC
Clock oscillators


-- 

John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com   

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom timing and laser controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME  analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer
Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

On 11/11/13 03:08, John Larkin wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:47:57 +0100, Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> On 20/10/13 03:02, Paul Rubin wrote:
>>> Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>>>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>>>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards.
>>>
>>> Do you know anything about the microzed?  I just heard of it, and it
>>> looks interesting:
>>>
>>> http://microzed.org
>>> http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-sbc-runs-linux-on-xilinx-zynq-arm-fpga/
>>>
>>> Also the Zybo:
>>>
>>> http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ZYBO
>>
>> They do indeed look interesting for my purposes, but I only
>> know what I can read on the web.
>>
>> So, we would /both/ like some info about the suppliers :)
>>
>>
>
> We're just starting on a uZed signal-processing project. It will be a uZed
> plugged into a motherboard that has power, clock, signal input and output
> networks, ADC, DAC, connectors, and miscellaneous stuff. We bought two uZed
> boards from Avnet and they power up running Linux. My programmer and FPGA guys
> are just now learning how to write a C app that interacts with the FPGA, but the
> documentation seems good and they are making good progress. I'll be doing the
> architecture and designing the hardware.
>
> I took some pictures. The ones in the ZED documentation are mediocre.
>
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Top.JPG
>
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Bottom.JPG
>
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_End.JPG

Thanks, that's useful, and I will be *most* interested to hear how
it goes.

Out of curiosity, how long ago did you buy them and how long did
they take to materialise? Currently Avnet are showing no stock
and 5 weeks lead time.

Worryingly, it has been "5 weeks" for the past 3 weeks - so I'm
concerned that Avnet have "lost interest" in the board. Any info
about Avnet's support practices would be useful.

On Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:47:57 +0100, Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk>
wrote:

>On 20/10/13 03:02, Paul Rubin wrote:
>> Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards.
>>
>> Do you know anything about the microzed?  I just heard of it, and it
>> looks interesting:
>>
>> http://microzed.org
>> http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-sbc-runs-linux-on-xilinx-zynq-arm-fpga/
>>
>> Also the Zybo:
>>
>> http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ZYBO
>
>They do indeed look interesting for my purposes, but I only
>know what I can read on the web.
>
>So, we would /both/ like some info about the suppliers :)
>
>

We're just starting on a uZed signal-processing project. It will be a uZed
plugged into a motherboard that has power, clock, signal input and output
networks, ADC, DAC, connectors, and miscellaneous stuff. We bought two uZed
boards from Avnet and they power up running Linux. My programmer and FPGA guys
are just now learning how to write a C app that interacts with the FPGA, but the
documentation seems good and they are making good progress. I'll be doing the
architecture and designing the hardware. 

I took some pictures. The ones in the ZED documentation are mediocre.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Top.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_Bottom.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/PCBs/Micro_Zed_End.JPG

-- 

John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com   

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom timing and laser controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME  analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer
Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

On 20/10/13 03:02, Paul Rubin wrote:
> Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards.
>
> Do you know anything about the microzed?  I just heard of it, and it
> looks interesting:
>
> http://microzed.org
> http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-sbc-runs-linux-on-xilinx-zynq-arm-fpga/
>
> Also the Zybo:
>
> http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ZYBO

They do indeed look interesting for my purposes, but I only
know what I can read on the web.

So, we would /both/ like some info about the suppliers :)

Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. 

Do you know anything about the microzed?  I just heard of it, and it
looks interesting:

http://microzed.org
http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-sbc-runs-linux-on-xilinx-zynq-arm-fpga/

Also the Zybo:

http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ZYBO

On 19/10/13 00:19, Tom Gardner wrote:
> On 19/10/13 00:01, Jon Elson wrote:
>> Frank Buss wrote:
>>
>>> Tom Gardner wrote:
>>>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>>>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. Avnet and Digilent
>>>> are front-runners, but any info/opinions about other
>>>> suppliers would be helpful too.
>>>
>>> If you don't need it now, you might take a look at the Parallella board:
>>>
>> I know it doesn't have an FPGA, but if you need to add a board
>> to it for the outer interface, you should check out the Beagle
>> Board Black.  It has amazing capability and LOTS of varied I/O
>> pins, for $45!  Runs a complete Linux system, but can be used
>> "headless" (ie. no screen) easily.  Your added board can have
>> an FPGA or CPLD on it, if you are designing a board already,
>> it is quite easy if you won't be running at high clock speeds.
>> I do a bunch of CPLD and FPGA boards with only 2-sided PCBs.
>> I have even run Spartan 3A and 3AN FPGAs on 2-sided boards
>> with no trouble.
>
> If I was going down that route I would probably
> use a Ztex board with a programmable USB slave
> 8051-class processor and a Spartan 6.

Or a more direct competitor to the BBBlack, the
Raspberry Pi, which has an amazing support ecosystem.

On 19/10/13 00:01, Jon Elson wrote:
> Frank Buss wrote:
>
>> Tom Gardner wrote:
>>> I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of
>>> different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. Avnet and Digilent
>>> are front-runners, but any info/opinions about other
>>> suppliers would be helpful too.
>>
>> If you don't need it now, you might take a look at the Parallella board:
>>
> I know it doesn't have an FPGA, but if you need to add a board
> to it for the outer interface, you should check out the Beagle
> Board Black.  It has amazing capability and LOTS of varied I/O
> pins, for $45!  Runs a complete Linux system, but can be used
> "headless" (ie. no screen) easily.  Your added board can have
> an FPGA or CPLD on it, if you are designing a board already,
> it is quite easy if you won't be running at high clock speeds.
> I do a bunch of CPLD and FPGA boards with only 2-sided PCBs.
> I have even run Spartan 3A and 3AN FPGAs on 2-sided boards
> with no trouble.

If I was going down that route I would probably
use a Ztex board with a programmable USB slave
8051-class processor and a Spartan 6.

If I understand the datasheets (which is yet
to be demonstrated) the Zynq will allow me to
asynchronously sample an input at 2.4GS/s.
That's my principal I/O requirement :) And at
those data rates, I'd like to have reasonably clean
edges which probably rules out 2-sided boards :)

Now the Ztex website and forums look quite
reasonable, so I'm seriously considering using
them as a *supplier* of a board.

But I'm still interested in information that
will enable me to informally "qualify" other
possible *suppliers*.