Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here but here's me reiterating it... I am a newbie who wants to embark in to the (for now) dark world of FPGAs. I dont have access to hardware for now. I have considerable experience with PIC, AVRs. Any directions? --------------------------------------- Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com
FPGA Begginer
Started by ●October 31, 2010
Reply by ●October 31, 20102010-10-31
On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:08:10 -0500, "guyelectronics" <guyelectronics@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote:>Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here but >here's me reiterating it... I am a newbie who wants to embark in to the >(for now) dark world of FPGAs. I dont have access to hardware for now. I >have considerable experience with PIC, AVRs. Any directions?Hang around comp.arch.fpga for a while; read the archives if you can get to them. The ratio of fine to dross is somewhat better than average. Download (warning, these are BIG downloads) the development software from Xilinx, Altera, or Lattice (ed. note: any other freebies?). These all, AFAIK, include some form of simulation software so that you can get familiar with a hardware description language (VHDL or Verilog) and the build process. Xilinx is the ISE WebPACK <http://www.xilinx.com/support/download/index.htm>, Altera has the Quartus II Web Edition <http://www.altera.com/products/software/sfw-index.jsp> and Lattice, I'm sure, has something as well but they do make it hard to find from their front page. I quit looking. There are some tutorials and such over at http://www.fpga4fun.com/. They tend to prefer Verilog (heathens!) but do include VHDL examples as well. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Reply by ●October 31, 20102010-10-31
On 10/31/2010 10:09 AM, Rich Webb wrote:> On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:08:10 -0500, "guyelectronics" > <guyelectronics@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here but >> here's me reiterating it... I am a newbie who wants to embark in to the >> (for now) dark world of FPGAs. I dont have access to hardware for now. I >> have considerable experience with PIC, AVRs. Any directions? > > Hang around comp.arch.fpga for a while; read the archives if you can get > to them. The ratio of fine to dross is somewhat better than average. > > Download (warning, these are BIG downloads) the development software > from Xilinx, Altera, or Lattice (ed. note: any other freebies?). These > all, AFAIK, include some form of simulation software so that you can get > familiar with a hardware description language (VHDL or Verilog) and the > build process. Xilinx is the ISE WebPACK > <http://www.xilinx.com/support/download/index.htm>, Altera has the > Quartus II Web Edition > <http://www.altera.com/products/software/sfw-index.jsp> > and Lattice, I'm sure, has something as well but they do make it hard to > find from their front page. I quit looking. > > There are some tutorials and such over at http://www.fpga4fun.com/. They > tend to prefer Verilog (heathens!) but do include VHDL examples as well. >There are open-source simulators for both Verilog and VHDL. Both seem to work well, but nothing comes with synthesis tools -- the FPGA vendors seem to keep tight hold of that stuff. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●October 31, 20102010-10-31
On 10/31/2010 09:08 AM, guyelectronics wrote:> Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here but > here's me reiterating it... I am a newbie who wants to embark in to the > (for now) dark world of FPGAs. I dont have access to hardware for now. I > have considerable experience with PIC, AVRs. Any directions?Make sure you understand digital electronics. The process for coming up with FPGA firmware bears an enormous number of superficial similarities to programming microprocessors, but under the hood it's an entirely different endeavor. It's kind of like building airplanes vs. building cars -- both involve engines and wheels and sheet metal, yet each is it's own discipline. When you're writing code for synthesis for an FPGA you're describing hardware -- it's really easy to forget that and start writing code like you're doing it for a microprocessor, and then you end up using the resources at hand very inefficiently. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●October 31, 20102010-10-31
On Oct 31, 6:09=A0pm, Rich Webb <bbew...@mapson.nozirev.ten> wrote:> On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:08:10 -0500, "guyelectronics" > > <guyelectronics@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote: > >Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here =but> >here's me reiterating it... I am a newbie who wants to embark in to the > >(for now) dark world of FPGAs. I dont have access to hardware for now. I > >have considerable experience with PIC, AVRs. Any directions? > > > Download (warning, these are BIG downloads) the development software > from Xilinx, Altera, or Lattice (ed. note: any other freebies?). These > all, AFAIK, include some form of simulation software so that you can get > familiar with a hardware description language (VHDL or Verilog) and the > build process.I'd suggest additionally the free simulation packages: for VHDL the GHDL: http://ghdl.free.fr for Verilog the Icarus Verilog: http://www.icarus.com/eda/verilog/ -- Wojtek Zabolotny wzab@ise.pw.edu.pl
Reply by ●November 1, 20102010-11-01
On 10/31/2010 04:51 PM, wzab wrote:>> <guyelectronics@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote: >> > >Hi, i know that this question might have been posted umpteen times here butHah! Those are the ones I was talking about -- I've used both of them, and if _all_ you're going to do is simulation then they're pretty nice. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
