Figured this was the place to ask (comp.arch.embedded or comp.arch.fpga) Whats the cheapest board to study VHDL on? Ideally Id like an FPGA based board with a few inputs (dip switches,toggles?), some outputs (parallel or serial connector, some leds) < $100 I am looking on ebay now, and I see one or two boards well above $100. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance
Cheapest FPGA board to study VHDL on
Started by ●October 18, 2006
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
I'm sure you have seen it on Ebay but have a look at our Raggedstone1. Ebay wise look for the non-EEC price if you are in the US. Similar pricing on our own website. It just about gets under you $100 mark depending on the current exchange rate. For something much cheaper you probably talking about a CPLD board. John Adair Enterpoint Ltd. samiam wrote:> Figured this was the place to ask (comp.arch.embedded or comp.arch.fpga) > > Whats the cheapest board to study VHDL on? > > Ideally Id like an FPGA based board with a few inputs (dip > switches,toggles?), some outputs (parallel or serial connector, some > leds) < $100 > > I am looking on ebay now, and I see one or two boards well above $100. > Any suggestions? > > Thanks in advance
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
samiam wrote:> Whats the cheapest board to study VHDL on?To learn vhdl, all you need is a simulator to verify your uut and testbench code and quartus or ise to view the rtl schematic. A board is of little value until the code is complete and tested. -- Mike Treseler
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
Thanks John. Ill take a look John Adair wrote:> I'm sure you have seen it on Ebay but have a look at our Raggedstone1. > Ebay wise look for the non-EEC price if you are in the US. Similar > pricing on our own website. It just about gets under you $100 mark > depending on the current exchange rate. For something much cheaper you > probably talking about a CPLD board. > > John Adair > Enterpoint Ltd. >
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
Mike, I felt that having an FPGA board, where I can download the code, and do things ... "see" the results for myself, would only serve to reinforce what I am reading A simulator is one thing ... "seeing" the results on bare metal is another Mike Treseler wrote:> samiam wrote: > >> Whats the cheapest board to study VHDL on? > > To learn vhdl, all you need is a simulator > to verify your uut and testbench code > and quartus or ise to view the rtl schematic. > > A board is of little value until > the code is complete and tested. > > -- Mike Treseler
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
Unless you are trying to interface to something else, and need to prove that what you designed can talk to it, a simulator will "show" you much more than you will ever see from an FPGA board. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the satisfaction that is gained from seeing your project "working in real life", but that has nothing to do with any reinforcement of knowledge gained. I should add that the insights gained through thorough simulation (both rtl and gate-level, post-route timing simulations), synthesis, place & route, and static timing analysis will far exceed those gained from "seeing" it work. But seeing it work will probably provide more satisfaction than all those activities. Andy samiam wrote:> Mike, I felt that having an FPGA board, where I can download the code, > and do things ... "see" the results for myself, would only serve to > reinforce what I am reading > > A simulator is one thing ... "seeing" the results on bare metal is > another > > > Mike Treseler wrote: > > samiam wrote: > > > >> Whats the cheapest board to study VHDL on? > > > > To learn vhdl, all you need is a simulator > > to verify your uut and testbench code > > and quartus or ise to view the rtl schematic. > > > > A board is of little value until > > the code is complete and tested. > > > > -- Mike Treseler
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
samiam <samiamSPAMTHIS@spamalert.com> writes:> I am looking on ebay now, and I see one or two boards well above $100. > Any suggestions?Altera MAXII developers kit. I think this was $99 last time I checked. It has LED's, USB, LCD display, temprature sensor, PCI, etc. Petter -- A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
Petter Gustad wrote:> samiam <samiamSPAMTHIS@spamalert.com> writes: > > > I am looking on ebay now, and I see one or two boards well above $100. > > Any suggestions? > > Altera MAXII developers kit. I think this was $99 last time I > checked. It has LED's, USB, LCD display, temprature sensor, PCI, etc. > > Petter > -- > A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. > Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? > A: Top-posting. > Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?i'm thinking of getting the MAX II $100 board too. can it work external to the pc or pci only. does it auto program, can it be used to program other cpld and can the display be made external off board, for case mounting? i'd have to revert to on board gfx again as no free pci while agp in use. cheers
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
Petter Gustad wrote:> Altera MAXII developers kit. I think this was $99 last time I > checked. It has LED's, USB, LCD display, temprature sensor, PCI, etc.Do you mean this board? http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-maxii-1270.html Looks like it costs $150 and it is an CPLD, only. And do you need an additional programmer for it? If you want to try Altera and want to spend $149, this is a nice board: http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=39&No=14 Anything is included on the board, like USB Blaster for programming and it has some nice interfaces, like video out and audio in/out and demo version of Nios etc. If you want to try Xilinx, Spartan3 is nice, too and costs $99 (there is anything included, too, so you don't need any additional programmer) : http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=S3BOARD&Nav1=Products&Nav2=Programmable I'm sure Lattice and other vendors have good development boards, too, but I have tested both boards, the Spartan 3 starter kit (and Spartan 3E starter kit) and the TREX C1, so I can guarantee that they are very good for this price. -- Frank Buss, fb@frank-buss.de http://www.frank-buss.de, http://www.it4-systems.de
Reply by ●October 18, 20062006-10-18
samiam wrote:> Ideally Id like an FPGA based board with a few inputs (dip > switches,toggles?), some outputs (parallel or serial connector, some > leds) < $100Altium LiveDesign (USD$99) <http://www.altium.com/Products/AltiumDesigner/LiveDesign/> Regards, -- Mark McDougall, Engineer Virtual Logic Pty Ltd, <http://www.vl.com.au> 21-25 King St, Rockdale, 2216 Ph: +612-9599-3255 Fax: +612-9599-3266