Just wanted to show you our latest project, which I hope to be able to sell sometime.
We’ve made a board which makes it easier to get started using FPGAs, because our board plugs directly into two breadboards, and you only have to apply 3.3V.
We have just finished soldering the prototype, and everything works as expected
The board contains a Spartan 3E 500k and a 4Mbit PROM for storing the FPGA configurations. You have direct access to almost every IO-pin on the FPGA, which is routed to the 2x30 pin headers. This makes some endless possibilities, and we are currently making some Examples/Demos, to show you, what you can do with this board.
This seems a great board for an fpga starter. However I think there are some minor details that can be improved.
I think assigning some I/O’s to LEDs or pushbuttons allow new users to directly use the board without any external components to develop basic programs. Also some permanent LEDs and pushbuttons allow easier debugging for more advanced users.
I think employing another regulator that allows >5 V voltage input relaxes the supply requirements.
For example codes, don’t forget to put a .ucf template that matches the board I/O’s with fpga pins.
dincay:
This seems a great board for an fpga starter. However I think there are some minor details that can be improved.
I think assigning some I/O’s to LEDs or pushbuttons allow new users to directly use the board without any external components to develop basic programs. Also some permanent LEDs and pushbuttons allow easier debugging for more advanced users.
I think employing another regulator that allows >5 V voltage input relaxes the supply requirements.
For example codes, don’t forget to put a .ucf template that matches the board I/O’s with fpga pins.
I forgot to mention about clocks. I think employing some clock sources on the board greatly simplifies the designs. Practically every fpga design needs a clock. Connecting an external clock each time might be tiresome. Also clocks used in fpga based systems are relatively faster (25-100 MHz typically). Considering 16 MHz of fastest arduino, these fast clocks might not be easily available to hobbyists.
dincay:
I forgot to mention about clocks. I think employing some clock sources on the board greatly simplifies the designs. Practically every fpga design needs a clock. Connecting an external clock each time might be tiresome. Also clocks used in fpga based systems are relatively faster (25-100 MHz typically). Considering 16 MHz of fastest arduino, these fast clocks might not be easily available to hobbyists.
