Bring Up
That looks like a pretty nice little board. Hopefully it should not take you to long to get your FPGA hello world program working. I would suggest perhaps attempting to one of the LEDs flashing, as that will prove you are using the clocks, resets correctly and you have the not only your simple code working but also the UCF file correct.
Webpack is good, and you can download it from the Xilinx website. Does it come with a good VHDL simulator like Modelsim? You really need to be able to simulate your code before you try to implement it.
As you get more into FPGA development you may wish to look at other synthesis tools like precision and synplify.
What may be of use for debugging your designs later on is an in chip logic analyser like chip scope it is really worth its weight in gold.
Re: Bring Up
I should also add be careful with the unused IO connected to perhiperals when you write your basic "hello world" code as it will probably not use all of the perihpehals (if any) connected to the FPGA. You will need to ensure that you have these IO correctly driven (static high or low at the top level of your code) to ensure you do not have floating inputs on perihperals which wil increase their power dissipation and possibly damage them.
Re: Bring Up
@Adam: It really is a nice little board -- I have one myself.
Re using Precision Synthesis from Mentor and/or Synplify Synthesis from Synopsys ... let's get him up and running with the Xilinx tools first (grin).
Re using ChipScope (Duane, this allows you to use some of the FPGA's programmable logic resources to implement virtual logic analyzers inside the FPGA) ... this is a great idea ... but probably a few weeks down the road :-)
Re: Bring Up
@Adam: Re "unused IO connections" -- this is a VERY good point -- thansk for sharing it.
Re: Bring Up
@Max, thats twice in two days this site has made my buy something ;)
looking forward to its arrival
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@Adam: If only I was on commission (grin)
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Adam - I'm very impressed with this little board so far. But this is really a complete new world for me. It's a bit staggering. I have been blinking some LEDs since this post, but to date only as a modification of one of the sample configurations.
Thanks for the note about floating inputs. That makes sense, although, I'm not sure I have the context in my head yet.
Re: Bring Up
Re those other tools... My head is spinning enough already. :-)
I will be very interested at looking at more tools at some point though. The inside the chip logic analyzer is quite intriguing. It blows my mind and makes perfect sense at the same time. These FPGAs are pretty fun.
Which design tools option to use...
@Duane. I checked with the folks at Xilinx and they say you made the right choice with Option 1 - ISE WebPACK
Brian
5/29/2012 1:34:35 AM
User Rank Guru
Promotion for Duane
Hi Max,
"When we last left our intrepid FPGA newbie, Duane"
I say let's promote Duane from FPGA newbie to FPGA novice. Since he now has an eval board and some experience, it is warranted :-)
As for myself, I am still a newbie and plan to continue learning through Duane's experiences (and posts... :-)
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My goal is to hold a chess-playing extravaganza at Design West 2014, in which FPGA-based and/or MCU-based "Robots" compete for a grand prize.
In addition to applications for reprogrammable hardware and processors in the Internet of Things, it also seems as if there will be a growing need to embed pieces of FPGA-like fabric into SoCs.
Colors are simply names we give to specific wavelengths or combinations of wavelengths that are received by our eyes. Maybe we each see colors differently.
Now we are ready to bring all the parts together and construct the GPS-driven, FPGA-decoded Nixie tube speedometer for use in a 1953 International pickup truck.
Here's an image of the week and a joke of the week. Also, this week's live online chat takes place Thursday, June 20, at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT).
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