What is an FPGA? EEVBlog explains

What is an FPGA, and how does it compare to a microcontroller like an Arduino?
A basic introduction to what Field Programmable Gate Arrays are and how they work, and the advantages and disadvantages.

Do we have any FPGA development boards?

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Currently we do not.
Can recommend a VHDL resource.
http://freerangefactory.org/
PDF books free to dwhld:
http://freerangefactory.org/books_tuts.html
The DIGITAL MCLOGIC DESIGN bk is a textbook. 1st half is a review of digital logic/theory. 2nd focuses on VHDL.

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@Draco VCC does have the budget for one:

And we could have it shipped to the space overnight.

Now, bigger question… since we not looking to step on toes and rather collaborate here.

@artg_dms would electronics like to take on the kit or is it ok for us to host the above fpga devkit in VCC and direction users to visit electronics to program with your copy of prolog?

Looks interesting. The manufacturer’s website has tutorials/examples/projects, etc. to get you going.


If someone is in a hurry, feel free to order.
$80 + $50 (referenced O’Reilly book) is going to be high entry point for a lot of folks.
We could look into using committee funds/goto BoD for funds to subsidize/lower the price for students/classes. (This is/has been done. No need to flame) Bulk buy?

I have requests for tools and equipment for ELab that I need to address first.

Uhhmmm…what copy?

Uhhmmm…what copy?

I vaguely remember trying to wrap my head around a prolog or some sort of VHDL ide on the main pc in Electronics a few years ago. I might be getting the name wrong though.

If someone is in a hurry, feel free to order

Thanks I know its on my bucket list to break into and there an interest at the space so I’ll get on that. As for the reference book, I’m fairly sure VCC has a copy of Verilog by Example and Vhdl By Example with a strong chance of there being a copy of Circuit Design and Simulation with VHDL (MIT Press) as well in storage.

But would there be any other books that you could suggest or even class materials?

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I think you mean verilog … prolog is another programming language used sometimes in AI like lisp.

There’s a Good chance of it.

Now question is, which one should we go with; either

Update:

mojo is based on the xilinx Spartan 6 which I hear had some bugs so that leaves the lattice.

VC707 Virtex 7 is a common tool used at work


ZCU104 Zynq system offers a lot of power for the price

A quick search for past threads:


May be time to reevaluate Altera/Intel Quartus free version.

Paging Paul @urbite.

From my short quick study of VHDL, having design experience w/ TTL/CMOS ICs and the ability to think in functional blocks was very helpful. Apparently one of the issues that a lot of folks have difficulty with is you’re not writing code that will execute one line at a time. Think of it as executing all at once. The book I referenced above mentions this multiple times

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I’ve done a bit of FPGA programming in school and in industry, and I’m 100% AGAINST ANYTHING Xilinx. They may have “better” or “cheaper” hardware, but their tooling sucks.

Altera isn’t bad, I’m decently familiar with Quartus and could help getting the JTAG setup. Another nice feature of the Quartus is the ability to program the FGPA in BDF (Block Diagram Format) which let’s you show students how something like a quad nand could be implemented easily in the gate arrays, and how something like a for loop is a pain.

I haven’t played with Lattice much, but I hear there is an open toolchain for one of their boards, and if so, I’d love to experiment with it. Edit: Found it: http://www.clifford.at/icestorm/ It looks like it supports the ICE40 Stick mentioned previously.

On the interfacing side of things, if you go with the right MAX part by altera, you can run the I/O banks at different logic voltages (some even up to 5V) so the initial pain of how do I interface this device with the 1.8V FPGA is easier for beginners.

Is this like a CPLD?

I recently discovered http://www.s100computers.com/Cards%20For%20Sale.htm and might like to build some.