A construction of FPGA based design by a beginner
in [FPGA]
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From: Alex on 20 Jan 2010 07:17 Hello All, I am a beginner and want to get an idea how to construct actual FPGA- based design (a PCB) after this was developed and tested using development board (I use Xilinx Microblaze 1600E development board). My understanding is that as my particular project uses just some of the features available on the development board (in my design these are RS232 port, FPGA chip, ADC, DAC, BNC connector for radiofrequency signal output) only these have to be constructed on my PCB - is this correct. I also will need to accomodate on my PCB a ROM where hardware configuration (which will be downloaded to FPGA chip each time when it is powered on) is saved. And I do not understand one thing here - this ROM obviously has to be programmed in advance in order to keep hardware configuration - is this programming normally done on a development board? Thank you. Please feel free to comment on my questions and tell more (whatever you find relevant) about construction of FPGA-based designs for beginners - I am a beginner and interested to learn about any aspect of this.
From: John_H on 20 Jan 2010 10:03 On Jan 20, 7:17 am, Alex <vict...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello All, > > I am a beginner and want to get an idea how to construct actual FPGA- > based design (a PCB) after this was developed and tested using > development board (I use Xilinx Microblaze 1600E development board). > > My understanding is that as my particular project uses just some of > the features available on the development board (in my design these > are RS232 port, FPGA chip, ADC, DAC, BNC connector for radiofrequency > signal output) only these have to be constructed on my PCB - is this > correct. > I also will need to accomodate on my PCB a ROM where hardware > configuration (which will be downloaded to FPGA chip each time when it > is powered on) is saved. And I do not understand one thing here - this > ROM obviously has to be programmed in advance in order to keep > hardware configuration - is this programming normally done on a > development board? > > Thank you. Please feel free to comment on my questions and tell more > (whatever you find relevant) about construction of FPGA-based designs > for beginners - I am a beginner and interested to learn about any > aspect of this. There is a great deal of superb information in the FPGA manufacturer's data sheets and application notes. You need to pay close attention to power, ground, and decoupling but your attachment to peripherals isn't dependent on how the demo board was laid out as much as where you want things connected. There are pins that are I/O, some pins might be input only, some are designed to be used for clocking, and other special purpose pins might be available. Know the part before you design a board. The memories are typically programmable in-system. If you read the application notes further into the programming and memories, you'll find that a programming adapter hooked up to the PC such as an Altera Byteblaster or a Xilinx USB Platform Cable programmer will get you the attachment you need to program the device when it's already soldered on the board. If your demo board has the programming hardware built in such that you don't have a stand-alone programmer AND the demo board has sockets for at least one type of program memory, then yes: you can program the memory in the demo board and transfer it to your new board. Most designs I've been around have either on-board programmer hookups for the stand-alone programming cables I mentioned or are programmed by a processor that brings up the FPGA as part of the system boot.
From: Alex on 20 Jan 2010 11:37 On 20 Ñнв, 17:03, John_H <newsgr...(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote: > On Jan 20, 7:17 am, Alex <vict...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Hello All, > > > I am a beginner and want to get an idea how to construct actual FPGA- > > based design (a PCB) after this was developed and tested using > > development board (I use Xilinx Microblaze 1600E development board). > > > My understanding is that as my particular project uses just some of > > the features available on the development board (in my design these > > are RS232 port, FPGA chip, ADC, DAC, BNC connector for radiofrequency > > signal output) only these have to be constructed on my PCB - is this > > correct. > > I also will need to accomodate on my PCB a ROM where hardware > > configuration (which will be downloaded to FPGA chip each time when it > > is powered on) is saved. And I do not understand one thing here - this > > ROM obviously has to be programmed in advance in order to keep > > hardware configuration - is this programming normally done on a > > development board? > > > Thank you. Please feel free to comment on my questions and tell more > > (whatever you find relevant) about construction of FPGA-based designs > > for beginners - I am a beginner and interested to learn about any > > aspect of this. > > There is a great deal of superb information in the FPGA manufacturer's > data sheets and application notes. > > You need to pay close attention to power, ground, and decoupling but > your attachment to peripherals isn't dependent on how the demo board > was laid out as much as where you want things connected.  There are > pins that are I/O, some pins might be input only, some are designed to > be used for clocking, and other special purpose pins might be > available.  Know the part before you design a board. > > The memories are typically programmable in-system.  If you read the > application notes further into the programming and memories, you'll > find that a programming adapter hooked up to the PC such as an Altera > Byteblaster or a Xilinx USB Platform Cable programmer will get you the > attachment you need to program the device when it's already soldered > on the board.  If your demo board has the programming hardware built > in such that you don't have a stand-alone programmer AND the demo > board has sockets for at least one type of program memory, then yes: > you can program the memory in the demo board and transfer it to your > new board. > > Most designs I've been around have either on-board programmer hookups > for the stand-alone programming cables I mentioned or are programmed > by a processor that brings up the FPGA as part of the system boot. Hi John_H Thank you for reply and suggestion to read application notes first - this is a right approach, I agree.
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