From: snyderkena@my-deja.com Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga Subject: FPGA development on the cheap? Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 02:55:00 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. Lines: 17 Message-ID: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.172.137.216 X-Article-Creation-Date: Fri Sep 29 02:55:00 2000 GMT X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.61 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.2.12-20 i586) X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 x71.deja.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 207.172.137.216 X-MyDeja-Info: XMYDJUIDsnyderkena Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!uni-erlangen.de!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!btnet-peer1!btnet-peer0!btnet-peer!btnet!newsfeed.mathworks.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nntp2.deja.com!nnrp1.deja.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1415 I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to a development board. I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would weigh heavily. Any comments or suggestions? -Ken Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy. ###### From: Dave Vanden Bout Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 23:28:41 -0400 Organization: XESS Corp. Lines: 27 Message-ID: <39D40C69.26BDA458@xess.com> References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ioc2-0805.dyn.interpath.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!psinet-eu-nl!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!cyclone.bc.net!news-hog.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!newsgate.duke.edu!interpath.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1457 > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? You can try the Xilinx WebPACK software. It is free and lets you create designs for XC9500 CPLDs and CoolRunner CPLDs. You can enter designs in VHDL, Verilog, as schematics, or use the state machine editor. My company has a tutorial that will show you how to download, install, and use WebPACK at http://www.xess.com/manuals/webpack-3_1.pdf. You can also check http://www.optimagic.com for lists of free design software, programmable logic tutorials, and FPGA/CPLD board vendors. -- || Dr. Dave Van den Bout XESS Corp. (919) 387-0076 || || devb@xess.com 2608 Sweetgum Dr. (800) 549-9377 || || http://www.xess.com Apex, NC 27502 USA FAX:(919) 387-1302 || ###### From: "Wolfgang Loewer" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 10:06:26 +0200 Organization: El Camino GmbH Lines: 43 Message-ID: <8r1ioe$ueh$10$1@news.t-online.com> References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: news.t-online.com 970214990 10 31185 310055745130-0001 000929 08:09:50 X-Complaints-To: abuse@t-online.de X-Sender: 310055745130-0001@t-dialin.net X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!uni-erlangen.de!newsfeed.germany.net!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsmm00.btx.dtag.de!t-online.de!news.t-online.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1438 Ken, check out the DIGILAB 10K10 at http://www.elca.de/Products/prod%20d10k10e.html. It's got everything you need, including download hardware and a free, yet powerful and popular version of MAX+plus II from Altera. There are many Universities using this platform for their courses. Should be affordable ouside Europe, given the current weakness of the EURO ;-) You might also want to check the boards sections that most PLD manufacturers have on their web sites: Xilinx: http://www.xilinx.com/products/protoboards/protoboards.htm Altera: http://www.altera.com/html/mega/boards.html - Wolfgang _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Wolfgang Loewer - El Camino GmbH Your Programmable Logic Design House http://www.elca.de _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ wrote in message news:8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com... > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? > > -Ken > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. ###### From: "Ulf Samuelsson" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Lines: 34 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.151.237.34 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@swip.net X-Trace: nntpserver.swip.net 970226590 212.151.237.34 (Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:23:10 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:23:10 MET DST Organization: A Customer of Tele2 X-Sender: s-281058@d212-151-237-34.swipnet.se Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:21:14 +0200 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!nntpserver.swip.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1444 Or you may want to check out the Atmel STK40. It has a 20 k gate FPGA and a socket for an AVR uP. There is a complete toolkit included (except for simulator) You may be able to get hold of a Veriwell verilog simulator (which somewhat works in a <1000 lines) or someting else here. -- Best regards, ulf at atmel dot com The contents of this message is intended to be my private opinion and may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Sweden wrote in message news:8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com... > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? > > -Ken > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. ###### From: "Ulf Samuelsson" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Lines: 36 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.151.161.165 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@swip.net X-Trace: nntpserver.swip.net 970233518 212.151.161.165 (Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:38 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:38 MET DST Organization: A Customer of Tele2 X-Sender: s-281058@d212-151-161-165.swipnet.se Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:31:18 +0200 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed-zh.ip-plus.net!news.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!informatik.tu-muenchen.de!news.csl-gmbh.net!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!nntpserver.swip.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1440 Or you may want to check out the Atmel STK40. It has a 20 k gate FPGA and a socket for an AVR uP. There is a complete toolkit included (except for simulator) You may be able to get hold of a Veriwell verilog simulator (which somewhat works in a <1000 lines) or someting else here. -- Best regards, ulf at atmel dot com The contents of this message is intended to be my private opinion and may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Sweden wrote in message news:8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com... > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? > > -Ken > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. ###### From: "Ulf Samuelsson" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Lines: 36 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.151.161.165 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@swip.net X-Trace: nntpserver.swip.net 970233519 212.151.161.165 (Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:39 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:39 MET DST Organization: A Customer of Tele2 X-Sender: s-281058@d212-151-161-165.swipnet.se Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:31:24 +0200 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!uni-erlangen.de!newsfeed1.telenordia.se!news.algonet.se!algonet!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!nntpserver.swip.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1441 Or you may want to check out the Atmel STK40. It has a 20 k gate FPGA and a socket for an AVR uP. There is a complete toolkit included (except for simulator) You may be able to get hold of a Veriwell verilog simulator (which somewhat works in a <1000 lines) or someting else here. -- Best regards, ulf at atmel dot com The contents of this message is intended to be my private opinion and may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Sweden wrote in message news:8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com... > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? > > -Ken > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. ###### From: "Ulf Samuelsson" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Lines: 36 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.151.161.165 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@swip.net X-Trace: nntpserver.swip.net 970233519 212.151.161.165 (Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:39 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:18:39 MET DST Organization: A Customer of Tele2 X-Sender: s-281058@d212-151-161-165.swipnet.se Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 13:31:53 +0200 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!join.news.pipex.net!pipex!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!nntpserver.swip.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1442 Or you may want to check out the Atmel STK40. It has a 20 k gate FPGA and a socket for an AVR uP. There is a complete toolkit included (except for simulator) You may be able to get hold of a Veriwell verilog simulator (which somewhat works in a <1000 lines) or someting else here. -- Best regards, ulf at atmel dot com The contents of this message is intended to be my private opinion and may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Sweden wrote in message news:8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com... > I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems > using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would > convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to > a development board. > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > > Any comments or suggestions? > > -Ken > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. ###### From: "Tony Burch" Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? Lines: 34 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: tntwc01-3-80.idx.com.au Message-ID: <39d4a9ef@news1.idx.com.au> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 01:39:29 +1000 NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.14.30.196 X-Complaints-To: abuse@telstra.net X-Trace: nsw.nnrp.telstra.net 970237860 203.14.30.196 (Sat, 30 Sep 2000 01:31:00 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 01:31:00 EST Organization: Customer of Telstra Big Pond Direct Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!intgwpad.nntp.telstra.net!nsw.nnrp.telstra.net!news1.idx.com.au!tntwc01-3-80.idx.com.au Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1414 Burch Electronic Designs sells some low cost, easy to use FPGA Prototyping Kits. Xilinx, Altera, Atmel, Lucent and Actel kits are available. www.BurchED.com.au Kit prices start at US$66. International orders are welcome. The Altera Max+PlusII Baseline software, which works with the BED-ALTERA-BASE+ Kit, is free. Great tool. You can download it from the Altera website at www.altera.com Best regards Tony Burch www.BurchED.com.au snyderkena@my-deja.com wrote in message <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com>... >I am interested in teaching myself how to implement digital systems >using FPGAs. The idea is to make this a home project where I would >convert my schematic to the appropriate bit stream to be downloaded to >a development board. > >I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are >there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and >ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would >weigh heavily. > >Any comments or suggestions? > >-Ken > > >Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ >Before you buy. ###### Message-ID: <39D6CF6B.EBF13079@gusnet.cx> From: Aaron Holtzman X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.2.17 i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga Subject: Re: FPGA development on the cheap? References: <8r10a2$7ms$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 13 Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 14:51:12 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.236.16.108 X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 970411872 207.236.16.108 (Sun, 01 Oct 2000 10:51:12 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 10:51:12 EDT Organization: Sympatico Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.ifi.unizh.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news3.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch comp.arch.fpga:1473 snyderkena@my-deja.com wrote: > > I realize that I will have to spend $$ for a board and FPGA, but are > there any free software tools? I realize the tradeoff between $$ and > ease. I am not committed to a particular FPGA, and free tools would > weigh heavily. > There is a GPL verilog simulation & synthesis tool called Icarus Verilog (http://icarus.com/eda/verilog/index.html). It even outputs Xilinx netlists (xnf). cheer, aaron