NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON IT

Hi seniors and dear friends...

I apologise for imposing a basic(rather stupdly so) question to all you guys.But
being a graduate student and in a sudden opportunity of funding,I have no other option but to do a task by his tuesday. I am completely lost and need help from you.

THE WORK
--------------
WRITE A SMALL VHDL CODE AND MAKE A BITSTREAM OF IT AND RUN IT ON A
VIRTEX II PRO FPGA.

I HAVE DONE
-----------------
I HAVE THE CODE,I HAVE THE FPGA AS WELL AS A FEW ACCESSORIES SUPPLIED WITH IT, AND INSTALLED ISE(WEBPACK) AND MODELSIM ON MY COMPUTER

MY PROBLEM
---------------
I HAVE TO,AS IT IS EVIDENT, ACTUALLY SET UP THE SYSTEM AND DON'T HAVE
A LOT OF TIME TO FOLLOW AND UNDERSTAND THE WHYS AND HOW WELLS OF THE PROCESSES INVOLVED FROM THE HUGE MANUALS.

ALL I NEED IS

1) WHAT ARE THE EXTRA SOFTWARES AND HARDWARES(MAY BE I HAVE SOME OF THEM OR ARRANGE FOR THEM) OTHER THAN THE FPGA BOARD,POWER SUPPLY,
ISE, MODELSIM???

2) A STEP BY STEP GUIDE ON HOW TO MAKE A BITSTREAM FROM THE VHDL CODE USING ISE?????

3) A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOW CONNECT THE FPGA TO THE COMPUTER ITSELF???

4)HOW TO TRANSFER AND MAKE THE BITSTREAM WORK ON THE FPGA???


STUPID RIGHT??? BUT CERTAINLY NOT IN THE SITUATION I AM FACING.....
ALL I CAN SAY....
1) A REPLY WIILL BE VERY USEFUL
2)LINKS TO POSTS, A DIAGRAM OR ANY PARTICULAR USER GUIDE WILL BE GREAT( email at thanku_ju@yahoo.com please)
3) I CAN EVEN MAKE ISD CALL IF SOMEONE WANTS YTO HELP ME BUT IS
RELCUTANT TO TYPE A LOT....


But please help me

The Xilinx toolset and documentation can be overwhelming to a first-time user!

Which FPGA board and download cable do you have? Which version of ISE WebPACK? You probably have a "getting started" tutorial somewhere in your mountain of disks and documentation. Maybe in the user guide for your board/kit.

Here's my quickie guide to building and downloading a simple project using Xilinx ISE software:
#754738
An older version with a Verilog example (VHDL would be similar):
#545653

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

1) WHAT ARE THE EXTRA SOFTWARES AND HARDWARES(MAY BE I HAVE SOME OF THEM OR ARRANGE FOR THEM) OTHER THAN THE FPGA BOARD,POWER SUPPLY,
ISE, MODELSIM???

no extra hw required other than this.....

2) A STEP BY STEP GUIDE ON HOW TO MAKE A BITSTREAM FROM THE VHDL CODE USING ISE?????

once u write the code,check its syntex....then check for simulation ....
and see the synthesis report for device utiliation ....
if device utiliation goes more than 100% then cange the device....

then u ave to do Translation ,Optimization ,Mapping ....these thing are done by tool itself which will generate .ngd,.ncd files

u can give your own constraints like pin io number ,freq,area.....
then u go for Generate file .....
which will generate .bitmap file

u can connect 3.5v suppply to Fpga bord and CPU through Jtag Cable ... which can doen load u code to Fpga kit.....
for this u have to inilization the device which will clear all history...

then u give the location of .bitmap file and load it to ur device

bythis way u can complete the downloading.........

3) A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO HOW CONNECT THE FPGA TO THE COMPUTER ITSELF???

Jtag cable is used to connecte the Fpga to CPU


4)HOW TO TRANSFER AND MAKE THE BITSTREAM WORK ON THE FPGA???

after downloading is completed successfully....u can give input and check the output on Lcd display
for logic o u hav to ground the inpunt and for logic u have supply the +voltage.....

hi echo47

To all the kind people

Thanks for the replies.I will go through them and start immediately.But I need to thank all you guy's generosity.

Added after 31 minutes:

I am started with your stuff and facing a few peoblems itself(although it is wonderful)

Here are the stuff

1) I have(to answer your questions) the instruments at lab and all I remember is

XILINX VIRTEX 2P FPGA
JTAG CABLE
POWER SUPPLY
SDRAM
RS 232
LED WITH A CONNECTING CABLE

I think I need another cable or so to coonect.......if it is...please tell me which one ,
AND HOW TO CONNECT THE FPGA TO THE LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!



ISE 8.1 i with SERVICEPACK 3
MODELSIM 6.0d


2)In the ISE 8.1 an 9.1 when I am selectig device type to Virtex 2P
three options are coming xc2vp2 xc2vp4 xc2vp7 but mine is ML310 XC2VP30.


Thanks

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

I think the free version of ISE does not handle the full range of Xilinx's FPGAs.

I recently ran into the same problem where the free version on my laptop did not have the FPGA I was designing into, but the paid version that my company has had the full suite of Xilinx's FPGAs.

Perhaps someone else can confirm.

Here is the ML310:
**broken link removed**
Wow, it looks like a PC motherboard. I haven't used this board.

The ML310 is intended for embedded processor development, so you may need to buy the Xilinx EDK Embedded Development Kit. Price is about $500 US. No free version available.

According to this web page, WebPACK 9.2i should support the XC2VP30, although I haven't tried it:
https://www.xilinx.com/ise/products/webpack_config.htm

Which JTAG cable do you have? That is how you connect the FPGA to your computer. Refer to "JTAG Connection to XC2VP30" in the ML310 User Guide.

Some JTAG cables work with Xilinx iMPACT (the JTAG software included with ISE WebPACK), but others don't. Some cables have a USB connection, but others have a 25-pin parallel connection. Also, be sure the cable's JTAG connector matches the 14-pin connector on your board.

If you have a 25-pin parallel cable, and if your laptop doesn't have a 25-pin printer port, then you need to get a USB JTAG cable. The Xilinx "Platform Cable USB" (price about $200 US) should work, but I haven't tried it with an ML310.

The ML310 board has a wide variety of communication ports, so you may be able to download FPGA code some other way besides JTAG. Check the documentation.

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

Wait, maybe guy doesn't have parallel port on laptop, only USB. Am I right? If so, find desktop computer, install ISE and work on it. Or finish design and create bitstream file on laptop, then use desktop computer just for downloading bitstream on FPGA.

It's true that webpacks doesn't support all devices. I also haven't tried out ISE 9.2 webpack, download it and check does it include your chip. Or find foundation version... somewhere... somehow...

to echo47 and others

Sir

First of all thanks......I managed to generate the programming file using ISE 9.2 EVALUATION for the xc2vp30,the project directory now looks like the picture I sent.

Now,I need to actually RUN THE CODE ON THE BOARD(I WAS DOWN AND OUT WITH FEVER LAST DAY )

I saw your kind replies and unfortunately,the XILINX PARALLEL CABLE IV given to me
wont fit the serial cable I have in my laptop.
This perhaps means I can't use the impact tool

But I have a port which actually can connect the
SERIAL PORT OF MY LAPTOP and a MALE 10 port on FPGA which may look like
:::::

or
SERIAL PORT OF MY LAPTOP TO MALE 9 pin serial port on FPGA.

But I am affraid all that does is simply connect...........how to transfer and execute the code???Is there any other software for that which I need to use???

Besides that,I have also found a seven segment display connectable to FPGA.Is the
output of the counter supposed to be seen there??? OR EVEN BETTER,IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY??

SORRY FOR THE DELAY BUT I WASNT REALLY FIT TO ENTER THE MONITOR

The Xilinx Parallel Cable IV plugs into your computer's 25-pin parallel printer port. If your computer doesn't have a parallel port, then you need to buy a USB-JTAG cable such as the Xilinx Platform Cable USB. Cheaper USB-JTAG devices exist, but they need different download software. If your laptop doesn't have USB either, then you are in trouble.

Don't bother trying a USB-to-Parallel adapter. If it works at all, it would be horribly slow.

I haven't seen any JTAG cables that plug into a serial port. If one existed, it would be slow, and would need different download software.

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

Hi echo47

You know by now why I am so much hurrying to make the system running.However, STRANGELY I have received all the interconnects and YET TO RECEIVE THE BOARD ITSELF.

In a way it is handy as it is stalled allowing my adapter to come.See my DELL PC
has a serial port 22 pin female. I ordered a 22 M to 25F pin adapter so as to connect the XILINX PARALLEL CABLE IV to my PC.

Now will it cause any trouble???If it does, is there no other means OTHER THAN THE PARALLEL CABLE to connect the ML310 and download the bitstream onto it????

What types of I/O ports does your computer have?

If it's a laptop, maybe you need to plug it into a docking station to get standard I/O ports.

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

See my laptop has a 22 pin serial port, 4 USB ports, 1 IEEE 1394,1 Ethernet,1 7 pin mini DIN, 1 x Modem - Phone line - RJ-11
how cheap can I get a docking station???

Your computer has USB, so I would either buy the Xilinx Platform Cable USB (expensive, fast, and works with Xilinx software), or maybe buy the Digilent USB-JTAG (low cost, but only works with Digilent software).
**broken link removed**
http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=JTAG-USB

I've never heard of a 22-pin serial port. Too many pins. It may be more than just a serial port.

A docking station would be unique to your specific laptop model. Yours may not have one. Check the manufacturer's web site.

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

I repeat the question...isnt there any other mode to connect the FPGA to computer
OTHER THAN JTAG???

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

yes but is better a JTAG cable.
using parallel port you can emulate a serial bitstream download.
If you use a simple a old parallel jtag cable (you can find the schematic online using google) and impact you are ready to start.

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

Sir I got your point and even added helped me for you[]

what really escapes me is that how can I use even a SIMPLE PARALLEL JTAG port
where I dont have a parallel I/O port in my laptop?[]

Re: NEED HELP TO SET UP AN FPGA.....MY EDUCATION DEPENDS ON

you can buy a usb download cble, i think that you can buy at 100$ or minus.
i think that your laptop have a usb port.
G.