list of fpga based projects
ya ya... uC and FPGA is not the same... orange & banana would be even better...
for FPGA, after u synthesis, u get a sof file (for altera), then u will use the JTAG programmer to program the FPGA.. power down, u hav to reprogram the FPGA... tht is y u need the flash, when power-up, the flash (wth controller) will re-load the config file to the FPGA....
ya buts101, u dont need to re-synthesis again & again after every power down. u just need to use the file u get from ur synthesis (.sof from altera) to re-load the FPGA...
if u use CPLD, then it is non-volatile...
for uC, u are using the hardware... then u can write firmware to use the uC.
but for FPGA/CPLD, u are creating the hardware (use & create are different thing)... even the code (not program) u write is concurent type (mostly).
and if u think uC is better than FPGA/CPLD... think again...
there are 8051, PIC core tht people create to put into FPGA... know why they do this
warm regards,
sp
Added after 10 minutes:
for altera kits... for university...
UP1 and UP2 dont hav the flash...
and those weird series from altera.. like the Nios board for university all come wth flash...
UP3 and later on (DE1, DE2) all already hav the flash built-in to the board...
however, programming the file to the flash is a troublesome process... slow
regards,
sp