Request of Advise for FPGA and CPLD

[atmaca]

Hii all,

Im a newbie on FPGA and CPLD .

And I want to learn these subjects.

Can you advise me a way of begining, and advancing.

Thank you very much,

 

[davorin]

Do you intent to use either one technology?

If yes (and I believe so ;o) then the best way is to get a cheap CPLD or FPGA evaluation kit which has some LEDs and buttons (or more fancy features like PS2, VGA etc).

The way I started was with the Cypress software which came with a VHDL book...but that was quite some years ago (o;


For the evaluation board it is best if you look at the manufacturers website what they have listed...assuming you´re going with either Xilinx or Altera...also Xess has some nice FPGA boards which are rather cheap (www.xess.com).


For the design entry itself you have to decide which way is best for you...either some nice high-level language like VHDL or Verilog or doing the schematic entry way. Schematic entry might be reasonable for a start if you´re already familiar with generic TTL logic devices since most tools already contain TTL libraries...


LBNL: Keep reading this forum and search for CPLD/FPGA topics or the used languages...

 

[davorin]

Maybe something might work for you as it did for me (o;


You can maybe ask your distributor if they have some older CPLD/FPGA kits which are not officially supported anymore but the chips are still available...like the Altera APEX family for instance...

You might end up having an FPGA kit for free (o;
(is it "a FPGA kit" or "an FPGA kit" ? ;o)

PS: If you choose between CPLD and FPGA..please choose FPGA...so much more fun...especially running PacMan on a 2-chip design (o;

 

[atmaca]

ıs it possible to learn two methods at the same time,
or is it better to concentrate on one.

if answer is the second, which one of them do you offer ?

Thanks

 

[davorin]

From the design entry there is no much difference in verilog/vhdl/schematics entry...only that CPLD have limits in size and special built-in features like RAM, PLL, multipliers or even CPU cores...

I started first with CPLD like the old 16V8 and then moved over to ispLSI1016 (both from Lattice). CPLD are good for simple design like address decoding, simple state-machines for PC-Card interfaces etc.

Finally this year I switched over to FPGA since in our design more and more functions are needed inside...and I really enjoy using FPGA...you get addicted with "what else can I fit inside". On CPLD you rather hit the design limits very fast (o;

If you plan to do your own design then FPGA are not easy to handle since they only come in nice TQFP or BGA packages. CPLDs you find easy in socketable PLCC packages. Also more CPLDs are available in 5V tolerant IO versions than FPGAs.


What do you mean by "do you offer" ? (o;

 

[atmaca]

I have MAX-plus II software. With this, which CPLDs can be programmed.

What kind of a design kit do you offer to me ?

Thanks

 

[davorin]

I don't know whch devices it supports...depends on the version you have...
look at Alteras website for supported devices...or there should be some device configuration option where you'll see the supported once depending on version/license...

Altera suggest you switch over to Quartus II software...like for the newer MAXII devices...


Design kit offer? I only offer some advice (o;
But I guess you mean "suggest" (o;

This depends on your needs...what budget..final intended applications...
Altera has a list of their own and 3rd party evaluation kits:

hxxp://www.altera.com/products/devkits/kit-dev_platforms.jsp