What after VHDL coding?

[MAAASD]

heey all,
Suppose, i've just finished my project in vhdl and tested it
and i've made timing simulation and it's all okey
i need now to see my project in real life
i mean in hardware, how can i have a hardware equivalent to my vhdl project?
what are the methods(fabrication techniques) (in details) to do that?

any information would be great i'm beginner in digital design
your help is much more appreciated
thanks!

 

[john blue]

The fastest way to test it is to burn your codes into FPGA. If you need to fabricate it, that would be your silicon mask layout. Then, after that you will have your custom IC.

 

[MAAASD]

okey i can test it in FPGA but how to make an IC
who would take my VHDL code and give me my equivalent IC?
another question is there any other application for FPGA?
thanks

---------- Post added at 17:53 ---------- Previous post was at 17:46 ----------

and i can't understand this part

your silicon mask layout

 

[john blue]

For making IC, you need to find the silicon foundry to fabricate it for you. They can take your VHDL to realization of the IC. But, I believe, you have to pay for it. If you want to do till layout and pass it to the foundry, then, you need to acquire the library cells from the foundry. Different foundry might differ from one another. The foundry will need you to show them your timing results. For making a custom IC, or known as ASIC design, you will have to do timing analysis, then, layout extraction to extract the parasitic capacitance, resistance and inductance. Then, perform a post timing analysis to make sure the parasitics didnt affect your timing.

---------- Post added at 16:57 ---------- Previous post was at 16:54 ----------

Silicon mask layout is the set of masks used to develop the layout using photo lithography which is commonly used. FPGA is also used for re-configurable system design. FPGA won't fully verify your design for ASIC.

 

[TrickyDicky]

If you want an IC, then make sure you have deep pockets. There are Non-refundable engineering costs, ranging in the thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.

Why not just stick with a $20 FPGA?

 

[MAAASD]

@TrickyDicky
if i want to design a circuit and then use it, how would i do that with an FPGA?
FPGA is just for testing my project, right?
but i'm now disappointed because of the large amount of money needed as you said

 

[FvM]

FPGAs are increasingly used for production designs. If your design has a low logic element count (up to a few thousand), it can be implemented in small FPGAs with built-in configuration flash.

 

[TrickyDicky]

FPGAs are great for low volume products. Our company has been using them for 15+ years.

 

[MAAASD]

FPGAs are great for low volume products. Our company has been using them for 15+ years.

you mean, you've used it to make circuits?
can you explain more? any example?
please

---------- Post added at 22:15 ---------- Previous post was at 21:58 ----------

@TrickyDicky
you see, i'd better buy an FPGA and working and learning on it?
till now i can say that the big thing i can do is to write the vhdl code
so the next step is to try to download it on fpga?
any advices ?

 

[TrickyDicky]

I suggest getting an eval board from your prefered FPGA manufacturer.
Heres a list of all the altera ones.
https://www.altera.com/products/devkits/kit-dev_platforms.jsp?sortcol=price&sortorder=desc

As you see the prices range from $25k for boards with high end devices and high speed interfaces (lots of DDR3 and gigabit ethernet interfaces) down to $20 for the max V starter kit (some basic IO, like switches and LEDs)

The Bemicro SDK (using a cyclone 4) is pretty good - it has a USB interface, ethernet port and is only $79

 

[FvM]

FPGAs are standard components in high end test and measurement systems, e.g. digital oscilloscopes, signal analyzers and generators. In smaller systems, FPGAs are either used as stand alone controller and signal processor or sharing the job with a microcontroller.



What's your application?

 

[MAAASD]

@FvM
i'm a beginner in this field
till now i'm learning vhdl
but my question was to know if i have the whole code for any project,
how to see this code working in real system (hardware)
but anyway thank you very much

 

[FvM]

If you mention your field of application we can give you more specfic suggestions...

You can build most digital designs on FPGA platform, either evaluaton boards or application specific boards. There are a few restrictions for highest speed (GHz range), very low power or small chip size designs. I guess, your applications aren't of this kind. In addition, FPGAs don't apply for mixed signal chip designs (in other words, for problems beyond pure VHDL).

 

[MAAASD]

@FvM
i'm an undergraduate student and i'm just learning vhdl
so, i want to know how far i can go with vhdl and fpga
i don't know any field but just need to know!
i look stupid but sorry i really don't know but my wish is to be good in this field and more creative
in other words, my total experience till now is to write vhdl code and don't know what to do with it ?!

---------- Post added at 20:17 ---------- Previous post was at 20:04 ----------

@FvM
the most important event in my life till now was that i've written a vhdl code for a microprocessor
to be honest with you, i don't know even what i'll do with this code in future
i need to learn what after the level of writing vhdl code for your circuit ?

please help me if you could and you have my apology if my words look stupid
thanks in advance!

 

[TrickyDicky]

Once you have the VHDL, you need to use the manufacturers code to synthesise your VHDL - ISE from Xilinx and Quartus from Altera.

 

[MAAASD]

i have made the synthesis and timing simulation on Quartus
and it's working well
what next? general talking

 

[FvM]

A microprocessor design can be perfectly implemented on an evaluation board that also has the necessary peripherals to interface it to the outer world, e.g. switches, LEDs, displays, communication channels. You should choose a board according to the resource requirements of your design, with sufficient reserve for futures extensions.