anyone with a entry level FPGA development board (VHDL support) they don't need?

Sat Mar 14 17:35:32 EDT 2020

I've just got this in today's spam from CrowdSupply:
https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s
Pretty big FPGA, RAM, and ESP32 for wireless connectivity (WiFi + Bluetooth)

Jacek
kw4ep

On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 5:09 PM Martin <dcmk1mr2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> You are making extra work for yourself going Intel or Xilinx.  Those
> design tools support a large variety of FPGAs - some of which are very
> large and complex and cost what a house goes for.  You project requires a
> small, simple FPGA.  Do you want to spend your time leaning a proprietary
> tool chain or the FPGA basics?
>
> https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/bringing-fpga-development-to-the-masses/
>
> --Martin
>
> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 1:37 PM <samudra.haque at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Wow, I am learning a lot thanks to Taco’s forums. I regret not paying
>> attention to FPGA world earlier. I just sat through 30 minutes of a free
>> training course on Intel’s website: and a wholesome review of a tutorial
>> using the flow chart shown below – and it would I am most sure at this
>> point, be easy for me to replicate my manually designed electric rocket
>> subsystem (see pics from 2015) control system, into an FPGA version down to
>> the 10 uS synthetic reprogrammable timebase I had to design, to validate my
>> multi-rocket synchronization routines – I honestly was just paying
>> attention to the physics, and not to the EE techniques then.
>>
>>
>>
>> Back then I was using Netburner hardware, and wholly customized PCB, with
>> IGBT power switches and ~40 amp transient discharges from an inductive
>> energy storage system I calculated manually. Well --- an FPGA containing a
>> soft-core MCU, some external switches, RTOS application (the same possibly
>> that I used in the RTOS of Netburner environment) and some barebones serial
>> comms seem to be practical to implement with these methods, …. And I may be
>> able to develop new control processes and drive other elements .. without
>> much delay ! Perhaps even use the onboard NIOS II DSP section to do
>> mod/demod ? BTW, I liked the training material 100 and 200 level FPGA
>> courses on the intel website, free with registration. Like:
>> https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/programmable/support/training/catalog.html?keywords=nios
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Terry N4TLF <n4tlf at wb4jfi.com>
>> *Sent:* Saturday, March 14, 2020 12:54 PM
>> *To:* samudra.haque at gmail.com; 'Martin' <dcmk1mr2 at gmail.com>
>> *Cc:* 'Tacos' <tacos at amrad.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: anyone with a entry level FPGA development board (VHDL
>> support) they don't need?
>>
>>
>>
>> Here are a couple of books that might be of interest regarding Verilog:
>>
>>
>>
>> This book is interesting, and a little bit different.  It doesn’t require
>> actual hardware for most of it’s content.  I bought the Kindle version.
>>
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Video-Game-Hardware-Verilog-ebook/dp/B07LD48CTV/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=verilog+book&qid=1584203304&sr=8-5
>>
>>
>>
>> THe title is accurate: a Concise guide to be sure.  Again, not tied to
>> any hardware, and somewhat light on details.  Fairly thin.
>>
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/Verilog-Example-Concise-Introduction-Design/dp/0983497303/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=verilog+book&qid=1584203528&sr=8-1
>>
>>
>>
>> I have the Kindle version of this book.  It uses a few specific boards.
>>
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/Programming-FPGAs-Getting-Started-Verilog-ebook/dp/B01M0F1L5G/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=verilog+book&qid=1584203803&sr=8-2
>>
>>
>>
>> THis is more expensive, I have the paper version.  It has the most of my
>> bookmarks of any book I have.  That says it all.
>>
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/Embedded-Design-Using-Programmable-Arrays/dp/1589094867/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Embedded+design+using+Programmable&qid=1584204048&sr=8-1
>>
>>
>>
>> There are several other books that I have.  Like many other technical
>> references, there is not ONE single book that is best.
>>
>>
>>
>> I have used the Papilio and Digilent FPGA boards (among others) to help
>> me learn most of what I have now forgotten, regarding FPGAs.  I now have
>> some newer boards boards based on Zynq FPGAs, such as the Red Pitaya, a
>> MicroZed, and others.  These are MUCH more powerful, but also much more
>> complicated.  My brain hurts whenever I delve into them.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73, Terry, N4TLF
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* samudra.haque at gmail.com
>>
>> *Sent:* Friday, March 13, 2020 8:42 PM
>>
>> *To:* 'Martin'
>>
>> *Cc:* 'Tacos'
>>
>> *Subject:* RE: anyone with a entry level FPGA development board (VHDL
>> support) they don't need?
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Martin, thanks for the tip. I went looking for the board you
>> recommended from Lattice (it’s offered at a good price) but if I am not
>> mistaken, it doesn’t have any peripherals such as switches  for onboard
>> experiments? The photos show it comes with LEDs, but no switches.
>>
>>
>>
>> Then I went looking for the icestorm documentation and it seems they ship
>> from UK (the blackice boards) so despite those development boards being
>> chock full of accessories for experimentation, the shipping delay and cost
>> sort of makes it expensive.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, randomly I searched and came across (comments requested) *for about
>> $43.85 total with shipping*:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/STEP-MAX10-Intel-Altera-FPGA-development-board/143318504573?hash=item215e72d47d%3Ag%3AlcQAAOSwARpdGDCw&LH_BO=1
>>
>>
>>
>> and according to the website
>> http://www.stepfpga.org/step-max10-development-board/  it is fully
>> supported by:
>>
>>
>>
>> Altera MAX10 FPGA: 10M02/10M08
>>
>> On board USB Blaster programming circuit
>>
>> 2-character 7-segment display
>>
>> Two RGB LEDs
>>
>> Four switches
>>
>> Four push buttons
>>
>> Eight user LEDs
>>
>> Power from MicroUSB connector
>>
>> 40 pins DIP connector with 36 User I/Os
>>
>>
>>
>> ·        STEP-MAX10 Hardware Manual 1.0
>> <https://github.com/stepfpga/STEP-MAX10/blob/master/docs/STEP-MAX10%20Hardware%20Manual%201.0.pdf>
>>
>> ·        STEP-MAX10 Software Manual 1.0
>> <https://github.com/stepfpga/STEP-MAX10/blob/master/docs/STEP-MAX10%20Software%20Manual%201.0.pdf>
>>
>> ·        STEP-MAX10 Source Code
>> <https://pan.baidu.com/s/1guMNzIYx2Q4sUGhQ1pSUvg>
>>
>> ·        STEP-MAX10 Schematic diagram
>> <https://github.com/stepfpga/STEP-MAX10/blob/master/docs/STEP-MAX10%20Schematic.pdf>
>>
>> ·        Software&Tools <http://fpgasoftware.intel.com/?edition=pro>
>>
>> The software suite is … Altera (Microsoft) Quartus Prime Lite, which
>> includes ModelSim for soft logic analyzer waveform output … and supports
>> Verilog and VHDL. I think that could be ok for mid-level developers, right?
>>
>>
>>
>> But since the documentation says “*On board JTAG programming circuit*”,
>> is an actual JTAG gadget still necessary for this device, or is that
>> functionality already included somehow?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Martin <dcmk1mr2 at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Friday, March 13, 2020 7:26 PM
>> *To:* Samudra Haque <samudra.haque at gmail.com>
>> *Cc:* Tacos <tacos at amrad.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: anyone with a entry level FPGA development board (VHDL
>> support) they don't need?
>>
>>
>>
>> You might want to take a look at
>> https://www.amazon.com/LATTICE-SEMICONDUCTOR-ICE40HX1K-STICK-EVN-Evaluation-iCE40HX1K/dp/B00R3QU9K0
>> for a board and do a google search for Windows iceStorm support.  The are
>> more expensive FPGAs from Intel/Altera amd Xilinx but the tool chains are
>> awful.
>>
>>
>>
>> You also might want to check to see if you really want to invest in VHDL
>> or if Verilog might be better for your needs.  It doesn't hurt to know both
>> but Verilog is more like C and is less trouble to learn.
>>
>>
>>
>> Learning to simulate is a really import skill for FPGA development so you
>> can get started with that before you have hardware.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73 Martin W6MRR
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 3:50 PM <samudra.haque at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I would like to do an experiment with an FPGA development board. I’m
>> looking for something with pinouts or with a switch + LED; My experience
>> with VHDL is very limited. I will be using Windows 10 for my development
>> environment.
>>
>>
>>
>> If anyone has a board they don’t need, would you be willing to sell it at
>> a Tippy’s Taco’s meetup to me? Send me the product manufacturer part number
>> and your ask to samudra.haque at gmail.com.
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, if I had no FPGA board, is there a emulator environment that I can
>> compile the code and get a testbench / diagram of the signals? At least I
>> could begin coding / developing the framework right away.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73 de Samudra N3RDX
>>
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>> Tacos at amrad.org
>> https://lists.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
>>
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>>
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-- 
Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier
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