uh... Yes I am trying to design a system, and need to design off chip
logic including interfacing to the chip. Later I will move to design
the PCB, and try to fit the system to the lowest power consumption.

I cannot at this point say, "I've had problems with signal noise using
this part in past design xxx2000, so I'll go with this other part
instead. Or say connecting the board components caused this failure
last time, so I know to do it the other way."

I would like to be able to say, "These sets of tools works really well,
needing Chipscope for this, ModelSim for that, and Architecture Wizard,
iMPACT for this that and the other ... and they helped me get the
design done much faster for this situation."

Anyway, I'll start with AND gates, and the ISE tutorials. One thing I
don't really understand is what the EDK does for me aside from the fact
that sources can be written in C and run using the on chip microblaze
processor. This is still magic to since I don't really understand the
underlying architecture of how instructions are being executed.

I was hoping get a prototype within two months, so you get to laugh at
how a clueless nob asks stupid questions and says stupid things as I
progress. I'll try and do as much of the homework before pesting.. ;-).
Thanks for your help,
-HT

Herb T wrote:

> Where to find Tutorials for using Xilinx FPGA?
> How to learn about Xilinx FPGAs, use ISE 6.3i and EDK 6.3i tools?

Start the software.
In the menu, find Help -> Tutorial.
Then follow the tutorial step by step.

No need to read data sheet, since you are not working on somehow difficult
work for a software guy, such as, designing system, evaluating whether the
chip fits your need, designing off chip logic, interfacing the chip,
designing PCB...

vax, 9000

> 
> Folks,
> I am trying to learn how to program Spartan II (XC2S100-5PQ208C) and
> Spartan 3 (XC3S400-4PQ208C) Xilinx FPGAs. I looked at the data sheets
> for these parts, and the more I do the more mystified I get. I have
> never done this before. I come from a software background, but have
> dabbled in hardware a little. I would like to learn how to program,
> design, and add external hardware to FPGAs. What is the best way to go
> about this?
> 
> I have looked at some of the documents related to ISE and EDK, but have
> not been able to understand a great deal because of the different
> terminology and concepts they use (e.g. OPB v2.0 bus, Slices, Pulse
> Width Modulation). These ideas have little meaning to me having never
> seen them before. I did see the training classes on the web, but don't
> have $20K to shell out to take them all, being a broke chump and all.
> 
> Anyway I have the ISE and EDK 6.3i tools, and have been trying to read
> the documentation, but again I have the same issues.
> 
> Based on these descriptions, about how long does it take to write
> simple VHDL programs that work, or become fluent enough to know a good
> design from a chip fryer?
> 
> Thanks,
> -HT

Herb T wrote:
> Folks,
> I am trying to learn how to program Spartan II (XC2S100-5PQ208C) and
> Spartan 3 (XC3S400-4PQ208C) Xilinx FPGAs. I looked at the data sheets
> for these parts, and the more I do the more mystified I get.

You don't need to read the chip's data sheet in order to know how to
program it. All you need to know is the I/0 pin assignment on your FPGA
board.

> Based on these descriptions, about how long does it take to write
> simple VHDL programs that work, or become fluent enough to know a
good
> design from a chip fryer?

Start simple. Start building a 2 input AND gates. That shouldn't take
more than a few minutes. The tool should have the feature to connect
the input and output of your AND gate to any I/O available in the FPGA
chip. Digilent (an FPGA board vendor/www.digilentinc.com) has a video
tutorial on programming their FPGA board. You can also look at
www.engr.sjsu.edu/crabill. Look at lab1. The author has a good tutorial
on programming an FPGA board. He used Verilog, but the procedure for
VHDL should be similar. 
Good Luck!

Hendra

"Herb T" <oth3ll0@hotmail.com> wrote in news:1111071427.730695.188390
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> Where to find Tutorials for using Xilinx FPGA?
> How to learn about Xilinx FPGAs, use ISE 6.3i and EDK 6.3i tools?
> 
> Folks,
> I am trying to learn how to program Spartan II (XC2S100-5PQ208C) and
> Spartan 3 (XC3S400-4PQ208C) Xilinx FPGAs. I looked at the data sheets
> for these parts, and the more I do the more mystified I get. I have
> never done this before. I come from a software background, but have
> dabbled in hardware a little. I would like to learn how to program,
> design, and add external hardware to FPGAs. What is the best way to go
> about this?
> 
> I have looked at some of the documents related to ISE and EDK, but have
> not been able to understand a great deal because of the different
> terminology and concepts they use (e.g. OPB v2.0 bus, Slices, Pulse
> Width Modulation). These ideas have little meaning to me having never
> seen them before. I did see the training classes on the web, but don't
> have $20K to shell out to take them all, being a broke chump and all.

If you are just learning about FPGAs and want to implement a few simple 
designs using the ISE, then take a look at this tutorial:

http://www.xess.com/appnotes/webpack-6_3-xsa.pdf

We don't have a tutorial that covers the EDK, yet.


> 
> Anyway I have the ISE and EDK 6.3i tools, and have been trying to read
> the documentation, but again I have the same issues.
> 
> Based on these descriptions, about how long does it take to write
> simple VHDL programs that work,

A couple of hours if you use the VHDL language templates found in ISE.


> or become fluent enough to know a good
> design from a chip fryer?

I still can't do that.


> 
> Thanks,
> -HT
> 
> 



-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Van den Bout
XESS Corp.
PO Box 33091
Raleigh NC 27636
Phn: (919) 363-4695
Fax: (801) 749-6501
devb@xess.com
http://www.xess.com

Where to find Tutorials for using Xilinx FPGA?
How to learn about Xilinx FPGAs, use ISE 6.3i and EDK 6.3i tools?

Folks,
I am trying to learn how to program Spartan II (XC2S100-5PQ208C) and
Spartan 3 (XC3S400-4PQ208C) Xilinx FPGAs. I looked at the data sheets
for these parts, and the more I do the more mystified I get. I have
never done this before. I come from a software background, but have
dabbled in hardware a little. I would like to learn how to program,
design, and add external hardware to FPGAs. What is the best way to go
about this?

I have looked at some of the documents related to ISE and EDK, but have
not been able to understand a great deal because of the different
terminology and concepts they use (e.g. OPB v2.0 bus, Slices, Pulse
Width Modulation). These ideas have little meaning to me having never
seen them before. I did see the training classes on the web, but don't
have $20K to shell out to take them all, being a broke chump and all.

Anyway I have the ISE and EDK 6.3i tools, and have been trying to read
the documentation, but again I have the same issues.

Based on these descriptions, about how long does it take to write
simple VHDL programs that work, or become fluent enough to know a good
design from a chip fryer?

Thanks,
-HT