Compact FPGA Board?

"Jacek Wawrzaszek" <no.mail@no.spam> wrote in message news:<cc1qvf$jmd$1@atlantis.news.tpi.pl>...
> 
> I didn't check the specs, but I saw some tiny FPGA boards 
> at www.fpga4fun.com
> 
> J.

Yeah, I looked at those, but they are just a little too big for what I
need unfortunately.

-DAG

johnjakson@yahoo.com (john jakson) wrote in message news:<adb3971c.0407010714.565d691f@posting.google.com>...
> Sounds suspiciously like credit card sz of which armoid comes to mind.
> 
> http://armoid.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=28&osCsid=4f58554bddd3dd7b0e86fd94df0b2808


That's close to what I need, but it is still a bit too large
unfortunately.  The area I need is actually about 1/4th that of a
credit card.


> I have seen a no of weeny size boards but can't recall where, the low
> cost guys often have little formats
> 
> xess, burch, etc
> 
> http://www.fpga-faq.com/FPGA_Boards.shtml


Yeah, I had gone through every board within my price range on that
page... none of them were small enough.  The only ones I've seen so
far within the dimensions I require were the UC1394a series of PLCCs
by Traquair.

http://www.traquair.com/catalog/ultracompact.products.html

Definately the right size, even with more features than I need, but I
was unable to find any kind of pricing on it.

-DAG

"Tim" <tim@rockylogic.com.nooospam.com> wrote in message news:<cc234l$2on$1$830fa7b3@news.demon.co.uk>...
> 
> Should be possible.  The boards here:
> 
>     http://www.rockylogic.com/files/AntGuts_LoRes.jpg
> 
> are 50mm x 30mm.  The one on the left has an XC2S50E on the reverse
> side, and the power supply is a switcher.  The other board has an
> XC2S30 on the reverse side, and a linear power supply.

Those look very much like what I need.  If the plastic on the outside
was removed it could perhaps fit within the dimensions I listed.  Are
they for sale?  I tried looking on the website you posted, but
couldn't find any information in the matter.  More information would
be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

-DAG

"Daragoth" <daragoth@kuririnmail.com> wrote in message
news:317379a8.0407162157.16a0e979@posting.google.com...
> "Tim" <tim@rockylogic.com.nooospam.com> wrote in message
news:<cc234l$2on$1$830fa7b3@news.demon.co.uk>...
> >
> > Should be possible.  The boards here:
> >
> >     http://www.rockylogic.com/files/AntGuts_LoRes.jpg
> >
> > are 50mm x 30mm.  The one on the left has an XC2S50E on the reverse
> > side, and the power supply is a switcher.  The other board has an
> > XC2S30 on the reverse side, and a linear power supply.
>
> Those look very much like what I need.  If the plastic on the outside
> was removed it could perhaps fit within the dimensions I listed.  Are
> they for sale?  I tried looking on the website you posted, but
> couldn't find any information in the matter.  More information would
> be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.


Prices are here:

http://www.rockylogic.com/


Leon
-- 
Leon Heller, G1HSM
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

"Tim" <tim@rockylogic.com.nooospam.com> wrote in message news:<cc234l$2on$1$830fa7b3@news.demon.co.uk>...
> >> "Daragoth" <daragoth@kuririnmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:317379a8.0406302118.32829ee1@posting.google.com...
>  
> >>> -The most important thing is that it all fits within a 40 mm x 30
> >>> mm x 10 mm volume or less.
> 
> Should be possible.  The boards here:
> 
>     http://www.rockylogic.com/files/AntGuts_LoRes.jpg
> 
> are 50mm x 30mm.  The one on the left has an XC2S50E on the reverse
> side, and the power supply is a switcher.  The other board has an
> XC2S30 on the reverse side, and a linear power supply.

This one is a little larger (51mm x 44mm) but also less expensive:

http://shop.trenz-electronic.de/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=43

It was designed in a way that you can cut off one of the B2B
connectors to obtain an area of about 51mm x 31mm and still have 60
user I/Os.

Kolja Sulimma

news@sulimma.de (Kolja Sulimma) wrote in message news:<b890a7a.0407190943.4aa1f25c@posting.google.com>...
> 
> This one is a little larger (51mm x 44mm) but also less expensive:
> 
> http://shop.trenz-electronic.de/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=43
> 
> It was designed in a way that you can cut off one of the B2B
> connectors to obtain an area of about 51mm x 31mm and still have 60
> user I/Os.
> 
> Kolja Sulimma

Thanks for the link Kolja, that was one of the smallest ones I've seen
for sale with such a large gate count.  But I only have a couple
millimeters leeway from the 40mm x 30mm x 10mm dimensions so I won't
be able to use it, unfortunately.

Do you know of any smaller boards than this one?

-DAG

Well it seems that the board I need doesn't exist or at least no one
knows of one and therefore I will need to design it myself.  Like I
said earlier, I don't know much about PCB design, so if someone could
refer me to a good guide that would be great.  Also, what software
would be best to use considering what I require for my PCB (40x30x10
mm, flash ROM, oscillator, FPGA), also consider I'm running Windows
XP.  Thanks for any help.

-DAG

I know (from my own experience) that it is tempting to design something
small and neat. But I have also seen many failures when there just was not
enough room to complete the design properly.
My advice is: Think twice ( or thrice) before committing to a very tight
footprint.
Peter Alfke
===================
> From: daragoth@kuririnmail.com (Daragoth)
> Organization: http://groups.google.com
> Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga
> Date: 2 Aug 2004 15:49:18 -0700
> Subject: Re: Compact FPGA Board?
> 
> Well it seems that the board I need doesn't exist or at least no one
> knows of one and therefore I will need to design it myself.  Like I
> said earlier, I don't know much about PCB design, so if someone could
> refer me to a good guide that would be great.  Also, what software
> would be best to use considering what I require for my PCB (40x30x10
> mm, flash ROM, oscillator, FPGA), also consider I'm running Windows
> XP.  Thanks for any help.
> 
> -DAG

Daragoth wrote:
> Well it seems that the board I need doesn't exist or at least no one
> knows of one and therefore I will need to design it myself.  Like I
> said earlier, I don't know much about PCB design, so if someone could
> refer me to a good guide that would be great.  Also, what software
> would be best to use considering what I require for my PCB (40x30x10
> mm, flash ROM, oscillator, FPGA), also consider I'm running Windows
> XP.  Thanks for any help.
> 
> -DAG

  Did you look at the ones at www.quickcores.com - they are smaller than
your target size ?
-jg

On 2 Aug 2004 15:49:18 -0700, daragoth@kuririnmail.com (Daragoth) wrote:
>Well it seems that the board I need doesn't exist or at least no one
>knows of one and therefore I will need to design it myself.  Like I
>said earlier, I don't know much about PCB design, so if someone could
>refer me to a good guide that would be great.

try http://alternatezone.com/electronics/files/PCBDesignTutorialRevA.pdf

>Also, what software
>would be best to use considering what I require for my PCB (40x30x10
>mm, flash ROM, oscillator, FPGA), also consider I'm running Windows
>XP.  Thanks for any help.

You could try this freeware version:

   http://www.cadsoft.de/freeware.htm

>-DAG

Philip



Philip Freidin
Fliptronics