Basics FPGA

Hi Everyone,
I am an electrical engineer but I have never had a chance to learn
about FPGAs. I think now is a time to make a foray in this world. My
problem is I dont know where to start. So I will appreciate if someone
can tell me what are the things I will need to start from scratch, like
software, hardware etc. Thanks a lot

"xenos" <shantanu.pathak@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1117730083.658272.266930@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Hi Everyone,
> I am an electrical engineer but I have never had a chance to learn
> about FPGAs. I think now is a time to make a foray in this world. My
> problem is I dont know where to start. So I will appreciate if someone
> can tell me what are the things I will need to start from scratch, like
> software, hardware etc. Thanks a lot

You can't go wrong with the $99 Xilinx Spartan 3 kit and free WebPack 
software. I actually got my kit from Digilent who make them for Xilinx and 
paid an extra $20 for the larger -400 Spartan 3 chip.

Leon 

xenos wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> I am an electrical engineer but I have never had a chance to learn
> about FPGAs. I think now is a time to make a foray in this world. My
> problem is I dont know where to start. So I will appreciate if someone
> can tell me what are the things I will need to start from scratch, like
> software, hardware etc. Thanks a lot
> 
There are two main flavors of HDL for programming FPGAs, Verilog or 
VHDL. You could try Verilog first, since it has a lot of free tools 
available, including free compilers and simulation tools.

GPL Cver (a free verilog compiler): http://www.pragmatic-c.com/gpl-cver/
GTKWave (free waveform viewer for GTK): 
http://www.geda.seul.org/tools/gtkwave/

With the above two free tools you could learn how to program in Verilog. 
Then you can move on to commercial tools such as Xilinx's ISE and EDK to 
do real FPGA synthesis.

Good luck!

Hey Leon
Thanks for the reply. I think I also emailed you directly using my
other ID for a private tution on FPGAs. Let me know if you can do that.

You can go through this very good introductory tutorial on PLDs/FPGAs.

http://klabs.org/richcontent/Tutorial/fpga/Toronto_tutorial.pdf

Thanks for the info. But I had a question and pardon my ignorance here.
Some one also suggested that I buy Xilinx Spartan 3 kit and free
WebPack
software. What is the use of that? Is that used to actually program
FPGA chip? As far as I understand i can use the tools you suggested to
practise simulations and then go towards the hardware to program the
chips.

Thanks for the response. I have already come across that article. What
I am looking for is how do I start working on it once i figure out the
basics. For example to learn C++ i need C++ tutorials, a C compiler and
a computer. similarly what all is required to get started on this. Also
what all can I get for free. Will Hua Zheng suggested some simulation
tools to learn verilog. Do I also need any hardware? thanks

xenos wrote:
> For example to learn C++ i need C++ tutorials, a C compiler and
> a computer. similarly what all is required to get started on this. Also
> what all can I get for free. Will Hua Zheng suggested some simulation
> tools to learn verilog. Do I also need any hardware? thanks

You only need an editor and simulator to get started.
Once you know how to write and simulate HDL code for
synthesis, you can try it out on hardware.
Until then, all you can do with hardware
is run the canned demos and flash the LEDs.

           -- Mike Treseler

xenos wrote:
> Thanks for the response. I have already come across that article. What
> I am looking for is how do I start working on it once i figure out the
> basics. For example to learn C++ i need C++ tutorials, a C compiler and
> a computer. similarly what all is required to get started on this. Also
> what all can I get for free. Will Hua Zheng suggested some simulation
> tools to learn verilog. Do I also need any hardware? thanks
> 
You don't need hardware to learn HDL. Cver + GTKWave will simulate most 
logic.

xenos wrote:
> Thanks for the info. But I had a question and pardon my ignorance here.
> Some one also suggested that I buy Xilinx Spartan 3 kit and free
> WebPack
> software. What is the use of that? Is that used to actually program
> FPGA chip? As far as I understand i can use the tools you suggested to
> practise simulations and then go towards the hardware to program the
> chips.
> 
The Spartan 3 kit comes with a prototyping board with a Spartan 3 FPGA. 
The software that comes with the kit lets you synthesize your design 
into the FPGA on the board. You should definitely get something like 
that if you want to get a feel of what the logic you wrote can do in 
real hardware.

And you are right, you can practice with simulation tools first (this 
lets you see the inner-workings of your design, not just the output).