FPGA Development Board Wish List

Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you all 
the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product 
Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.

What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think are 
some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN 
products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well you 
just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4 weeks 
time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback on 
the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.

We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas of 
board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and suggest 
(politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea is 
too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our add-on 
module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
 

In/Out channels for HDTV (HDMI or DVI) TMDS signalling would be great.

TI has popular tx and rx phys.  I'd love to get into digital video
manipulation but lack the connectivity.  This could make it happen.


"John Adair" <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote in
message news:1124818478.1112.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
> Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you all
> the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product
> Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
>
> What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think
are
> some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN
> products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well you
> just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4
weeks
> time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback on
> the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.
>
> We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas of
> board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and suggest
> (politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea is
> too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our add-on
> module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.
>
> John Adair
> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development
> Board.
> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>
>
>

If you have any particular part numbers let me know. We have had a few 
requests in this area so it is a possibility and so we will have a look and 
see if there is a good part/s to start supporting.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk


"John_H" <johnhandwork@mail.com> wrote in message 
news:nhKOe.3$xq1.193@news-west.eli.net...
> In/Out channels for HDTV (HDMI or DVI) TMDS signalling would be great.
>
> TI has popular tx and rx phys.  I'd love to get into digital video
> manipulation but lack the connectivity.  This could make it happen.
>
>
> "John Adair" <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote 
> in
> message news:1124818478.1112.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
>> Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you 
>> all
>> the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product
>> Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
>>
>> What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think
> are
>> some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN
>> products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well you
>> just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4
> weeks
>> time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback on
>> the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.
>>
>> We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas of
>> board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and 
>> suggest
>> (politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea 
>> is
>> too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our 
>> add-on
>> module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.
>>
>> John Adair
>> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development
>> Board.
>> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>>
>>
>>
>
> 

I think it's the Texas Instruments TFP501 and TFP510 (Rx and Tx) that are
popular TMDS choices.  These came up with similar parts using a keyword
search on DVI on the TI website.

I like the 12-bit DDR interface option for the Spartan-3 parts, personally.

Not waiting for 3E?

- John Handwork


"John Adair" <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote in
message news:1124825879.5580.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
> If you have any particular part numbers let me know. We have had a few
> requests in this area so it is a possibility and so we will have a look
and
> see if there is a good part/s to start supporting.
>
> John Adair
> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development
> Board.
> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>
>
> "John_H" <johnhandwork@mail.com> wrote in message
> news:nhKOe.3$xq1.193@news-west.eli.net...
> > In/Out channels for HDTV (HDMI or DVI) TMDS signalling would be great.
> >
> > TI has popular tx and rx phys.  I'd love to get into digital video
> > manipulation but lack the connectivity.  This could make it happen.
> >
> >
> > "John Adair" <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote
> > in
> > message news:1124818478.1112.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
> >> Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you
> >> all
> >> the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product
> >> Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
> >>
> >> What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think
> > are
> >> some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN
> >> products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well
you
> >> just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4
> > weeks
> >> time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback
on
> >> the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.
> >>
> >> We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas
of
> >> board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and
> >> suggest
> >> (politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea
> >> is
> >> too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our
> >> add-on
> >> module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.
> >>
> >> John Adair
> >> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development
> >> Board.
> >> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

John Adair wrote:
> Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you all 
> the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product 
> Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.

Cool ;)

For the obvious : Some DDR is a must (A memory socket on the other hand
is not that useful imho), as well as an RS232 level uart and a network
interface (with a auto mdi/mdix phy would be nice ...)

Video outputs, as suggested video output would be great. I think that it
would be nice to have both digital and analog. The ADV7322 looks nice
for the analog part.

Another useful stuff would be a AC97 codec like the UCB14xx, they
provide Audio IN / Out with mixer etc ... That one even provides a touch
screen interface !

What about a PCI slot in which you could plug stuff in ?


Also don't forget a flux capacitor. Event thought it's originally design
to be mounter on Dolorean, I'm sure it will fit (just be aware of the
current requirements ;)


	Sylvain

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:34:46 +0100, "John Adair"
<removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:

>Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you all 
>the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product 
>Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
>
>What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think are 
>some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN 
>products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well you 
>just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4 weeks 
>time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback on 
>the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.
>
>We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas of 
>board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and suggest 
>(politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea is 
>too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our add-on 
>module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.
>
>John Adair
>Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
>Board.
>http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
> 

Footprint for a Panel Link LVDS transmitter to drive TFT LCD panels. 
These are available cheaply  surplus, and great fun to play with, but the easy-to-drive
ttl-interface ones are much harder  to find than the now near-universal LVDS panels.
(Data rate is probably too high to drive the LVDS directly from the FPGA)

You can never have too many switch inputs to select modes etc. when experimenting - BCD rotary
switches are useful here.

 

Unfortunately we seem to run of Flux Capacitors. We burn out the last we had 
doing the first MINI-CANs which we delivered from design start to fully 
tested working prototypes, on customer site, in 18 calendar days. If you 
come across a good supply let me know as I like to see the Enterpoint keep 
on meeting these impossible timescales that some of our customers demand.

Back in the real world I will have all these interfaces looked for either 
the Raggedstone1 or module inclusion. Some of what you want is already there 
in the Raggedstone1 but I will let you guess what.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk

"Sylvain Munaut" <com.246tNt@tnt> wrote in message 
news:430b8ef6$0$18450$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be...
> John Adair wrote:
>> Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you 
>> all
>> the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product
>> Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
>
> Cool ;)
>
> For the obvious : Some DDR is a must (A memory socket on the other hand
> is not that useful imho), as well as an RS232 level uart and a network
> interface (with a auto mdi/mdix phy would be nice ...)
>
> Video outputs, as suggested video output would be great. I think that it
> would be nice to have both digital and analog. The ADV7322 looks nice
> for the analog part.
>
> Another useful stuff would be a AC97 codec like the UCB14xx, they
> provide Audio IN / Out with mixer etc ... That one even provides a touch
> screen interface !
>
> What about a PCI slot in which you could plug stuff in ?
>
>
> Also don't forget a flux capacitor. Event thought it's originally design
> to be mounter on Dolorean, I'm sure it will fit (just be aware of the
> current requirements ;)
>
>
> Sylvain 

You will be able to have BCD switches in RS1 in a similar fashion to 
Broaddown2 through DIL Headers. The LVDS area we are looking at for a 
customer project already and depending on results there we make some kind of 
implementation suitable for RS1. If there is enough interest I will see if 
we can do a TechiTip on it.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk

"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:on3ng196uijh3jpjnb5a1ujqrj2uvsmlr2@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:34:46 +0100, "John Adair"
> <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Representing a manufacturer of development boards I am going offer you all
>>the chance to have your say on what is goes into our new product
>>Raggedstone1 and it's supporting modules.
>>
>>What I can tell is that the board is very cheap and takes what we think 
>>are
>>some of the best attributes of the our existing Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN
>>products. Like them it is also a Spartan-3 board (why another! - well you
>>just have to wait and see when we start revealing features in about 4 
>>weeks
>>time). We have also included ideas based on existing customer feedback on
>>the Broaddown2 and MINI-CAN products.
>>
>>We are now in the last week of layout and have found some small areas of
>>board space that we might stick something on. So do your worst and suggest
>>(politely please) what we might give you in features. Even if your idea is
>>too big, or expensive, for Raggedstone1 itself then it may make our add-on
>>module list or even the next higher end Broaddown3/4 product launches.
>>
>>John Adair
>>Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development
>>Board.
>>http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>>
>
> Footprint for a Panel Link LVDS transmitter to drive TFT LCD panels.
> These are available cheaply  surplus, and great fun to play with, but the 
> easy-to-drive
> ttl-interface ones are much harder  to find than the now near-universal 
> LVDS panels.
> (Data rate is probably too high to drive the LVDS directly from the FPGA)
>
> You can never have too many switch inputs to select modes etc. when 
> experimenting - BCD rotary
> switches are useful here.
>
> 

Mike Harrison wrote:

> Footprint for a Panel Link LVDS transmitter to drive TFT LCD panels. 
> These are available cheaply  surplus, and great fun to play with, but the easy-to-drive
> ttl-interface ones are much harder  to find than the now near-universal LVDS panels.
> (Data rate is probably too high to drive the LVDS directly from the FPGA)

I'm not so sure it's too high. At least for medium sized panels.
Even if it's too high for "direct" implementation of the serializer,
I think I saw an application note at Xilinx where they used the DDR
registers in the IOB so that the internal serializer logic only runned
at half the serial clock speed.

I wish I had some hw to test that ;)


	Sylvain

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 01:05:16 +0200, Sylvain Munaut <com.246tNt@tnt> wrote:

>Mike Harrison wrote:
>
>> Footprint for a Panel Link LVDS transmitter to drive TFT LCD panels. 
>> These are available cheaply  surplus, and great fun to play with, but the easy-to-drive
>> ttl-interface ones are much harder  to find than the now near-universal LVDS panels.
>> (Data rate is probably too high to drive the LVDS directly from the FPGA)
>
>I'm not so sure it's too high. At least for medium sized panels.
>Even if it's too high for "direct" implementation of the serializer,
>I think I saw an application note at Xilinx where they used the DDR
>registers in the IOB so that the internal serializer logic only runned
>at half the serial clock speed.
>
>I wish I had some hw to test that ;)
>

..but for a dev/prototyping system, the interfaces need to be not unduly hard to use.
From a starting point of never having done anything on an FPGA, and never having written a line of
VHDL, I got a TTL-input TFT panel displaying stuff in a day. I doubt I could have got an LVDS
interface going anything like that quickly!

 A Panel link chip means you just need to provide a clock at a sensible rate (40-70MHz), 3 sync
signals and parallel RGB data. It's also much more portable than doing low-level fiddling with IOBs.

It also means you don't need to have a scope that can see the LVDS high-frequency signals as you can
talk to the panel link chip as if it was a ttl-style panel.