FPGA Development Board Wish List

"c d saunter" <christopher.saunter@durham.ac.uk> skrev i meddelandet 
news:dehvgq$p56$1@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...
> John,
>   I had a look at the Broaddown2 module, and one item I couldn't see was
> a user Flash device - although the platform flash can be used for user
> data it's sometimes convenient to have a physically seperate flash, and
> these days you can get some large storage, physically tiny SPI devices.
>

The AT45DB642D has 64 Mbit in an SO-8 pinout, so that should fit nicely.
Should be available in a few weeks.

One nice function I have been thinking of is to have a small controller with
USB interface and USB Mass Storage Adapter code.
You can get some fast small single chip ARM/Flash devices with USB interface 
that could
download the bitstream to a FAT file system in the dataflash, and then 
program
the FPGA at boot, or when the bitstream is downloaded.
The user could then just drag and drop the bitstream to your board to 
reconfigure the board.

> Also as an asside, I was interested to see your note on the US & UK export
> regulations - can you expand any details on that? Top Secret pinout on the
> edge connectors :-) or regulations on the FPGA?
>
> Regards,
> Chris
>



-- 
A. P. Richelieu

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:46:33 +0200, "A. P. Richelieu" <a.p@richelieu.com> wrote:

>
>"c d saunter" <christopher.saunter@durham.ac.uk> skrev i meddelandet 
>news:dehvgq$p56$1@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...
>> John,
>>   I had a look at the Broaddown2 module, and one item I couldn't see was
>> a user Flash device - although the platform flash can be used for user
>> data it's sometimes convenient to have a physically seperate flash, and
>> these days you can get some large storage, physically tiny SPI devices.
>>
>
>The AT45DB642D has 64 Mbit in an SO-8 pinout, so that should fit nicely.
>Should be available in a few weeks.

I prefer the SGS-Thomson serial flash (M25P series) - simpler and cheaper than the Atmels last time
I looked. Also second-sourced by SST. 

John_H wrote:
> 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.

Sylvain Munaut wrote:
> Would you happen to know where to find theses for experimenting ?

I'm not sure about the 500 series, which have HDCP, but Digikey and Newark
seem to stock the TFP410PAP transmitter, and the TFP401APZP receiver.

Others will argue, but my general rule-of-thumb for sourcing parts for
prototypes or low-volume production is that if you can't get it from
Digikey, Mouser, or Newark, it doesn't really exist.

Eric

Well I certainly agree on the approach. We use DigiKey sourcing as a good 
reason to choose a part. We would use RS of Farnell, who we do actually use 
ocassionally, but their respective websites don't work well for searching a 
new part of a specific type. Their pricing is also well off production 
numbers pricing whereas DigiKey is pretty much on the ball. The only 
weakness in Digikey for us is the 2 days it takes to get here in the UK. 
Still looks pretty good is it is a late evening order or it isn't a 
desperate rush.

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

"Eric Smith" <eric@brouhaha.com> wrote in message 
news:qhy86h4mu7.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
> John_H wrote:
>> 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.
>
> Sylvain Munaut wrote:
>> Would you happen to know where to find theses for experimenting ?
>
> I'm not sure about the 500 series, which have HDCP, but Digikey and Newark
> seem to stock the TFP410PAP transmitter, and the TFP401APZP receiver.
>
> Others will argue, but my general rule-of-thumb for sourcing parts for
> prototypes or low-volume production is that if you can't get it from
> Digikey, Mouser, or Newark, it doesn't really exist.
>
> Eric