On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 21:12:56 -0500, Ray Andraka <ray@andraka.com> wrote:>For example, I used an $18 spartanII chip to demo a shortwave radio implemented >entirely in an FPGA except for the A to D converter and antenna (there is a >block diagram on the front page of my website).Wow, an Ameco preamp--that brings back memories! I once convinced a friend to build an Ameco AC-1 as his first ham transmitter. That was 30 years ago, but I'm still hoping that one of these days he may forgive me. Bob Perlman Cambrian Design Works
Where to get FPGA devices for testing?
Started by ●January 29, 2004
Reply by ●January 30, 20042004-01-30
Reply by ●January 30, 20042004-01-30
Antti Lukats <antti@case2000.com> wrote: ... : > : at www.ebay.com you can find FPGA BGA pulls at price from : > ^^^^^ : > What do you mean here? : > : > : $9 for 300,000 gates and $49 for 1M Gates FPGA : I got 17pcs of XCV600 for $99 and XCV2000 for $49 : those are all "pulled" and need reballing What reballing service do you use and what price to expect? : > : even if it looks undoable at the first look BGA chips : > : with ball distance of 1mm+ and not full grid are easily : > : used in wire wrap proto boards. : > : > Which FBGA FPGA is not full grid? : http://xilinx.openchip.org/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album04&id=XCV300_BGA_Proto : sorry I did mean the BGA inner balls are missing, FPGA array is full of Virtex is mostly BGA (1.27 mm ball spacing). That's an easy one to get prototyping boards for at a sensible price, as 0.15mm/0.15mm lines/spaces and 0.3 mm for minimum drill work a long way and the well known prototyping companies ( M&V, PCB Pool) deliver these rules. Also Virtex only occupies four rows��from the outside (no full array), while more recent families are mostly FBGA (1.0 mm ball pitch) and those rare in BGA(1.27mm) (BG575/BG728 for Virtex II) are fully occupied... Virtex also has the problem, that it isn't supported by Webpack ... Cyclone in a QFP240 package seems to have the most reachable pins with a recent family. Bye -- Uwe Bonnes bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt --------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------
Reply by ●January 30, 20042004-01-30
yes. I wasn't sure how to put that, so I signed with fpga4fun. Thanks for the link. Looks like www.andraka.com has quite some resource too, that should make a good cross-link. I tried to email optimagic a while back, but got no answer. Yes, $100 is reasonable for an FPGA demo board. Unfortunately, there are not many choices below that, and too many choices above...
Reply by ●January 30, 20042004-01-30
Reply by ●January 30, 20042004-01-30
"Uwe Bonnes" <bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de> wrote in message news:bvd9bc$u0k$1@news.tu-darmstadt.de...> Antti Lukats <antti@case2000.com> wrote: > : "Kelvin @ SG" <kelvin8157@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:<bvc3td$7h7$1@reader01.singnet.com.sg>...> : > I have found that FPGA's and cables can be easily built for fun andhobby,> : > but that will break my wallet... > : > but I don't want to buy a demo board at US$45 and pay 50US$ forUPS...And I> : > don't want to spend > : > more US$50 at all... > : > > : > JTAG cable can be built with a parallel cable...but where can I findthe> : > FPGA devices and socket for them? > : > > : > Kelvin > > : be smart. be smarter. > > : at www.ebay.com you can find FPGA BGA pulls at price from > ^^^^^ > What do you mean here? > > : $9 for 300,000 gates and $49 for 1M Gates FPGAI got 17pcs of XCV600 for $99 and XCV2000 for $49 those are all "pulled" and need reballing> : even if it looks undoable at the first look BGA chips > : with ball distance of 1mm+ and not full grid are easily > : used in wire wrap proto boards. > > Which FBGA FPGA is not full grid?http://xilinx.openchip.org/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album04&id=XCV300_BGA_Proto sorry I did mean the BGA inner balls are missing, FPGA array is full of course antti xilinx.openchip.org
Reply by ●January 31, 20042004-01-31
"Uwe Bonnes" <bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de> wrote in message news:bve9ca$86p$1@news.tu-darmstadt.de...> Antti Lukats <antti@case2000.com> wrote: > ... > : > : at www.ebay.com you can find FPGA BGA pulls at price from > : > ^^^^^ > : > What do you mean here? > : > > : > : $9 for 300,000 gates and $49 for 1M Gates FPGA > > : I got 17pcs of XCV600 for $99 and XCV2000 for $49 > : those are all "pulled" and need reballing > > What reballing service do you use and what price to expect?sorry, I said "need reballing" not that I have done that reballing I specially selected FPGAs in packages that can be used in wire wrap protos without any need of reballing well I would also like to know what a cheap reballing price is :)> : > : even if it looks undoable at the first look BGA chips > : > : with ball distance of 1mm+ and not full grid are easily > : > : used in wire wrap proto boards. > : > > : > Which FBGA FPGA is not full grid? > > :http://xilinx.openchip.org/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album04&id=XCV300_BGA_Proto this BGA has not been reballed it is in an condition as I got it from ebay auction> : sorry I did mean the BGA inner balls are missing, FPGA array is full of > > Virtex is mostly BGA (1.27 mm ball spacing). That's an easy one to get > prototyping boards for at a sensible price, as 0.15mm/0.15mm lines/spaces > and 0.3 mm for minimum drill work a long way and the well knownprototyping> companies ( M&V, PCB Pool) deliver these rules. Also Virtex only occupies > four rows from the outside (no full array), while more recent families are > mostly FBGA (1.0 mm ball pitch) and those rare in BGA(1.27mm) (BG575/BG728 > for Virtex II) are fully occupied...I think you read my comments wrong I did not mention FBGA at all, so you messed with F - sure most fine grid BGAs are full array and 0.8 mm thats way more complicated for hand made wire wrap - tried once with TMS320C6205 and failed, well could have succeeded also but did it in a rush :) I mostly wanted to have one 2Million gates test platform so obtained a few XCV2000 chips and a XCV300 for getting warm to solder the 2000"s...> Virtex also has the problem, that it isn't supported by Webpack ...yes, as I said too, thats the catch here :( it is supported by free JBits 2.8 but that is not longer officially obtainable :(> Cyclone in a QFP240 package seems to have the most reachable pins with a > recent family.well yes, but that is not easy to get in 1 off quantity :(> Bye > > -- > Uwe Bonnes bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de > > Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt > --------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------
Reply by ●January 31, 20042004-01-31
Is that $18.00 per single piece or $18.00 per 250,000 pieces? Ray Andraka <ray@andraka.com> wrote: : Jean, neat website. In your post you should probably have said that the pluto : board is your board. I added a link from my links page to your site. : The Burch board is also one of the lower cost ones, but is still beyond the $50 : budget. There is a fairly comprehensive list of boards at www.optimagic.com. : Jean, you may want to send them a note with details and a link to your board. : : The Xilinx spartan2 and altera acex parts can be had for not much more than a : song ($10-20 USD), and these have enough gates to do some pretty cool things. : For example, I used an $18 spartanII chip to demo a shortwave radio implemented : entirely in an FPGA except for the A to D converter and antenna (there is a : block diagram on the front page of my website). Unfortunately, it does cost a : bit of money to make a board that is going to be robust enough to work under : hobbyist conditions and provide all the hooks to make it useful. The insight : spartan2 board I used ran a tad over $100 USD, which is more or less the low : end. The Burch board, and Jean's Pluto boards are about all that you'll find : cheaper. :
Reply by ●February 2, 20042004-02-02
Single piece. Check Avnet. Their single piece prices currently range from about $16 to around $40 for the XC2S100 depending on package and speed grade. Hul Tytus wrote:> Is that $18.00 per single piece or $18.00 per 250,000 pieces? > > Ray Andraka <ray@andraka.com> wrote: > : Jean, neat website. In your post you should probably have said that the pluto > : board is your board. I added a link from my links page to your site. > : The Burch board is also one of the lower cost ones, but is still beyond the $50 > : budget. There is a fairly comprehensive list of boards at www.optimagic.com. > : Jean, you may want to send them a note with details and a link to your board. > : > : The Xilinx spartan2 and altera acex parts can be had for not much more than a > : song ($10-20 USD), and these have enough gates to do some pretty cool things. > : For example, I used an $18 spartanII chip to demo a shortwave radio implemented > : entirely in an FPGA except for the A to D converter and antenna (there is a > : block diagram on the front page of my website). Unfortunately, it does cost a > : bit of money to make a board that is going to be robust enough to work under > : hobbyist conditions and provide all the hooks to make it useful. The insight > : spartan2 board I used ran a tad over $100 USD, which is more or less the low > : end. The Burch board, and Jean's Pluto boards are about all that you'll find > : cheaper. > :-- --Ray Andraka, P.E. President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc. 401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950 email ray@andraka.com http://www.andraka.com "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, 1759
