Schematic Capture tutorials/books?

Hi,
I'm new to FPGAs I just bought a Spartan 3E Starter Kit and I'm
looking for documentation on Schematic capture with ISE or whatever
would work for a good tutorial. It seems VERY hard to find ANY
documentation though. I did find a starter video from digilent, but
that was very short and seemed to be more of an intro to dataflow
programming.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

laserbeak43 wrote:
> I'm new to FPGAs I just bought a Spartan 3E Starter Kit and I'm
> looking for documentation on Schematic capture with ISE or whatever
> would work for a good tutorial. It seems VERY hard to find ANY
> documentation though. I did find a starter video from digilent, but
> that was very short and seemed to be more of an intro to dataflow
> programming.
> Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
Good luck.

    -- Mike Treseler

On Aug 4, 8:17 am, Mike Treseler <mtrese...@gmail.com> wrote:
> laserbeak43 wrote:
> > I'm new to FPGAs I just bought a Spartan 3E Starter Kit and I'm
> > looking for documentation on Schematic capture with ISE or whatever
> > would work for a good tutorial. It seems VERY hard to find ANY
> > documentation though. I did find a starter video from digilent, but
> > that was very short and seemed to be more of an intro to dataflow
> > programming.
> > Can anyone point me in the right direction?
>
> Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> Good luck.
>
>     -- Mike Treseler

Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
Xilinx.  Look for "ECS" schematics.  By the way I have
not looked at these myself.  I too use  HDL rather than
schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
last Foundation version with Aldec schematics.  Also
go to http://forums.xilinx.com/ and check out all of
the chatter on schematics.  In my opinion, the ECS
schematics are not ready for prime time.  The
associated documentation is not likely to be better.

Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.

Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
Quartus.

Just my 2 cents,
Gabor

> > Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> > Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> > If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> > multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> > Good luck.
>
> > =A0 =A0 -- Mike Treseler

Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
and i must admit,
I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
board, what a headache.


> Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
> open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
> Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
> Xilinx. =A0Look for "ECS" schematics. =A0By the way I have
> not looked at these myself. =A0I too use =A0HDL rather than
> schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
> last Foundation version with Aldec schematics. =A0Also
> go tohttp://forums.xilinx.com/and check out all of
> the chatter on schematics. =A0In my opinion, the ECS
> schematics are not ready for prime time. =A0The
> associated documentation is not likely to be better.
>
> Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
> 4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
> due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.
>
> Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
> Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
> than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
> Quartus.
>
> Just my 2 cents,
> Gabor


I think i'm gonnna sell this board and go for an Altera board.
but i'll try that first.

thanks guys.

Hi,



If you have the time, I invite you to contact me directly (privately) to 
discuss your experience with the Spartan-3E Starter Kit.  As you might 
imagine, it is intended for "starters" and not intended to generate 
frustration!



I know you are interested in schematic based design entry, so the following 
resource may be of limited interest (but I'll include it anyway):



http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/crabill



I look forward to hearing from you,

Eric Crabill



=====



"laserbeak43" <laserbeak43@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:38faf0eb-3746-49f1-84f3-1720ba98d399@r66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

> > Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> > Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> > If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> > multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> > Good luck.
>
> > -- Mike Treseler

Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
and i must admit,
I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
board, what a headache.

> Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
> open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
> Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
> Xilinx. Look for "ECS" schematics. By the way I have
> not looked at these myself. I too use HDL rather than
> schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
> last Foundation version with Aldec schematics. Also
> go tohttp://forums.xilinx.com/and check out all of
> the chatter on schematics. In my opinion, the ECS
> schematics are not ready for prime time. The
> associated documentation is not likely to be better.
>
> Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
> 4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
> due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.
>
> Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
> Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
> than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
> Quartus.
>
> Just my 2 cents,
> Gabor

I think i'm gonnna sell this board and go for an Altera board.
but i'll try that first.

thanks guys. 

If you already have a Xilinx board, check the the book "FPGA
Prototyping by VHDL Examples" in amazon.com.  Although not schematic
based, it is a good hand-on introduction to VHDL and FPGA with many
practical examples.  I think a Verilog version is also available.

Have fun.

On Aug 4, 1:06=A0pm, laserbeak43 <laserbea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> > > Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> > > If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> > > multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> > > Good luck.
>
> > > =A0 =A0 -- Mike Treseler
>
> Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
> and i must admit,
> I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
> board, what a headache.
>
>
>
>
>
> > Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
> > open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
> > Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
> > Xilinx. =A0Look for "ECS" schematics. =A0By the way I have
> > not looked at these myself. =A0I too use =A0HDL rather than
> > schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
> > last Foundation version with Aldec schematics. =A0Also
> > go tohttp://forums.xilinx.com/andcheck out all of
> > the chatter on schematics. =A0In my opinion, the ECS
> > schematics are not ready for prime time. =A0The
> > associated documentation is not likely to be better.
>
> > Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
> > 4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
> > due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.
>
> > Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
> > Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
> > than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
> > Quartus.
>
> > Just my 2 cents,
> > Gabor
>
> I think i'm gonnna sell this board and go for an Altera board.
> but i'll try that first.
>
> thanks guys.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

laserbeak43 wrote:
 
> Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
> and i must admit,
> I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
> board, what a headache.

Take a look at:

ftp://137.193.164.130/pub/mproz/mproz3_e.pdf
ftp://137.193.164.130/pub/mproz/mproz3.zip

It's a step by step introduction for a simple design
(ISE 9.2, Spartan3E) using schematic entry.

offer accepted!! :)

On Aug 4, 5:03=A0pm, "Eric Crabill" <eric.crab...@xilinx.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> If you have the time, I invite you to contact me directly (privately) to
> discuss your experience with the Spartan-3E Starter Kit. =A0As you might
> imagine, it is intended for "starters" and not intended to generate
> frustration!
>
> I know you are interested in schematic based design entry, so the followi=
ng
> resource may be of limited interest (but I'll include it anyway):
>
> http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/crabill
>
> I look forward to hearing from you,
>
> Eric Crabill
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> "laserbeak43" <laserbea...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:38faf0eb-3746-49f1-84f3-1720ba98d399@r66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> > > Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> > > If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> > > multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> > > Good luck.
>
> > > -- Mike Treseler
>
> Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
> and i must admit,
> I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
> board, what a headache.
>
>
>
> > Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
> > open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
> > Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
> > Xilinx. Look for "ECS" schematics. By the way I have
> > not looked at these myself. I too use HDL rather than
> > schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
> > last Foundation version with Aldec schematics. Also
> > go tohttp://forums.xilinx.com/andcheck out all of
> > the chatter on schematics. In my opinion, the ECS
> > schematics are not ready for prime time. The
> > associated documentation is not likely to be better.
>
> > Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
> > 4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
> > due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.
>
> > Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
> > Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
> > than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
> > Quartus.
>
> > Just my 2 cents,
> > Gabor
>
> I think i'm gonnna sell this board and go for an Altera board.
> but i'll try that first.
>
> thanks guys.

Yep,
    have been considering that book. looks tempting. I did notice that
board he's using is different though.

On Aug 5, 12:38=A0pm, fp <fpga002...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> If you already have a Xilinx board, check the the book "FPGA
> Prototyping by VHDL Examples" in amazon.com. =A0Although not schematic
> based, it is a good hand-on introduction to VHDL and FPGA with many
> practical examples. =A0I think a Verilog version is also available.
>
> Have fun.
>
> On Aug 4, 1:06=A0pm, laserbeak43 <laserbea...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > Schematic capture for FPGA design entry is moribund.
> > > > Consider learning vhdl or verilog instead.
> > > > If schematics are non-negotiable, consider quartus:
> > > > multimedia.ece.uic.edu/wahmad/quartus_ii_tutorial.pdf
> > > > Good luck.
>
> > > > =A0 =A0 -- Mike Treseler
>
> > Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
> > and i must admit,
> > I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
> > board, what a headache.
>
> > > Since the OP already bought the Xilinx stuff, he may want to
> > > open ISE (or WebPack) and under Help --> Tutorials -->
> > > Tutorials on the Web, he can find what is available from
> > > Xilinx. =A0Look for "ECS" schematics. =A0By the way I have
> > > not looked at these myself. =A0I too use =A0HDL rather than
> > > schematics since I "upgraded" from version 4.1 - the
> > > last Foundation version with Aldec schematics. =A0Also
> > > go tohttp://forums.xilinx.com/andcheckout all of
> > > the chatter on schematics. =A0In my opinion, the ECS
> > > schematics are not ready for prime time. =A0The
> > > associated documentation is not likely to be better.
>
> > > Oh, and before you get ideas of using Foundation
> > > 4.1 schematics, it is no longer available from Xilinx
> > > due to a termination of their agreement with Aldec.
>
> > > Aldec has wonderful new software that supports
> > > Xilinx parts and others, but it would cost a lot more
> > > than a good Altera evaluation board and a copy of
> > > Quartus.
>
> > > Just my 2 cents,
> > > Gabor
>
> > I think i'm gonnna sell this board and go for an Altera board.
> > but i'll try that first.
>
> > thanks guys.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -

thanks for the offer, but the links seem to be dead, and the only
version
of ISE that truly works for me, is 7.1i(i haven't tried anything
earlier than that, though)
although, i'm sure i could easily change things around to get it to
work in 7.

On Aug 6, 4:07=A0am, Herbert Kleebauer <k...@unibwm.de> wrote:
> laserbeak43 wrote:
> > Hmm, so i've heard. Everyone says Xilinx stuff is bad for beginners
> > and i must admit,
> > I've been doing nothing but troubleshooting ever since i got this
> > board, what a headache.
>
> Take a look at:
>
> ftp://137.193.164.130/pub/mproz/mproz3_e.pdfftp://137.193.164.130/pub/mpr=
oz/mproz3.zip
>
> It's a step by step introduction for a simple design
> (ISE 9.2, Spartan3E) using schematic entry.