Getting started with FPGA

What about books? Can anyone recommend a good book to get started
with? I like books that are not too dry and start simple then build up
the complexity of the subject in a hands on tutorial way. There are
lots of books on Amazon, but not many of them have reviews, which
makes it hard to choose. I guess the readership of these books is not
so huge that lots of reviews get written.

On Aug 18, 8:07=A0am, "rupertlssm...@googlemail.com"
<rupertlssm...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> What about books? Can anyone recommend a good book to get started
> with? I like books that are not too dry and start simple then build up
> the complexity of the subject in a hands on tutorial way. There are
> lots of books on Amazon, but not many of them have reviews, which
> makes it hard to choose. I guess the readership of these books is not
> so huge that lots of reviews get written.

I wish I could.  I have found that there are books on Verilog and VHDL
that don't clearly delineate what can be synthesized and what can't.
Having started from a hardware background in the pencil and paper
design days and starting with programmable devices using PALASM,
I already had an idea about hardware design methodology and just
bought the books for language reference.  However if you are going
to get started without hardware and using a simulator as your primary
design entry platform, you need to understand the difference between
sythesizable and non-synthesizable code, or you will have a big
shock the first time you decide to try your design out in hardware.

As for development boards, if you don't need too much I/O to
start with you might look at the XP2 Brevia kit from Lattice.
You can download the free ispLever starter software from Lattice
and a branded version of Aldec's simulation environment.  I
think more people are used to Modelsim for simulation, though.

Regards,
Gabor

On Aug 18, 2:56=A0pm, Gabor <ga...@alacron.com> wrote:
> However if you are going
> to get started without hardware and using a simulator as your primary
> design entry platform, you need to understand the difference between
> sythesizable and non-synthesizable code, or you will have a big
> shock the first time you decide to try your design out in hardware.

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. I guess that's why its important to
have a hands on approach.

These books seems to get a lot of god reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-VHDL-Examples-Spartan-3/dp/047018531=
7/ref=3Dsr_1_1?ie=3DUTF8&s=3Dbooks&qid=3D1282133861&sr=3D8-1
http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-Verilog-Examples-Spartan-3/dp/047018=
5325/ref=3Dsr_1_8?ie=3DUTF8&s=3Dbooks&qid=3D1282133861&sr=3D8-8

> As for development boards, if you don't need too much I/O to
> start with you might look at the XP2 Brevia kit from Lattice.

Only $29!

<rupertlssmith@googlemail.com> wrote in message 
news:2557f9e5-e8ed-451a-b716-1e7954f56f39@x21g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 18, 2:56 pm, Gabor <ga...@alacron.com> wrote:
> However if you are going
> to get started without hardware and using a simulator as your primary
> design entry platform, you need to understand the difference between
> sythesizable and non-synthesizable code, or you will have a big
> shock the first time you decide to try your design out in hardware.

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. I guess that's why its important to
have a hands on approach.

These books seems to get a lot of god reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-VHDL-Examples-Spartan-3/dp/0470185317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282133861&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-Verilog-Examples-Spartan-3/dp/0470185325/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282133861&sr=8-8

> As for development boards, if you don't need too much I/O to
> start with you might look at the XP2 Brevia kit from Lattice.

Only $29!

My experience with Lattice and their tools has been good. They now bundle 
the Aldec simulator which I must like since I have the paid for version 
(many $k).
The Brevia kit looks very good value to start but the JTAG adaptor needs 
your PC to have a real parallel port. I've always used Windows for FPGA 
development so I can't comment on how well Lattice tools will work with 
Linux.

Michael Kellett 

Din&#4294967295;ay Ak&#4294967295;&#4294967295;ren <dincay@gmail.com> writes:

> terasIC's MAX boards have CPLD, not FPGA.

Good point. In fact, there seems to be a shortage of Cyclone III
boards in the market, at least cheap ones with some devices on board.
Terasic's DE0 seems to be the only one? Then there is Arrow's Bemicro
which is certainly cheap (at least in the US), but all it has are a
few LEDs. Good thing is that there's an 80-pin edge connector on the
board, but again very little to plug into it.

On 08/18/2010 01:38 AM, rupertlssmith@googlemail.com wrote:
> On Aug 17, 8:43 pm, Jonathan Bromley<s...@oxfordbromley.plus.com>
> wrote:
>> On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:07:45 -0700 (PDT),
>>
>> rupertlssm...@googlemail.com wrote:
>>> I'm interested in learning more about FPGAs
>>
>> Wow.  I think this thread reminds me why it's still
>> kinda nice to hang out on comp.arch.fpga (and
>> comp.lang.vhdl, .verilog).
>>
>> You get three seriously expert people, with distinctly
>> different viewpoints and distinctly different positions,
>> each giving a clearly expressed and nuanced take on
>> a bunch of issues (X vs A, Verilog vs VHDL) that
>> could so easily degenerate into a schoolyard scrap.
>>
>> And the OP gets spot-on advice too.
>>
>> Hard to beat.  Thanks to all the contributors for
>> their time and their generously shared expertise.
>> --
>> Jonathan Bromley
>
> Yes, some excellent advice, thanks very much.
>
> I hadn't really appreciated that I can download Xilinx ISE or Altera
> Quartus web editions for free and that both run on Linux. Also that I
> can run simulations of designs without having a chip to program them
> onto, so it looks like I can at least have a play around with the
> basics at no cost at all.
>
> Is a development environment like Xilinx ISE or Altera Quartus
> necessary? or are there standalone Verilog or VHDL compilers available
> that can be used?

As mentioned, the ISE environment is a shell for the command-line tools. 
  One thing I like about it is that with a bit of digging you can find 
the command line used to invoke the tool, which means that you can use 
ISE to help you write your makefile when you get serious about 
production code.

The term 'compiler' means something different in HDL than in a 
programming language.  With HDL you either simulate or synthesize.  They 
are different and essential steps.

Simulation is just that -- there's a tool that runs the HDL or that 
compiles it to a runnable program, that simulates the design on your 
workstation.  Simulation isn't just a cool geeky thing -- it's an 
essential step to making sure your design is working.

There are open-source simulators out there, but the FPGA companies are 
pretty tight with their synthesis algorithms (and even the mapping 
between the bit files and the FPGA functions), so you won't find any 
open-source synthesizers.

Synthesis takes the HDL that it can understand and do something with -- 
and that isn't all of the HDL -- and makes a design that will do what 
the HDL specifies.  It usually needs an additional "constraint file" 
that lets it know about timing constraints, what signal goes to what 
pin, etc.  In software build terms the constraint file is sorta kinda 
maybe a linker script, only different.  Synthesis takes a _long_ time, 
and the result is a file that goes onto the FPGA where many informative 
signals are obscured -- hence the usefulness of the simulation step.

> I'm a bit unclear as to the process of going from
> the source code to writing the design onto the chip. The development
> boards generally have an FPGA chip that is removable, and one removes
> it and inserts it into a 'programmer' to burn in the design? or is the
> FPGA chip fixed onto the dev board and gets programmed in place?

The FPGA is soldered down to the board.  During early development you 
fire things up and write bit files directly to the chip (at least in the 
Xilinx workflow) with a JTAG programmer.  FPGA chips (at least those 
that don't have on-board PROM) are capable of loading configurations 
from EEPROM, and most development boards will have a suitable EEPROM 
that you can load your bit file onto so the board will come up by itself.

-- 

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

rupertlssmith@googlemail.com <rupertlssmith@googlemail.com> wrote:

> What about books? Can anyone recommend a good book to get started
> with? I like books that are not too dry and start simple then build up
> the complexity of the subject in a hands on tutorial way. There are
> lots of books on Amazon, but not many of them have reviews, which
> makes it hard to choose. I guess the readership of these books is not
> so huge that lots of reviews get written.

In learning to use FPGAs, you need to learn both logic design
and (usually) either verilog or VHDL.  They are often described
in different books, but you need both.

If you already know logic design (maybe from the 74xx TTL days)
then you need a good book on either verilog or VHDL.

Unfortunately I don't know any logic design books to recommend,
but maybe others do.

-- glen

You don't need to spend a lot of money to start with. Take your choice
of 4 FPGA vendors on our Polmaddie series
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/polmaddie/polmaddie_family.html which are
supported by either free or low cost tools from the relevant vendor.
You can do some practical playing before you move on to something more
advanced.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.

On 17 Aug, 18:07, "rupertlssm...@googlemail.com"
<rupertlssm...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm interested in learning more about FPGAs in a hands on way. Can
> anyone recommend an inexpensive set of tools to get started with? My
> wishlist is: I'd like to develop on Linux, I'd like to spend no more
> than a few hundred $ on a starter kit, I'd like to learn using the
> tools and up-to-date skills that are relevant to the more high end set
> ups available. Which is better to start with, Xilinx or Altera or
> something else? Is there a choice between Verilog and VHDL to be made,
> or can both be tried out just as easily?
>
> At the moment I am not too bothered about specific applications, just
> if I can get some hands on experience, whatever i/o ports are
> available on whatever board I use, I will think of some little project
> to try out using them.
>
> Thanks for your recommendations.
>
> Rupert

On 8/17/2010 8:43 PM, Jonathan Bromley wrote:
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:07:45 -0700 (PDT),
> rupertlssmith@googlemail.com wrote:
>
>> I'm interested in learning more about FPGAs
>
> Wow.  I think this thread reminds me why it's still
> kinda nice to hang out on comp.arch.fpga (and
> comp.lang.vhdl, .verilog).
>
For every nice reply, it's important to have a dissenting one. The OP 
post's IP (NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.15.253.202) resolves to something 
called IBM regus UK. Whatever that is. Seems to be some kind of 
training. I would suggest that 'Rupert' could be best served by asking 
his trainers the answer to his query. Especially if the prices listed 
match the course 'Rupert' is on. Anyway, IBM regus has gotta be better 
than Doulos, right?

Cheers, Syms.

On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:54:45 +0100, Michael Kellett wrote:

> <rupertlssmith@googlemail.com> wrote in message
> news:2557f9e5-e8ed-451a-
b716-1e7954f56f39@x21g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
> These books seems to get a lot of good reviews:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-VHDL-Examples-Spartan-3/
dp/0470185317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282133861&sr=8-1
> http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Prototyping-Verilog-Examples-Spartan-3/
dp/0470185325/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282133861&sr=8-8
> 

I have a copy of Pong Chu's "FPGA Prototyping by VHDL Examples - 
(Spartan-3 version)" mentioned above (ISBN: 987-0-470-18531-5) and it 
seems to be a pretty thorough starting point for a newcomer with 
synthesis aspirations.  It's perhaps a little narrow, and focusses on 
Xilinx examples but it's probably what I'd have started with if I'd 
spotted it at the time.

I started out with the well-known "VHDL Programming by Example" (ISBN: 
978-0-07-049944-7) by Douglas Perry which is a more thorough explanation 
of VHDL (i.e. not limited to the subset of VHDL that may be synthesised 
as Chu's book tends to be).  That said, it is slower going.  Its index is 
rather better than the Chu (which is one page), making it handier for 
looking up bits of syntax.

I have also been reading "Reconfigurable Computing" -- essentially a 
collection of contributions from many authors on the subject, covering 
everything from the internal processes of FPGA synthesisers (at length) 
to application design techniques all the way to advanced topics like 
genetic design and the future of FPGAs and nanotechnology.  It's edited 
by Scott Huack and Andr&eacute; Dehon (ISBN 978-0-12-370522-8).  It's a bit of a 
tome but very, very broad.

So IMVHO (YMMV), plump for the Chu (VHDL version ;).


Andrew
0xADF