FPGA beginner notes

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
mostly copy-pasted from the book [1], this docuemnt is shared under
CC-BY-SA 4.0

  [1] O'Reilly, Russell Merrick, Getting Started with FPGAs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Readings
  https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/getting-started-with/9781098163471
  https://github.com/nandland/getting-started-with-fpgas

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
hardware and development environment

https://www.raypcb.com/xilinx-fpga/
https://www.hackatronic.com/best-fpga-development-boards-for-learning-and-prototyping/

Summary Table (copied from the above link)
Board      Target Audience       Highlights & Use Case                 Est. Price
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basys 3    Absolute beginners        Built-in switches, LEDs, VGA      $150–$180
Arty 7     Hobbyists, general projs  DDR3, Ethernet, Arduino headers   $180–$250
Nexys A7   Intermediate learners     DDR2, Ethernet, more I/O          $240–$300
Arty S7    Compact projects          Low power, small form factor      $140–$180
Cmod A7    Embedded/breadboard use   DIP module with SRAM/flash        $110–$150
PYNQ-Z2    Python, embedded learners PYNQ/Jupyter, HDMI/audio          $220–$300
Arty Z7    Media/robotics projects   HDMI, DDR3, flexible I/O          $250–$320
ZedBoard   adv. embedded dev         FMC, Linux, large memory          $350–$450
Genesys ZU High-performance pros     UltraScale+ SoC, 4K HDMI,big ram  $1,200–$1,600
Cora Z7    Budget SoC learners       Compact Zynq, basic I/O           $150–$200
DE10-Lite  Education, basic FPGA     VGA, GPIO, Arduino                $80–$140
DE10-Std   Advanced FPGA development High-speed connectors, LCD        $370–$500
DE10-Nano  Retro & Intel-ecosystem   Popular community, SoC, HDMI      $140-$190
                                     Ethernet, USB, GPIO

toolchain
- Xilinx boards: Vivado, ISE
- Intel (DE10-Nano): Quartus
- Lattice boards: Diamond, Radiant

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

                              Introduction

  - FPGA, on the other hand, work in parallel: everything is happening
    at the same time


the HDL----

Verilog

      - weakly typed
      - more similar to "conventional" programmign language like C

VDHL: VHSIC   HDL
      --+--   -+-
        |      |_____ Hardware Description Language
        v
      Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit

      - Features borrowed from Ada
      - Strongly typed
      - case-INsensitive

1. Design : write Verilog / VDHL
2. Synthesis : code into low-level components (analogue assembly)
3. Place and route : map to physical layout of the FPGA
4. Programming : load onto FPGA



-- misc --

> Another area where FPGAs have found a niche is in the space industry:
> they can be programmed with redundancies to hedge against the effects
> of radiation bombardment, which can cause digital circuits to fail. On
> Earth, the atmosphere protects electronics (and people) from lots of
> solar radiation, but outer space doesn’t have that lovely blanket, so
> the electronics on satellites are subjected to a much harsher
> environment.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                             look-up table







--
vi: tw=72