VHDL projects

[m75allen]

Hi am trying to learn VHDL and i need projects if possible code which can be downloaded onto a spartan 3 or virtex 4 boards. I want to learn to read an already written code and be able to understand what it is supposed to do and be able to come up with an SM chart from the code. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks

[Papabravo]

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for replies. Most of us are hobbyists and seldom have a need for such things and their costly tools. I could be wrong however; there may be a whole secret VHDL underground just waiting to stand up and make a liar out of me.

[Dave]

Hi am trying to learn VHDL and i need projects if possible code which can be downloaded onto a spartan 3 or virtex 4 boards. I want to learn to read an already written code and be able to understand what it is supposed to do and be able to come up with an SM chart from the code. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks

You neglect to say how proficient you are with VHDL (other than trying to learn), i.e. are you able to write small designs? Also you have any application focus for your design, it helps narrow down your needs.

As a starter look at the VHDL Cookbook (http://tams-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vhdl/doc/cookbook/VHDL-Cookbook.pdf) to assist your understanding of VHDL.

Dave

[n9352527]

http://www.fpga4fun.com (http://www.fpga4fun.com/) for simple FPGA projects. There are some shematic entries and a few Verilog codes.

If you feel a little brave, then the ultimate source is http://www.opencores.org (http://www.opencores.org/) , it is full of VHDL/Verilog projects of almost anything you can think of, soft cores, MAC processor, USB layers, image /video/sound processing, etc. Probably need tweakings and things modified for different FPGAs and boards.

Are you using ISE Webpack?

[romaprince]

FPGAs is a popular choice in the larger area called Digital Design.I'm a student interested in VHDL or Verilog.

There are two free design tools for you to choose : one from xilinx which has been mentioned in n9352527's post : ISE webpack. You can download it from www.xilinx.com. Another for you to choose is Quartus from Xilinx's biggest competitor, Altera.It's available at this giant's website.

I think you are a beginner so i advise you to learn VHDL in details by choosing a context such as this book :

Fundamentals of digital logic with VHDL, a book of Brown Vranesic, which was published in 2005.

I have covered this book.It shows you anything about Digital from basics to advanced solutions applied for DSP ( digital signal processing).

Trung Mai Van

[Dave]

There are two free design tools for you to choose : one from xilinx which has been mentioned in n9352527's post : ISE webpack. You can download it from www.xilinx.com. (http://www.xilinx.com.)

The latest version of ISE webpack also ships with the FPGA package you receive from Xilinx. I do wish they would also ship a non-crippled version of the ModelSim simulation software for testing.

Dave

[n9352527]

I do wish they would also ship a non-crippled version of the ModelSim simulation software for testing.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I have access to a fully licensed ModelSim so I've never used the crippled ModelSim. Just curious, do you know what the limitations are in this version of ModelSim?

[Dave]

Hi Dave,

I have access to a fully licensed ModelSim so I've never used the crippled ModelSim. Just curious, do you know what the limitations are in this version of ModelSim?

Hi n9352527,

From what I can see significant amounts of "nops" making the simulations slow, although I have no actual proof this is in fact the case. The official limitations are 10000 lines of debuggable code, and although you can simulate designs above 10000 lines of code this is where the slow down in simulation processing kicks in. Having tested the same piece of code on both the free and paid for versions I can say that there is a difference even for small design. I must stress that is from my own personal experience.

Dave

[Dave]

Duplicate post...