Hello. I have an Spartan 3 xc3s400 4tqg144c FPGA. I want to build a FPGA development board for education undergraduate university. Which components do i need to buy? I am a beginner. Thank you.

 

Depends on what you want to develop. That will dictate what features are critical, what features are useful, and what features don't matter at all.

Why are you building it instead of just purchasing one of the many FPGA development boards that are available?

 

Hello,
there are some things you will need have an your FPGA board, like a connector to program your FPGA and the power supply.
Probably the best way to start is to read the guides on the XILINX website. This will teach you the basics and then you can think about what you want to do with the board. There are a lot of FPGA dev boards to draw some inspiration.

 

Depends on what you want to develop. That will dictate what features are critical, what features are useful, and what features don't matter at all.

Why are you building it instead of just purchasing one of the many FPGA development boards that are available?

I stupidly bought the sole chip. Then my professor said you need a development board. I want to DIY to learn some practical aspects.

 

I stoopidly bought the sole chip. Then my professor said you need a development board. I want to DIY to learn some practical aspects

 

Hello,
there are some things you will need have an your FPGA board, like a connector to program your FPGA and the power supply.
Probably the best way to start is to read the guides on the XILINX website. This will teach you the basics and then you can think about what you want to do with the board. There are a lot of FPGA dev boards to draw some inspiration.

Thank you so much.

 

I stupidly bought the sole chip. Then my professor said you need a development board. I want to DIY to learn some practical aspects.

Designing a development board is a pretty big undertaking, particularly if you want to be able to exploit many of the capabilities of modern FPGAs. I would recommend getting an off-the-shelf development board and then use that FPGA later in a project.

 

You guy, it's not harder to do that.
As a newbie, you only concentrate on the basic system, the main Chip, the clock circuit, the communication part such as UART(TTL<->) UART, and the power supply.
Do not integrate too many functions at the first time.
Eliminate all un-necessary, only keep the core system.

The result is then a development board that is so limited that you can't do very much development with it. Keep in mind that the reason he is even considering this in the first place is because he has ONE chip that he mistakenly bought before he realize he was supposed to get an actual development board.

 

WBahn is spot on. you want to start with something that works. you will have plenty of trouble making things work with tool chain setup, getting exercises to function. typical development board has bunch of things (memory, display, IOs, JTag interface, VGA port etc). yes one can design own board but... by the time you get there, course will be long over while you will still be troubleshooting your board hardware instead of learning how to program it.

 

Yes it is not an easy task and if you have a deadline, don't underestimate the time it will take to to design the board, especially if you don't have a lot of expirence. There is also the possibility that you make a mistake in your design and waste the one chip you have.
On the other side, if you really want to learn about PCB design, it is a cool project where you will learn a ton.

I would buy the dev board. This will be the easier and also cheaper solution.

 

Hello. I have an Spartan 3 xc3s400 4tqg144c FPGA. I want to build a FPGA development board for education undergraduate university. Which components do i need to buy? I am a beginner. Thank you.

Hello,
some time ago I designed minimum FPGA board for small Gowin FPGA (1N series) - GW1N-LV1LQ144C6/I5 :
https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/GOWIN-Semiconductor/GW1N-LV1LQ144C6-I5?qs=wnTfsH77Xs7aDt6aCh03TQ==

The designed board has JTAG header for programing, clock oscilator 24 MHz, reset circiut, basic FPGA configuration parts, LDOs (one can change voltage on all 4 IO banks) and more than 80 IO pins available. Here is picture of working FPGA board:


And here is test of IO pins with LEDS:


I was able to program FPGA board by "Gowin Cable" JTAG programer and "GOWIN EDA" software:
Here is schematics and PCB (PDF format) for this board. One can extend this board adding for example LEDs, DIP switches, switches, VGA DAC (based on resistors), maybe ADC converter, SRAM memory etc.
The FPGA on this board is small - 1152 LUTs, but for basic learning it is enough

Best Regards

 

Yeah, sir. I agree with you 100%.
For a new beginner, when a basic core system was built successfully, it's easy to expand with more peripherals.
After he knows the theory of FPGA design, he can do everything he wants, add SDRAM, DDR2, OLED, SPI/I2C devices. etc.
From the question, he might not know how to start.
I insist a basic core system is a good beginning for him.

Keep in mind the context he is working from -- he is taking a course and his professor expected him to get a development board and he mistakenly got just an FPGA device instead. He needs a suitable development board before he can do what he is required to do in the course he is currently taking. He does not have time to build a core system (using the ONE chip that he has), then learn the theory of FPGA design, then add everything else that he needs, so that he can FINALLY start doing the things that he is supposed to be doing NOW with a development board.

He needs to get an appropriate, off-the-shelf development board so that he can proceed with the course he is taking. If he later wants to design a custom dev board, great.

 

GOWIN FPGA?
Never heard about it.
Google search engine tells me it was produced by A Chinese Company.
What's your feeling about using it? Convenience? Technology support is okay?

Hi,

I am using Gowin's FPGAs for two years now and I has very good experience with them. Gowin FPGAs are basically similiar to Lattice FPGA, but improved comparing to original Lattice. There are also many additions to original, for example some models have "on-board" HyperRAM or PSRAM, or even hard CPU (ARM Cortex-M3).One of the advantages is that Gowin FPGAs are still available at distributors (for example Mouser.com) and their prices are reasonable. There is free software for synthesiis called "Gowin EDA" - here is link to it`:
Gowin EDA
One have to make free account on Gowin's website and fulfill form with MAC address of computer to get licence for "Gowin EDA".
"Gowin EDA" is simple nad fast (comparing for example to Xilinx Vivado or Intel Quartus). Which is especially important the documentation for gowin FPGAs (and other products) is detailed and high quality. There also are many free IP Cores for Gowins FPGAs - here is link to contents:
https://www.gowinsemi.com/en/support/ip/

There are few FPGA boards available on market with Gowin FPGAs - for example "TANG NAno" - see links:
https://tangnano.sipeed.com/en/
https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/tang/Tang-Nano-4K/Nano-4K.html
https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/tang/Tang-Nano-9K/Nano-9K.html

Generally my experiences with Gowin FPGAs are very good.

Beast Regards

 

Hello,
some time ago I designed minimum FPGA board for small Gowin FPGA (1N series) - GW1N-LV1LQ144C6/I5 :
https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/GOWIN-Semiconductor/GW1N-LV1LQ144C6-I5?qs=wnTfsH77Xs7aDt6aCh03TQ==

The designed board has JTAG header for programing, clock oscilator 24 MHz, reset circiut, basic FPGA configuration parts, LDOs (one can change voltage on all 4 IO banks) and more than 80 IO pins available. Here is picture of working FPGA board:


View attachment 288287And here is test of IO pins with LEDS:
View attachment 288291

I was able to program FPGA board by "Gowin Cable" JTAG programer and "GOWIN EDA" software:
View attachment 288288Here is schematics and PCB (PDF format) for this board. One can extend this board adding for example LEDs, DIP switches, switches, VGA DAC (based on resistors), maybe ADC converter, SRAM memory etc.
The FPGA on this board is small - 1152 LUTs, but for basic learning it is enough

Best Regards

Thank you Sir

 

Hello,
some time ago I designed minimum FPGA board for small Gowin FPGA (1N series) - GW1N-LV1LQ144C6/I5 :
https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/GOWIN-Semiconductor/GW1N-LV1LQ144C6-I5?qs=wnTfsH77Xs7aDt6aCh03TQ==

The designed board has JTAG header for programing, clock oscilator 24 MHz, reset circiut, basic FPGA configuration parts, LDOs (one can change voltage on all 4 IO banks) and more than 80 IO pins available. Here is picture of working FPGA board:


View attachment 288287And here is test of IO pins with LEDS:
View attachment 288291

I was able to program FPGA board by "Gowin Cable" JTAG programer and "GOWIN EDA" software:
View attachment 288288Here is schematics and PCB (PDF format) for this board. One can extend this board adding for example LEDs, DIP switches, switches, VGA DAC (based on resistors), maybe ADC converter, SRAM memory etc.
The FPGA on this board is small - 1152 LUTs, but for basic learning it is enough

Best Regards

Thank you Sir

 

Thank you all. I have just a XC3S400-4TQG144C chip and I searched and found that i need at least theses components:
-a Configuration Memory Flash PROM, for example XCF04S
-an High speed asynchronous SRAM 256 kbit, give me an example??
-An EEPROM like AT24C08
-an oscillator
The problem is, which compatible components list should i order?

 

Thank you all. I have just a XC3S400-4TQG144C chip and I searched and found that i need at least theses components:
-a Configuration Memory Flash PROM, for example XCF04S
-an High speed asynchronous SRAM 256 kbit, give me an example??
-An EEPROM like AT24C08
-an oscillator
The problem is, which compatible components list should i order?

You will find that the cost of the components is more than purchasing a pre made and tested board.
what has your professor told you you need ?
I would hold my head in shame if I did not have a proper list of items required for a course,
are you going down the xilinx route, or one of the other manufacturers ?
have you looked on your local auction site for boards ?

have look here for some ideas on off the shelf boards,
https://www.joelw.id.au/FPGA/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards

If you make your own board
whats your experience in soldering SMD parts such as the TQG144 you have ?
whats your experience in making PCB's , what sort of stack would you use, via size ?
do you have the cad software and the models you need to make the board ?

re the parts you mention
the XCF04S is EOL, no longer available from authorised supplies,
come to that , the spartan 3 is about the same,
Im hearing of lots of customers trying to purchase grey parts, and them being at best dead, at worse, un reliable.

 

Thank you all. I have just a XC3S400-4TQG144C chip and I searched and found that i need at least theses components:
-a Configuration Memory Flash PROM, for example XCF04S
-an High speed asynchronous SRAM 256 kbit, give me an example??
-An EEPROM like AT24C08
-an oscillator
The problem is, which compatible components list should i order?

You seem intent on going down that road. How many times do you want to repeat the course before you have built a board adequate to do what is required to actually pass it?

The approach you are taking is like taking a driving course and being told that you are required to bring your own car. But, instead, you go out and purchase a set of tires and, upon realizing that you need an entire car, asking what engine, transmission, brakes and other components you need and then planning to design your own frame and electrical system and steering system, all because you mistakenly bought that set of tires and you want to use them.

 

You will find that the cost of the components is more than purchasing a pre made and tested board.
what has your professor told you you need ?
I would hold my head in shame if I did not have a proper list of items required for a course,
are you going down the xilinx route, or one of the other manufacturers ?
have you looked on your local auction site for boards ?

have look here for some ideas on off the shelf boards,
https://www.joelw.id.au/FPGA/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards

If you make your own board
whats your experience in soldering SMD parts such as the TQG144 you have ?
whats your experience in making PCB's , what sort of stack would you use, via size ?
do you have the cad software and the models you need to make the board ?

re the parts you mention
the XCF04S is EOL, no longer available from authorised supplies,
come to that , the spartan 3 is about the same,
Im hearing of lots of customers trying to purchase grey parts, and them being at best dead, at worse, un reliable.

Thank you sir. I have orcad pspice software to design PCB. If i could design PCB, then i ask local services to create and solder my customized PCB. I want xilinx like dev boards. There are domestic made dev boards in my area that are about 120$ . I want use the board for simple education purposes. It seems that finally i should buy a dev board!

 

You seem intent on going down that road. How many times do you want to repeat the course before you have built a board adequate to do what is required to actually pass it?

The approach you are taking is like taking a driving course and being told that you are required to bring your own car. But, instead, you go out and purchase a set of tires and, upon realizing that you need an entire car, asking what engine, transmission, brakes and other components you need and then planning to design your own frame and electrical system and steering system, all because you mistakenly bought that set of tires and you want to use them.

. Exactly. Finally i should buy a simple cheap dev board . Maybe someday i will use my Spartan 3 that as drjohsmith said is a EOL to build my own one. Keep in mind, in my location Iran, the salary of a nurse is about 200-250 $ per month.
A labor worker earn around 150-200 $/month ....