Hello everybody,
After a few weeks of scanning the internet for recommendations on FPGA boards, I decided to ask for community help. I'm interested in studying the Xilinx/Altera tool chain, but was unable to find a concise resource on FPGAs supported by freely available tools by respective manufacturers. For instance, some websites claimed that Spartan 3 only is supported (with regard to Xilinix) on freely available tools, others claimed Spartan 6 are also supported (specific models of course, but it clearly disagrees with "Spartan 3 only"). In addition, there are indeed some Spartan 6 boards available on sites like eBay, which IMHO clearly indicates, there are free tools for those (I doubt eBay Spartan 6 boards are used in real development cycle).
Anyhow, I'd thank for a community help on the following matters:
* What are freely available tool chain s/w from major manufacturers (Xilinix/Altera)?
* What FPGAs those support?
* Are there recommended boards?
* Any recommendation is welcomed.
Thank you!
After a few weeks of scanning the internet for recommendations on FPGA boards, I decided to ask for community help. I'm interested in studying the Xilinx/Altera tool chain, but was unable to find a concise resource on FPGAs supported by freely available tools by respective manufacturers. For instance, some websites claimed that Spartan 3 only is supported (with regard to Xilinix) on freely available tools, others claimed Spartan 6 are also supported (specific models of course, but it clearly disagrees with "Spartan 3 only"). In addition, there are indeed some Spartan 6 boards available on sites like eBay, which IMHO clearly indicates, there are free tools for those (I doubt eBay Spartan 6 boards are used in real development cycle).
Anyhow, I'd thank for a community help on the following matters:
* What are freely available tool chain s/w from major manufacturers (Xilinix/Altera)?
* What FPGAs those support?
* Are there recommended boards?
* Any recommendation is welcomed.
Thank you!
