Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by kmikemoo

kmikemoo — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 23:18:37 GMT

Oh yeah! Super excited about this. I see phrases like "new user" and "best way to begin". That's my speed.

Thank you for doing this on a Thursday. Minimal conflicts.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by jomoenginer

jomoenginer — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 01:08:00 GMT

This looks very interesting.

Its a good Management representation from some of the major FPGA companies.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by 14rhb

14rhb — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 10:55:06 GMT

In the late 90's I self taught myself about Microchip's PIC and Lattice Semiconductor's isp devices (with my time combined with my boss's support on providing hardware). Boss was happy as he got some great project designs that coupled the two together where the fast logic was undertaken in the Lattice devices and the slower user interface (buttons, switches and LCD display) and controlling logic came from the Microchip PIC. The PIC was easy to get into using the PICStart Plus bundle. I later branched out to other devices using the EEPROM versions for development and the Once-Time_Programmable (OTP) for production runs. The boss even bought the hardware debug module and a few common cards which was great and sped up development. And then flash based devices came along so I no longer needed to erase devices under UV. The Lattice semiconductor FPGA was also via a Farnell starter kit and unfortunately I side-stepped embracing HDL instead opting to use schematic capture into OrCAD, had I learnt Verilog or VHDL at that point I'd be so much more confident with it now. Device operation was instantaneous on power up and could be re-flashed quickly. I opted for the PLCC and often used adapters or zero insertion sockets during development.

Away from work I have also used some of these products over the years. Microchip has always been a favourite for microcontroller projects as their software is always easy to use, free of charge and there is a huge range of devices. Unfortunately I was unable to carry on with Lattice in my own time as the dongle was node-locked along with OrCAD. I think the same was true in the late 90's etc for Xilinx development tools - as in I could not afford them for myself. There was a discussion on E14 a few months ago Re: My Brief Thoughts on Roadtesting that touched on whether development software should be free of charge. If it is and not too limited then that is great to allow hobbyists and students to learn, and if they start a business or employment then that may be their go-to manufacturer. I note that Microchip's XC compilers are restricted in that they don't optimise the code whereas a paid optimiser can be obtained. This is a great approach allowing those on limited budget and occasional users to effectively just pay extra $ for a larger device if RAM/program space is limited. Whereas a manufacturer who wants to save a few cents on component/product cost when making thousands would be better optimising the code. For the record - wearing a hobbyist hat, I don't like time limited software and prefer a less capable IDE. This is where Vivado is so great: you can try out most things for free unless you want the latest IP cores (in which case either pay or hunt around www for an open-source Verilog design).

Fast forwarding on to today such functionality can be achieved in Xilinx using Microblaze IP and in Lattice's devices using Micro8/16/32 softcores and for Microchip the CoreRISCV. We also have dedicated Programmable Systems on the FPGA silicon (SoC). Needless to say it is confusing me at times and therefore this should be a great presentation to help developers like me make the right choices of device for a certain application. It would also be great to hear what future aspirations these manufacturers have . There is still a lot of merit in providing a low-cost starter 'pack' of hardware board and software, something that works easily with Windows or Linux or Mac and which has plenty of examples. I underline the easy part as there are many products I have looked at that have a long list of steps to getting the computer setup with drivers, permissions and IP or where last minute revisions of board stop the examples from working. Whilst someone with a bit of knowledge can often overcome those such issues spell disaster to the beginner/novice.

Having said all that, I now hope I don't miss the webinar .

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by wolfgangfriedrich

wolfgangfriedrich — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 00:36:58 GMT

The 'Hello World' of FPGAs is a blinking LED.

If you recognize how much you have to slow down the FPGA to make the blinking visible, you are probably hooked.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by Andrew J

Andrew J — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 19:48:56 GMT

This discussion makes me look forward to these events more and more. It’s a shame there are no Ultra96 boards available in the UK until it’s all over but at least the info will be available for when there is.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by sanyaade

sanyaade — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 07:09:51 GMT

Good to see that discussion is already way ahead of the event.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by warriorz

warriorz — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 19:46:00 GMT

Daje

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by leonardooalves

leonardooalves — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 09:24:16 GMT

Off-topic: Has anyone used to work with the zcu102 board and openocd?

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by Andrew J

Andrew J — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 18:49:03 GMT

Really interesting discussion. Worth watching if you're new to FPGAs

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by colporteur

colporteur — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:50:01 GMT

I enjoyed the presentation.

The information from the discussion gives me reason to reflect on my willingness to wade into the water. It is like standing on the dock at the lake trying to decide should I jump in. "Come the water is great!" is the cry from those already immersed. Some of those in the water are keen swimmers. Some of them have had to much to drink and others are more risk takers.

I was around when Linux was first released. I recall the frustration and struggles. It took considerable bit of fortitude and perseverance to get stuff to work. When asked by people about Linux as a desktop, I tell them Linux is not ready for prime time. If the decision is to use Linux, you have to accept productivity will dip and the outcomes may not be what you expect.

I'm not sure I know what I don't know, to jump into the FPGA lake just yet. I think the Beta/VHS tape war is still on in the FPGA realm. Maybe more of a wade in is better. I do like the Arduino Workshop: Freedom of FPGA with MKR VIDOR 4000! the combination product release. I can have a working Arduino microcontroller out of the box. OK, what this FPGA shite they keep talking about.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by neilk

neilk — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 10:49:19 GMT

I agree with the sentiments expressed by colporteur .

Many many years ago, I cut my teeth developing simple 74 series logic solutions and later CMOS equivalents. I never came anywhere near an FPGA device in the whole of my career, probably because my career changed direction into coding.

Now I have time to learn and experiment, just for the sake of it, getting into FPGA could be very satisfying, but, I'm only interested in something fairly elementary and very low cost. I do not have a specific project in mind.

I too will probably sit on the sidelines and do some more reading around the subject.

Neil

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by Andrew J

Andrew J — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 11:00:37 GMT

If it helps, the page hosting the webinar has a link to resources provided the speaker's vendors. There may well be something useful to read there - looks like it - but I haven't checked any of them out yet.

re: Getting Started with FPGAs: an Expert Panel Discussion by johnalfredadare

johnalfredadare — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:58:26 GMT

Thanks to all the speakers on the Introductory presentation - nice pace for my beginner level !

What is the next step, please ?

Are we going to get hands-on experience with a particular FPGA device ?

(maybe there's a link I haven't found)

John A