Things to read to learn about FPGA programming:
- Designing Video Game Hardware in Verilog (recommended by @indigo)
FPGA reading
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Tag Archives: fpga
FPGA options
I’m learning more about FPGAs. Haven’t actually purchased one to play with yet though.
- Adafruit ICE40 (recommended by @gwozniak)
- iCE by Lattice Semiconductor
- Papilio
- iCEBreaker
- iCEstick Evaluation Kit
- FPGA @ adafuit
- FPGA @ SparkFun
BeagleV-Fire RISC-V and FPGA
Today on IRC the BeagleV-Fire was brought to my attention. This computer system sports an FPGA and looks like just the thing to get as an entry-level system to learn about FPGA tech. These things seem to be hard to find at the moment but apparently they sell for around US$150 which is quite affordable for an entry-level system. And the manufacturer’s commitment to open hardware is encouraging. Click-through on the link to find a heap of developer resources.
Complex Programmable Logic Device
ChatGPT explains a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD):
A CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) is a type of digital integrated circuit that is used for creating custom digital logic designs. It’s a step between simple PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices) and more complex FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays).
Click through for further details.
Critical Path != Critical Section
I always get the concepts “critical path” and “critical section” confused.
The “critical section” is the part in your algorithm which you must hold a lock for; whereas the “critical path” is an idea from hardware design which relates to the time taken for the longest combinatorial logic that needs to be processed during a clock cycle, thus limiting the frequency you can run your clock at.
Although the terminology “critical path” came from hardware, the same terminology is used in software. ChatGPT has a fairly good write-up on the two uses of the term “critical path”.
I learned a little more about this in Introduction to VHDL for FPGA and ASIC design.
Renesas Enters FPGA Market
Via HN today: Renesas Enters FPGA Market with the First Ultra-Low-Power, Low-Cost Family Addressing Low-Density, High-Volume Applications. It says they will sell for around 50c, so that’s awesome and definitely something I need to look into in the future.
FPGA boards
I’m interested in FGPA technology and today via HN: Awesome Lattice FPGA boards.