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Message
From: Jecel Assumpcao Jr<jecel@m...>
Date: Sat Feb 14 01:25:14 CET 2004
Subject: [oc] Need for a new FPGA prototype board
On Friday 13 February 2004 20:06, Mikhail Matusov wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am working on a IEEE1394 LLC opencore project and I am going to
> need an FPGA board to be able to test it. AFAIK there are no
> off-the-shelf boards with a 1394 PHY, so it seems that I will have to
> roll my own.
This one has a DSP and a link layer chip in addition to the phy, so it
might not be usable for your application:
http://www.traquair.com/catalog/ultracompact.products.html
> My plan is a simple PCI board based on a Spartan IIE or
> perhaps Spartan-3 device and a 1394a(b) PHY, perhaps with some audio
> I/O.
I am designing a Spartan 3 board myself but don't expect to see the
actual chip very soon. Note that the Spartan 3 models in the page I
indicated are not yet available.
> I am debating whether to have a separate PCI controller or to
> use the opencore one and put it into the same FPGA. The reason I like
> external PCI is because it allows me to have FPGA fully software
> reloadable. Partial configuration sounds neat but from what people
> say it doesn't seem to be very usable with current Xilinx tools...
> Another feature I am planning is the ability to use the board
> standalone.
>
> I would like to know if such a board would be of interest to others.
> However, I am afraid that if I try to satisfy everyone's wishes I
> will have to add all kinds of peripherals and memories, which will
> make the project much bigger and more expensive.
If you are not aiming for volume production, then you might want to
think of doing an adapter board with the 1394 phy and connecting that
to an existing FPGA kit. Even if you have to use a short flat cable,
the signals between the board won't have to high a frequency.
-- Jecel
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