[Gb-ccb] Spartan-3 development board

[John Ford]

Martin Shepherd writes:
 > At the meeting last week in Green Bank, my understanding is that we
 > essentially settled on using a 208 pin Spartan-3 FPGA. I have found an
 > evaluation/development board for this chip, at the following URL:
 > 
 > http://www.em.avnet.com/evk/home/0,1719,RID%253D0%2526CID%253D7816%2526CCD%253DUSA%2526SID%253D6450%2526DID%253DADA%2526SRT%253D1%2526LID%253D6457%2526PVW%253D%2526BID%253DDF2%2526CTP%253DEVK,00.html
 > 
 > This board costs $99.
 > 
 > Since I don't yet know what to look for, could somebody please check
 > the specs of this board, to see if it looks suitable for testing the
 > FPGA code that I will be writing, and to verify whether it is actually
 > using the FPGA that was suggested at the meeting?

It's a 50K gate version of the same FPGA.  The one we suggested is the
XC2S300E-6PQ208C, which has 300K gates.

It should be fine for developing, but it might not hold the full 16
channels plus USB plus timing generator code.  I don't know if they
have a version with a bigger chip on it.  At $99.00, I'd go on and get
it.  It will be perfect for developing the hard parts, that is, the
USB interface, the program loading, and the timing generator.  You
should be able to develop at least one channel of the data collection
system, too.  It includes sample VHDL code, and all the other stuff
you need for a quick start.  (We could always put the bigger chip on
ourselves later on if we feel froggish...)

Since Martin's away, may I suggest somebody go ahead and order one so
it will be ready to go when Martin gets back?

John