See my PropII prototype

[nutson]

Well, sort of....

The heart of my super prop is an·FPGA module with an·Altera 1C12,·that has 2 banks of 256K16 SRAM and 4x20 I/O pins.
See http://www.elektor.com/products/kits-modules/modules/flexibele-fpga-bouwsteen-(040477-91).91417.lynkx
Two ports are occupied by·props, that each have a 16 bit data path to the FPGA·and a memory bank. They can talk to each other through a 4k16 dual port memory in the FPGA. This gives me 16 COGs, 40 + 2x8 = 56 free I/O pins.·I am now testing·the RCOGNEW·(R for remote) software.·Close to PropII, is'n it?

The target of this experiment is·to·learn·programming FPGA's using Verilog and Quartus.·Right now I am·using only one·prop to control and test my Verilog code in·the·FPGA·that acts as a glorified data switch. But it is fun to have·PropII functionality as a design target.

The third port is already connected to·a 2 channel·100 MSPS 8 bit A/D·http://www.fpga4fun.com/Hands-on_Flashy.html·that·in the future must make·video signal acquisition possible. But that is·a lot more Verilog learning,·coding·and testing to go.

Nico Hattink

[rjo_]

Nutson,

Congrats!!!

I like to view the Prop in biologic terms... so, I see the Prop as the rough equivalent of a brainstem and motor cortex.
The natural question is what do we use for the brain? I think you have just hooked a primative brain to your Prop. Since I have a limited
bandwidth myself, I was originally stuck trying to figure out: "do I study the PROP or dive into FPGA's?" I chose the Prop figuring that
someone would make a path from there to an FPGA. It's nice to see my intuition confirmed:)

Please look at http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&No=50#section. Terasic is a well funded start-up company with
offices in South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, St. Petersburg, etc.

There may be opportunities available.

Rich

[nutson]

Thanks for the tip rjo_. I had already looked at the Terasic site, their DE1 board is a steal at $150. The board in combination with the camera, display and source level·Verilog IP·is·even more·interesting.·I love the prop, but·FPGA's makes it possible for me·to realise·some of·the grand designs I·have dreamed up·for years during dull meetings, but were never able to build because they would have involved·massive amounts·of TTL IC's. In modern·FPGA's you throw can large functions blocks and·32 bit busses around like a god, and have the design software resolve all wiring and routing issues. And wasn't the prop designed using·a Stratix FPGA? Maybe we·can have a softcore COG one day, that can·blow all·NIOSes and their cousins away.

Nico Hattink