There are now 1-2-3 FPGA boards out int he wild, mine is at home waiting for me. Please update the resources in the first post so we can start playing without blowing them up.
I forgot there was a P1 on their to manage the FPGA loading (I think). It may not be very usable without the loader and some of the other resources.
I'm using a smooth bore connector... but I can feel a click as thought the power receptacle is trying to grab on to a notch... or may be it is just spring loaded to firm up the connection. I'm using an SPD12601 from Carlo Gavazzi... I think it is mostly used in ham radio circles. It has a mounting system so you can keep it out of the way. I paid $75 at a local electronics store... not including the mounting rail which was $9.
Wall mounting is also suggested to keep the cooling vents open.
Regarding documentation... I think Q&A will largely take care of
it. The kinds of things I worry about would rarely show up in
documentation anyway. For example... those 3.3V sources on the 2X40
headers. How much current can I pump through them assuming I'm not
doing anything else but running a standard P1V?... How much can I use
with a P2V assuming that I have extraneous things going on in Verilog...
that I have no way to know the effect on current draw. I assume that
the 5Amp supply will handle anything I care to do but how much is left
over to run other boards etc. Is it going to be useful to actually
measure the current going through the wallwart? etc. etc.
I just hit the wrong button and shared this when I meant to post it .... I have no idea what sharing is:)
And of course... at this moment. I don't yet need the info... just cogitating on it. There will be plenty of time in the future for that kind of stuff to dribble. For right now, I have some clearly marked pins, with references to pins on the FPGA to get me started.
Can we have a link to the product page for 60054 in this thread, maybe in the first post? I tried searching for it, but didn't find anything. I haven't gotten used to the forum changes yet.
Doug,
The 1.2.3 will not be on the Parallax Product pages. It's only available to forum members.
Docs and Specs will be on the first page when Ken gets them.
And of course... at this moment. I don't yet need the info... just cogitating on it. There will be plenty of time in the future for that kind of stuff to dribble. For right now, I have some clearly marked pins, with references to pins on the FPGA to get me started.
Rich, while the pins on the board are clearly marked, we have no information as to which FPGA pins they map to. I don't see any way to create an image and to build the pin map for the FPGA in Quartus unless we know what the schematic looks like.
I just noticed this thread and saw the pictures of the 123 board. One thing Parallax might like to consider if there are going to be any board tweaks on the later rev is to use the common (semi standardized?) PMOD pinout on the expansion headers. It's a 2x6 header instead of 2x5 header pinout, containing 8 I/O signals and two 3.3V, two grounds.
There are already a whole bunch of handy small PMOD peripheral modules available (see Digilent web site for examples) which would be nice to be able to mate with the Parallax board. Of course I don't know the existing schematic/layout or how much of a change this really is, but it would be nice if it's doable. Might be worth considering...
Those are the pins I was referring to... Marked a0-a7, b0-b7,c0-c7.
When I looked at them, I thought those markings were references to FPGA pins... they could be, but now I am wondering:)
this is good as it shows there are 8 pins per expansion port. I'm presuming the other two would be power and ground. If so, assuming board spin revs are possible I'm thinking it would probably be relatively straighforward to modify the connectors to support the PMOD interface and add the second 3.3 and ground pins (esp if there is already power plane nearby)..
Check out how many interesting PMOD boards are available that would be cool to hook up to this Parallax board...(disclaimer: no I don't work for Digilent).
yes correct that's how the 10 pin expansion ports operate.
The pmod idea is a good one. I have some pmod modules and will see if its possible to wrangle a 12 pin stacking header into the existing one, somehow. Don't think it'll be too hard
Here's the 1-2-3 A7 ZIP file from Chip and Daniel
It includes detailed schematics, and the binary P2 is slightly different form to the .POF/.JIC we're used to, but my understanding is this gives us a bit more flexibility to route pins (via the QSF file), and perhaps even fit into other cyclone V devices.
There is a program ("PX") included for the P1 fpga loader, but this should already be loaded onto the 1-2-3 board.
My 1-2-3 board just arrived today. Its a beautiful, solid board, look forward to diving in, in the coming days
Was looking through this schematic Tubular sent out and noticed that the aforementioned expansion pins seem to be 2.5V (at least that was the supply voltage present on the connector). PMOD seems to use 3.3V so I'm not sure how well that would work out unless the voltage was made selectable.
Just did a test compile of the top.qpf project in the .zip file - it took 2 min and 5 seconds on my I7 and came out clean (except for the warnings). I'd load it but someone pessimistically left their 1-2-3 FPGA board at home today!!
Having the entire top.qpf file should be a big help if I remember my Quartus and FPGA programming correctly!! Thanks for the upload, Tubular!!
Was looking through this schematic Tubular sent out and noticed that the aforementioned expansion pins seem to be 2.5V (at least that was the supply voltage present on the connector). PMOD seems to use 3.3V so I'm not sure how well that would work out unless the voltage was made selectable.
It'd be easy to make up some small adapter boards that interface pmod modules to i) the 2.5v expansion headers and ii) the 3v3 gpio block. Not the breadboard can't solve this, but it'd be slightly more welcoming to those already with pmod blocks
Many of those pmod blocks should work fine even with 2.5v supply. There's even things like the PmodAD1 ADC that should work down to 2.5v ok
edit: pmod spec, fwiw
On second thoughts looks like the 6 or 12 pin pmod modules would fit straight into the 3v3 or 2v5 headers without modification (use the Exp ports for other things).
Up to 4 twelve pin, or 8 six pin pmods could be accommodated without any changes
- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P0, P2, P4, P6- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P1, P3, P5, P7(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P30, P28, P26, P24- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P31, P29, P27, P25(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
similarly for 2v5 levels
- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P32, P34, P36, P38- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P33, P35, P37, P39(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P62, P60, P58, P56- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P63, P61, P59, P57(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
One of my pet peeves with the Parallax forums (especially the old P1V and P2 forums) is that people just keep adding and adding and adding to the same forum thread, which makes it nearly impossible to find useful information later on.
This thread was originally intended to be the announcement that we could buy the 1-2-3 board. If you received your board and are happy, that can also go in this thread. But couldn't we have started a new thread with people finding out information about things like how the pins are assigned? Or is this going to turn into one of those 113 page chat sessions, too?
Sorry, I usually try to refrain from posting anything negative and/or non-constructive, and I realize that this is both. But I'm seriously wondering if I'm really the only one who is bugged by this?
I tend to follow conversations. For short and moderate ones, it's fine. Not hard to find things. Few pages tops. For the really long ones, there is a double edged sword.
On one hand, we often get the flow of reasoning leading to an end. This has value, and that value is often lost among many more discrete threads. On the other, finding things can be a PITA too.
There are options.
First post can be updated and expanded. Cluso has done this a couple times. Follow the conversation and participate while keeping the goodies up top.
I should have sent an e-mail to Ken, but didn't have it on my device at present. Didn't want to forget either. Guilty.
Then we've got the Tachyon thread. It's a whole forum in a thread. Would look kind of inactive and somewhat empty as a forum. It's a bit much for a thread, but it's also a great place to post up something about Tachyon and know it will be seen.
Parallax has been reluctant to make too many forum classes. I don't blame them. Finding a thread among many is hard too. Having one with a dialog on it seems to work in ways both other cases don't.
Comments
There are now 1-2-3 FPGA boards out int he wild, mine is at home waiting for me. Please update the resources in the first post so we can start playing without blowing them up.
I forgot there was a P1 on their to manage the FPGA loading (I think). It may not be very usable without the loader and some of the other resources.
:depressed:
Reasonably speaking... how long do you think it is going to take the Professors to put a request for this board through their channels?
Rich
Yikes! 9-12v 5000ma power supply suggested???
Time to dig out my flux capacitor with the barrel jack!
Wall mounting is also suggested to keep the cooling vents open.
it. The kinds of things I worry about would rarely show up in
documentation anyway. For example... those 3.3V sources on the 2X40
headers. How much current can I pump through them assuming I'm not
doing anything else but running a standard P1V?... How much can I use
with a P2V assuming that I have extraneous things going on in Verilog...
that I have no way to know the effect on current draw. I assume that
the 5Amp supply will handle anything I care to do but how much is left
over to run other boards etc. Is it going to be useful to actually
measure the current going through the wallwart? etc. etc.
I just hit the wrong button and shared this when I meant to post it .... I have no idea what sharing is:)
The 1.2.3 will not be on the Parallax Product pages. It's only available to forum members.
Docs and Specs will be on the first page when Ken gets them.
Rich, while the pins on the board are clearly marked, we have no information as to which FPGA pins they map to. I don't see any way to create an image and to build the pin map for the FPGA in Quartus unless we know what the schematic looks like.
There are already a whole bunch of handy small PMOD peripheral modules available (see Digilent web site for examples) which would be nice to be able to mate with the Parallax board. Of course I don't know the existing schematic/layout or how much of a change this really is, but it would be nice if it's doable. Might be worth considering...
When I looked at them, I thought those markings were references to FPGA pins... they could be, but now I am wondering:)
set_location_assignment PIN_A10 -to expb[0]set_location_assignment PIN_A9 -to expb[1]set_location_assignment PIN_B10 -to expb[2]set_location_assignment PIN_C9 -to expb[3]set_location_assignment PIN_A5 -to expb[4]set_location_assignment PIN_B5 -to expb[5]set_location_assignment PIN_B6 -to expb[6]set_location_assignment PIN_B7 -to expb[7]
set_location_assignment PIN_A8 -to expc[0]set_location_assignment PIN_A7 -to expc[1]set_location_assignment PIN_C6 -to expc[2]set_location_assignment PIN_D6 -to expc[3]set_location_assignment PIN_E9 -to expc[4]set_location_assignment PIN_D9 -to expc[5]set_location_assignment PIN_D7 -to expc[6]set_location_assignment PIN_C8 -to expc[7]
this is good as it shows there are 8 pins per expansion port. I'm presuming the other two would be power and ground. If so, assuming board spin revs are possible I'm thinking it would probably be relatively straighforward to modify the connectors to support the PMOD interface and add the second 3.3 and ground pins (esp if there is already power plane nearby)..
Check out how many interesting PMOD boards are available that would be cool to hook up to this Parallax board...(disclaimer: no I don't work for Digilent).
http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,401&Cat=9
The pmod idea is a good one. I have some pmod modules and will see if its possible to wrangle a 12 pin stacking header into the existing one, somehow. Don't think it'll be too hard
It includes detailed schematics, and the binary P2 is slightly different form to the .POF/.JIC we're used to, but my understanding is this gives us a bit more flexibility to route pins (via the QSF file), and perhaps even fit into other cyclone V devices.
There is a program ("PX") included for the P1 fpga loader, but this should already be loaded onto the 1-2-3 board.
My 1-2-3 board just arrived today. Its a beautiful, solid board, look forward to diving in, in the coming days
Happy days ahead.
Having the entire top.qpf file should be a big help if I remember my Quartus and FPGA programming correctly!! Thanks for the upload, Tubular!!
Maybe, possibly, it could be tonight..........
It'd be easy to make up some small adapter boards that interface pmod modules to i) the 2.5v expansion headers and ii) the 3v3 gpio block. Not the breadboard can't solve this, but it'd be slightly more welcoming to those already with pmod blocks
Many of those pmod blocks should work fine even with 2.5v supply. There's even things like the PmodAD1 ADC that should work down to 2.5v ok
edit: pmod spec, fwiw
Up to 4 twelve pin, or 8 six pin pmods could be accommodated without any changes
- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P0, P2, P4, P6- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P1, P3, P5, P7(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P30, P28, P26, P24- a 3v3 pmod module using 3v3, Gnd, P31, P29, P27, P25(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
similarly for 2v5 levels
- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P32, P34, P36, P38- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P33, P35, P37, P39(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P62, P60, P58, P56- a 2v5 pmod module using 2v5, Gnd, P63, P61, P59, P57(or combine the above for a 12 pin module)
Ken Gracey
This thread was originally intended to be the announcement that we could buy the 1-2-3 board. If you received your board and are happy, that can also go in this thread. But couldn't we have started a new thread with people finding out information about things like how the pins are assigned? Or is this going to turn into one of those 113 page chat sessions, too?
Sorry, I usually try to refrain from posting anything negative and/or non-constructive, and I realize that this is both. But I'm seriously wondering if I'm really the only one who is bugged by this?
===Jac
On one hand, we often get the flow of reasoning leading to an end. This has value, and that value is often lost among many more discrete threads. On the other, finding things can be a PITA too.
There are options.
First post can be updated and expanded. Cluso has done this a couple times. Follow the conversation and participate while keeping the goodies up top.
I should have sent an e-mail to Ken, but didn't have it on my device at present. Didn't want to forget either. Guilty.
Then we've got the Tachyon thread. It's a whole forum in a thread. Would look kind of inactive and somewhat empty as a forum. It's a bit much for a thread, but it's also a great place to post up something about Tachyon and know it will be seen.
Parallax has been reluctant to make too many forum classes. I don't blame them. Finding a thread among many is hard too. Having one with a dialog on it seems to work in ways both other cases don't.
What to do? Heck if I know.
Personally, I search and bookmark.