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Author Topic: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.  (Read 6386 times)

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Offline hamster_nzTopic starter

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Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« on: January 02, 2015, 10:21:00 am »
My miniSpartan6+ FPGA board from Scarab Hardware's Kickstarter arrived while I was away (yes, I paid for it, and yes they delivered a little late, as one expects with KS).

Documentation for getting started with the board is very sparse, so I've documented my first design and how I got it working under Windows at  http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/MiniSpartan6%2B_bringup

Hopefully it will help some other owners get started with minimal head scratching and web searching...
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Offline leppie

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2015, 03:23:44 pm »
Just got mine yesterday and documentation and examples are still scarce. Seems they have given up software side...
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Offline JohnnyBerg

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2015, 03:41:18 pm »
Every time I look at a Kickstarter project I get this strange brainwave about a guy trying to fund some kind of hobby project. Or a sneaky way to sell some boards really expensive.

I think my perception of what a Kickstarter is, is completely wrong. But hey, I know that it's just me having those strange thoughts :P
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Offline Dongulus

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2015, 04:14:27 pm »
I've never heard of the miniSpartan6+ until now. Have you tried the IDE yet and is it usable?
I looked through the schematic and I didn't see any configuration PROM. Is that right? That means you have to reprogram the board every time it loses power or is reset.
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Offline hamster_nzTopic starter

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2015, 05:59:19 pm »
I haven't tried the IDE - I don't know how you feel about it, but ISE isn't that bad that it needs to be replaced....

The board does have a configuration flash - here's how to use it: http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/MiniSpartan6%2B_SPI_Programming
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Offline Mechanical Menace

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2015, 06:00:54 pm »
Quote from: Dongulus on March 19, 2015, 04:14:27 pm
I looked through the schematic and I didn't see any configuration PROM. Is that right? That means you have to reprogram the board every time it loses power or is reset.

Isn't that what the SPI flash is for?

Quote from: hamster_nz on March 19, 2015, 05:59:19 pm
I haven't tried the IDE - I don't know how you feel about it, but ISE isn't that bad that it needs to be replaced....

The board does have a configuration flash - here's how to use it: http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/MiniSpartan6%2B_SPI_Programming

Lol, beat me to it. Very nice website you've got there btw.
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Offline Dongulus

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2015, 11:17:31 pm »
Quote from: hamster_nz on March 19, 2015, 05:59:19 pm
I haven't tried the IDE - I don't know how you feel about it, but ISE isn't that bad that it needs to be replaced....

The board does have a configuration flash - here's how to use it: http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/MiniSpartan6%2B_SPI_Programming
Ah, my mistake. I saw that there was SPI flash listed in the features, but it was lumped in with the other memory devices so I thought it was just for general use and not configuration.
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Offline diyaudio

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2015, 10:32:33 am »
Quote from: hamster_nz on January 02, 2015, 10:21:00 am
My miniSpartan6+ FPGA board from Scarab Hardware's Kickstarter arrived while I was away (yes, I paid for it, and yes they delivered a little late, as one expects with KS).

Documentation for getting started with the board is very sparse, so I've documented my first design and how I got it working under Windows at  http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/MiniSpartan6%2B_bringup

Hopefully it will help some other owners get started with minimal head scratching and web searching...

How does a board like this compared to existing Chinese Ebay FPGA boards ? I too want a getting started board for doing high volume real-time data processing. but first I need to be initiated by blinking an LED. :D

 
 
 
« Last Edit: March 20, 2015, 10:39:42 am by diyaudio »
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Offline Mechanical Menace

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2015, 02:08:21 pm »
Quote from: diyaudio on March 20, 2015, 10:32:33 am
How does a board like this compared to existing Chinese Ebay FPGA boards ? I too want a getting started board for doing high volume real-time data processing. but first I need to be initiated by blinking an LED. :D

Do you mean the Waveshare ones? Newer, larger fpga, some ram, and you don't need a (rather expensive) Xilinx platform cable to use it.
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Offline diyaudio

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2015, 03:17:53 pm »
Quote from: Mechanical Menace on March 20, 2015, 02:08:21 pm
Quote from: diyaudio on March 20, 2015, 10:32:33 am
How does a board like this compared to existing Chinese Ebay FPGA boards ? I too want a getting started board for doing high volume real-time data processing. but first I need to be initiated by blinking an LED. :D

Do you mean the Waveshare ones? Newer, larger fpga, some ram, and you don't need a (rather expensive) Xilinx platform cable to use it.

I mean the miniSpartan6? but I appreciate the recommendation on the Waveshare never looked at them yet, I'm looking for a small form factor board for image processing..none of the microcontrollers except a blackfin 609 and (maybe 533) seems to be able to handle image processing data rates.
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Offline Mechanical Menace

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Re: Starting out with a miniSpartan6+ FPGA board.
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2015, 03:26:50 pm »
Quote from: diyaudio on March 20, 2015, 03:17:53 pm
I mean the miniSpartan6? but I appreciate the recommendation on the Waveshare never looked at them yet, I'm looking for a small form factor board for image processing..

Sorry, I meant are the Waveshare ones the Chinese ones you've seen on Ebay?

What I said was what the miniSpartan6 has they don't lol
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