FPGA Development board

[DaveW]

I need to start some projects involving FPGAs and was wondering if people had some ideas for a good development board.
It needs to use an Altera chip and be at least large enough for simple soft core 8 bit processors, and it'd be good if it was fairly simple to get started.
I was looking at the Altium Nanoboards as the information with them looks good and the software looks good.
Any things that I should look for, and anyone have any good recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[mkissin]

For Altera stuff, take a serious look at the TerasIC boards.

The low end ones (the DE0 or DE0-Nano) are pretty cheap, come with a ton of peripherals, and a heap of tutorial information. While you're there, consider picking up one of their USB Blaster dongles. It's identical (literally) to the Altera one, but costs $50 instead of $400.

edit: link http://www.terasic.com.tw/en/

[Teknotronix]

I am also getting into FPGA's myself and recently bought a Terasic DE1 board. Its pretty cheap and has lots of interface connectors on it. I chose this one because its the main board used in many universities, so there is a ton of lectures and examples around based on this board.

Also I bought a book called "Rapid Prototyping of Digital Systems- SOPC Edition" which is book recommended by Jeri Ellsworth on one of her youtube videos. This new version of the book specifically targets the DE1 and DE2 boards and im finding it to be an invaluable resource for learning. The book has a section dedicated to the NIOS soft core processors also, which is handy for your project.

I have purchased the other two books in her video as well but I'm waiting for them to arrive.

As for the DE0, it is a fantastic board also, but I did not choose it for two reasons:

1. Only $30 more for DE1 which has more bits and pieces to make use of + more LE's
2. Found significantly more text on DE1/DE2 boards

Cheapest price I could find at the time I bought the book:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rapid-Prototyping-Digital-Systems-SOPC-Edition-/130439980805?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item1e5ed42705#ht_483wt_1179

[joelby]

I'd probably recommend the Terasic Altera DE0, too. Pretty much any FPGA will support 8-bit soft processors. I've compiled a list of cheap FPGA development boards at http://tristesse.org/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards .

It doesn't seem like many professional FPGA developers are using Altium Designer for FPGAs, and certainly few hobbyists are - unless you can afford the license and you don't plan to open source your designs, it's probably safer to stick to the manufacturer-supplied (ISE, Quartus) tools.

[Teknotronix]

I'd probably recommend the Terasic Altera DE0, too. Pretty much any FPGA will support 8-bit soft processors. I've compiled a list of cheap FPGA development boards at http://tristesse.org/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards .

It doesn't seem like many professional FPGA developers are using Altium Designer for FPGAs, and certainly few hobbyists are - unless you can afford the license and you don't plan to open source your designs, it's probably safer to stick to the manufacturer-supplied (ISE, Quartus) tools.

Great article!

[DaveW]

Wow, talk about a consensus. So looks like a Terasic board then. I'll probably get the DE1 or 2, look like very nice boards and a good set of peripherals on the boards; the books look great as well, I'll look at getting some one or both of those. Thanks guys, have saved me hours of googling!