Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
This is becoming quite a challenge, but I managed it.
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SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: technix on November 18, 2018, 10:11:16 pm ---
--- Quote from: Bassman59 on November 18, 2018, 08:41:17 pm ---
--- Quote from: technix on November 17, 2018, 10:40:33 am ---This challenge is fitting an A3P060-VQG100 FPGA on a two-layer PCB the size of an Arduino Uno

--- End quote ---

One question: Why the ProASIC3 part?

--- End quote ---
I happen to have some A3P060-VQG100 samples, and I just bought a FlashPro and want to test it. Should the situation calls for it I can upgrade that FPGA to an A3P125 or M1A3P250 with the same package.

--- End quote ---

I've grown to hate Actel parts and Libero even more.
But YMMV. ;D
technix:

--- Quote from: james_s on November 18, 2018, 10:48:19 pm ---
--- Quote from: technix on November 18, 2018, 05:20:37 am ---I will make it available on my Tindie store for you, after the boards arrived and assed tests. Just do expect it being a bit expensive though, FPGA's aren't exactly cheap.

--- End quote ---

I was just looking at the state of things this morning and was a bit shocked at just how cheap they've become. The lowest end Cyclone 10 part for example is under $8 each in single quantities and it has quite respectable specs. I've been using the same older parts for quite some time now and had not bothered to check on the current offerings in a while.

--- End quote ---
They are still fairly expensive in China, as people are still using Spartan 6 and Cyclone IV. Also FPGA in TQFP-100 is a bit of rarity too.


--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on November 18, 2018, 11:13:01 pm ---
--- Quote from: technix on November 18, 2018, 10:11:16 pm ---
--- Quote from: Bassman59 on November 18, 2018, 08:41:17 pm ---
--- Quote from: technix on November 17, 2018, 10:40:33 am ---This challenge is fitting an A3P060-VQG100 FPGA on a two-layer PCB the size of an Arduino Uno

--- End quote ---

One question: Why the ProASIC3 part?

--- End quote ---
I happen to have some A3P060-VQG100 samples, and I just bought a FlashPro and want to test it. Should the situation calls for it I can upgrade that FPGA to an A3P125 or M1A3P250 with the same package.

--- End quote ---

I've grown to hate Actel parts and Libero even more.
But YMMV. ;D

--- End quote ---
Is there any reason for that?
james_s:
I don't really care too much about TQFP. It's nice for prototyping but BGA is no longer the non-starter it used to be for personal projects, especially when you can buy $20 dev boards from China. With an FPGA it's nice to have gobs of IO.
SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: technix on November 19, 2018, 05:09:43 am ---
--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on November 18, 2018, 11:13:01 pm ---I've grown to hate Actel parts and Libero even more.
But YMMV. ;D

--- End quote ---
Is there any reason for that?

--- End quote ---

From my experience with the Proasic3 line, they consistently tended to draw more power than expected and it was often a fight to meet timing constraints compared to other vendors' FPGAs in similar ranges. Usually switching to Xilinx or Lattice was an instant relief.

As for Libero, recent versions may have improved, but back when I was using it (few years ago), it was one of the most atrocious pieces of software I'd ever used ;D
Ultra slow, cumbersome, confusing... programming with Actel "pods" was also nightmarishly slow as I recall.

This is just my experience though - don't let that deter you from trying and get your own opinion.
SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: james_s on November 19, 2018, 05:11:53 pm ---With an FPGA it's nice to have gobs of IO.

--- End quote ---

Gobs of IO is nice but that can be a nightmare to fan out and route to headers, and there's an ultra small probability he would have managed to route that on a 2-layer board as seems to be his challenge here. ;D
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