[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [oc] Development Boards
Aloha!
Matts wrote:
> Development boards for FPGA programming are quite expensive. The cheapest I could find was $450.
>
> Would it not be a good idea to put some designs of development/prototype boards on a section on www.opencores.org ?
>
> I would like PCB:s and items lists for some boards together with descriptrions on how to make a suitable JTAG cable, and what free (gratis ot free) software that can be used with them.
>
> The FPGA's themsalf are not very expensive, and I believe many opencores interested can create a PCM and solder on the chips themself.
>
> At least I am interested in this.
IMHO the boards available from either Xilinx or Altera (haven't checked the
other vendor offerings) are excellent value for many, and I have a hard time
to see that you would be able to create a board with similar features cheaper
than what they charge.
If you look at the Altera Nios SDK board for example, it comes not only with
an APEX 20K200, but also with FLASH, lots of SRAM, headers, UART, DO-SIMM,
switches LEDs, 7-SEGMENT LED, LCD-display etc. All those small things add up
pretty quickly. Add software tools, documentation etc into the deal and it
looks darn cheap to me.
My take on it is in fact that these boards are sold at manufacturing cost or
even subsidised. They are a great way for the vendors to get people started
using their products.
I can see a few reasons to do you own board. It's fun. It's educational. You
get exactly what you want. But if it's a general proto board you want, then
price is not a good reason. Spend your costly time on the design you run on
the board instead.
--
Med vänlig hälsning, Yours
Joachim Strömbergson - Alltid i harmonisk svängning.
VP, Research & Development
----------------------------------------------------------------------
InformAsic AB / Hugo Grauers gata 5B / SE-411 33 GÖTEBORG / Sweden
Tel: +46 31 68 54 90 Fax: +46 31 68 54 91 Mobile: +46 733 75 97 02
E-mail: joachim.strombergson@informasic.com Home: www.informasic.com
--
To unsubscribe from cores mailing list please visit http://www.opencores.org/mailinglists.shtml