[Noisebridge-discuss] misc FPGA questions

[d p fenn]

Mike Schachter <mike at mindmech.com> writes:

> 1) Are there free, open source IDE's available for writing code for a
> FPGA?

this has mostly been answered by the other respondants, but i think
you'll find that the compiler/PAR is manufacturer specific. also, the
newer/fancier/faster/bgger the part the more likely you are to have to
pay for support.

> 2) Where can I buy an FPGA cheaply? What is "cheap" for an FPGA?
> I want to use them for parallel processing, mostly for prototypes,
> and don't really care how much power they consume. I need a
> starter FPGA (which I will probably break) to learn the ropes.

i think 'cheap' depends on what sort of 'support' goo you want. 

  $80 http://www.sparkfun.com/categories/136

pretty much has a bare part w/ pins coming out for you to attach to
whatever you want. 

  $190 http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,400,792&Prod=S3EBOARD

has enough support goo for 'most' prototyping but will have bits you
might not use (i have one of their old discontinued modles and have yet
to scare it w/ a ps2 keyboard :-)

the same part in non-bulk is

  $25 http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=122-1520-ND

\p
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