Learning FPGA Development

Course details

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) straddle the boundary between hardware and software. They are customizable circuits that can be updated by customers or designers after manufacturing or deployment in the field. Rather than programming the chip with a series of instructions, FPGA developers create a logic structure from the gates inside the chip, establishing pathways for future data. A low-cost option for electronics prototyping and experimentation, FPGAs programming is a great entry point to digital systems design. This course provides an orientation to FPGAs, exploring the anatomy of the development boards and proprietary hardware description languages, the possibilities for implementation, and a comparison of the two major competing platforms, Xilinx and Intel. Instructor Eduardo Corpeño also provides demos that show a real application working on both platforms.

Learning objectives
What is an FPGA?
FPGA use cases
Logic blocks and interconnects
The FPGA development process
Reviewing the hardware description languages
Running FPGA simulations
Implementing an FPGA design

Concepts

Introduction

Get your digital design journey started
What you should know

Field Programmable Gate Arrays

What is an FPGA
FPGAs are not microcontrollers
FPGA applications and market
Inside an FPGA - Logic blocks
Inside an FPGA - Interconnects
Other blocks

Embedded Development Process

FPGA development process overview
FPGA families and development boards
Electronic design automation tools
Xilinx platform
Intel platform

Hardware Description Languages

Digital system modeling
Verilog and VHDL
Verilog primer
Simulation
Combinational logic example
4-bit adder simulation example
Sequential logic simulation example

Implementation

FPGA example implementation requirements
Demo system for the Intel platform
Intel implementation demo
Intel hardware demo
Demo system for the Xilinx platform
Xilinx implementation demo
Xilinx hardware demo

Conclusion

Next steps