Peter TB Brett wrote:
Hi there,
I noticed with interest that you're intending to use a Spartan-3 XC3S2000,
as I'm currently working on a design that uses the XC3S1500.
I couldn't find any record of the decisions that lead to the choice of
that particular component, but can I suggest that you design the board for
the FG900 footprint? That way if you find you really can't fit the
firmware into the XC3S2000 logic space, you could drop one of the larger
devices in instead without having to redesign the PCB...
That would be wise; and probably wouldn't add to the cost.
I assume the reason to use the Spartan line vs the new Virtex-4 is cost?
Perhaps the Virtex chip could handle doing PCI itself and that would
save on the cost of the extra PCI part with the Sparten chip.
Perhaps someone has/can come up with pricing for the Sparten vs Vertex
line. I wonder if it's not too different at this point in time because
these guys(*) have Spartan III 1500 and Vertex 4 X25 development boards
both for $595. It's also noteworthy the Vertex X60 board is $200 more.
So, perhaps the prices might be comparable.
DS-KIT-3SMB1500 XC3S1500-4FG676C $595
DS-KIT-4VLX25MB XC4VLX25-10FF668CES $595
BTW, Does anyone have any thoughts on if these development boards would
be useful for this project?
Spartan-3 vs Virtex-4
Device Array Logic Max (Kb) Max (kb) Cost ?
Row x Col Cells Dist. Ram Block Ram
Spartan III:
XC3S50 16 x 12 1,728 12 72
XC3S200 24 x 20 4,320 30 216
XC3S400 32 x 28 8,064 56 288
XC3S1000 48 x 40 17,280 120 432
XC3S1500 64 x 52 29,952 208 576
XC3S2000 80 x 64 46,080 320 720
XC3S4000 96 x 72 62,208 432 1,728
XC3S5000 104 x 80 74,880 520 1,872
Virtex 4:
XC4VLX15 64 x 24 13,824 96 864
XC4VLX25 96 x 28 24,192 168 1,296
XC4VLX40 128 x 36 41,472 288 1,728
XC4VLX60 128 x 52 59,904 416 2,880
XC4VLX80 160 x 56 80,640 560 3,600
XC4VLX100 192 x 64 110,592 768 4,320
XC4VLX160 192 x 88 152,064 1056 5,184
XC4VLX200 192 x 116 200,448 1392 6,048
One more thing, as per the other ASIC thread, Xilinx touts the low power
consumption as a feature of this line of chips and argues it's
potentially capable of replacing ASIC designs.(*)
Thanks,
Jeff
(*) some documentation & links:
Spartan-3 FPGA Family (updated Jan 17 2005):
http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/publications/ds099.pdf
Virtex-4 Family Data Sheets:
http://direct.xilinx.com/bvdocs/publications/ds112.pdf
http://direct.xilinx.com/bvdocs/appnotes/ds302.pdf
http://direct.xilinx.com/bvdocs/userguides/ug075.pdf
Development boards:
http://legacy.memec.com/devkits/americas.shtml
Vertex-4 development board info:
http://www.memec.com/uploaded/V4_MB_Dev_kit.pdf
Spartan-3 development board info:
http://www.memec.com/uploaded/Spartan3MB_3.pdf
From http://www.castalk.com/ftopic2039.html in Jan 2005:
"So, at one time the sweet spot part for Virtex was a XCV300."
...
"In Virtex 4, we suspect it will be the XC4VLX60. At least that is what
a lot of folks are getting shipped as samples right now. Although the
LX25 is pretty popular as well. Not to mention their is a huge volume
application for FX12's that might outstrip all of the
others....predicting the high runner a-priori is just gambling. "
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