Software for FPGA - is it required?

Question

Hello,I want to learn how to design a digital system controlled from PC hostand as a practical system to start from, I have chosen such system:audio_signal1->ADC->digital_filter->DAC->audio_signal2digital filter has to be FPGA-based and controlled from PC hostrunning Windows XP. I mean that a user should be capable to choose atype of filter, bandwidth etc from GUI and load it to the system.My difficulty is that I am a beginner and not sure how all parts ofthe project communicate with each other. For example, a programwritten in Visual Basic is supposed to be run on PC and this programwill tell to filter which mode of filtering has to be used.Should I write any software for FPGA, like microcontrollers orsoftware on PC host is the only thing which is required?

Ivanna Pee · Accepted Answer

Buy a DAQ card and LABview from  and you are almost done....

naliali · Answer

if you have a developer kit(evaluational board for FPGA), then probably it has ADC on it and uses some ports to communa\icate with PC, such as PCI or USB port. So you need to write your GUI(e.g. based on VB) to communicate with PCI or USB port of your FPGA board, in addition to write your own VHDL code for digital filter. set the filter coeficients which are h(n) of digital filter . all filter parameters will be set by setting its coeficients. if you want to have a variable filter size then you need to declare the size in GUI too. if you don't have an evaluational board, then forget this!! cause just having an fpga without a starter board and ADC won't help you. but if you want just simulate it, don't think of GUI. write your VHDL code. and set the parameters in simulator (e.g modesim). good luck

Vagant · Answer

I have Spartan3E-1600E MicroBlaze Development Board and I want to design a complete project run from PC (not just a simulation). I wonder, which software is more appropriate for my project - WebPack ISE or EDK?

Andy Peters · Answer

If you want to do ANY FPGA development, you need either the WebPack or the full-up (paid-for) ISE.

If you want to use a MicroBlaze soft-core or a device with an embedded PowerPC, then you ALSO need to use the (paid-for) EDK.

-a

Software for FPGA - is it required?

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