Zynq devices, boards and suppliers

Tom Gardner · 2013-10-16T11:28:44+00:00

I'd like to pick people's brains about aspects of different *suppliers* of Zynq boards. Avnet and Digilent are front-runners, but any info/opinions about other suppliers would be helpful too. - ease of using their embedded linux. My needs are simple, requiring a shell and TCP/IP protocols over ethernet. GUI not required, but might be used if it didn't complicate the development. - quality of online support. How easy is it likely to be to find the information so that I can (a) duplicate any supplied demo environment and (b) mutate it so that my code accesses my programmable logic - board production longevity. I'm not concerned about decades, but I would be concerned if a board was unobtainable within months - ISE or Vivado environment Background and context... I'm intending to develop something based around a small Xylinx Zynq device. Cost is an issue, but not to the extent that I will be developing a board containing the FPGA itself. I will, however, be developing a small simple add-on board containing my analogue circuits. Now I can read a datasheet and schematic and outline to determine the extent to which a board is suitable. However, as we are all aware, those documents /don't/ cover all the important points when choosing a board! I've created many stand-alone hardware and software embedded systems, but *not* based on linux *nor* on ARM *nor* in the Xilinx ecosystem. Since Zynq devices represent a complex environment, I'll have a learning curve (good, I like challenges), and I'm interested in the quality of the resources and support that I'll need to overcome my misapprehensions.

Oct 16, 2013 23 Replies

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John Larkin 12 years ago

It took about a week to get two, several weeks ago. They can probably find some for good customers. We buy a lot of stuff from them, and it was "get us a couple and we'll design them in."

The good part is that the design, including Gerbers, is fully public, so we (or someone) can build them if we have to. It will save us a ton of time, as compared to doing all that pcb-layout/flash/dram/ethernet/power supply/software stuff ourselves.

I hope they are serious about it. They have sure invested a lot so far.

The carrier/demo board is apparently not real yet. We'll have our own application board first, with spare room, so we'll add in some development hooks for future projects. Suggestions are welcome....

Mictor connector for a logic analyzer Pots for the ADC inputs A few SMB connectors for scope trigger/signal snooping Shunts to measure Vcc and bank currents Easy ways to vary iobank voltages Dip switches and LEDs Temperature sensor IC Clock oscillators

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

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Paul Rubin 12 years ago

That big wire on the back of the board in your photo is interesting. Although red in color, it looks like what's traditionally called a "blue wire", i.e. maybe they're out of stock right now because the board is in the process of being revved.

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Tom Gardner 12 years ago

I'd like to make a couple of comments based on my experience, in the hope they might be helpful to other netizens.

In the end I purchased an Avnet MicroZed and JTAG cable in January. The ordering process was smooth but the delivery wasn't. An email confirmed the stated 3 week delay for the MicroZed, and that the JTAG cable /was/ in stock. However, the next day the website showed an 18(!) delay until May. I quickly cancelled the now out of stock JTAG cable, and the MicroZed turned up in March, after maybe 8 weeks.

That is unacceptable and makes me unlikely to choose to use Avnet as a distributor.

More positively, the MicroZed documentation and support have been exemplary; the potential concerns I raised in the note below haven't been bourne out. Indeed Avnet have expanded their range and appear to be making concerted efforts to make a business in this area.

So far I have /no/ concerns about having chosen to use a MicroZed, although nowadays I would probably choose to use the MicroZed SBC board variant.

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Mei Zhang 11 years ago

You can have a look at MYIR's Z-turn Board which is Xilinx Zynq-based Singl e board computer pricing start at only US$99.

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