buying xilinx spartan 3E kit just for EDK ?

I recently purchased the sp3e starter to teach myself VHDL, and later realized that the EDK came with the pacakge. I then started to use the EDK and I am very happy with the tool. I've implemented the Micoblaze processor and I've started using it with uClinux and FreeRTOS.

I am still trying to deal with all of the nuances; there are some fundamental bugs that will prevent you from generating the bitstream unless you know the workarounds. Email me if you have questions.

CMOS wrote:

The EDK included is only an evaluation version.

When I got my SP3E starter kit, it came with disks helpfully labelled something like Embedded Development Kit (EDK) and ISE. The ISE disk contains the webpack and evaluation versions of Foundation and Chipscope.

Webpack, according to the disk package materials, is the free and most complete easy-to-use software solution to complete a Xilinx CPLD or FPGA design. Foundation is the world's easiest to use and top-rated PLD design environment. The EDK description was less specific.

I wanted to start by teaching myself VHDL. Based solely on the information above, could you figure out which things to install and activate immediately and which to wait until later for?

Anyway, the EDK is a system for embedding soft processors, ethernet drivers, memory interfaces, and other system components into an FPGA. The 'evaluation version' means that it is usable for only a limited length of time after activation. 'Limited length of time' is 'Less than it takes to get really comfortable with VHDL when teaching it to yourself evenings and weekends on a hobby basis'.

I still don't know what Foundation is.

Just so you know. You ought to not activate the EDK until you have learned VHDL and are ready to start building systems for only the next

90 days. I have pragmatic reasons for wanting to go open source in my designs (e.g. opencores.org) so the wasted activation was no great loss for me.

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David M. Palmer  dmpalmer@email.com (formerly @clark.net, @ematic.com)

yes, opensource is always better. (i dont know why xilinx does not give out EDK for free, so that lot of student will learn it in the universities and apply the knowledge at workplaces, thereby increasing xilinx's profits). but still there are no opensource intergrated development solutions as EDK and platform studio provides. i checked impulseC and it seems great, but costs around $5000. and there is an opensource lib collection called "SystemC". im not qite sure its role yet.