Newbie Question Clocks on the Spartan 3

Aug 06, 2004 2 Replies

Just got my Xilinx Spartan 3 board operational. One part of the board sends digital data to a video DAC at 48 MHz. I did a priliminary program to send a test pattern to this DAC but the results change with a modification to the VGACLK'event and VGACLK='1' line. If I change the '1' to a '0' I get better results. I suppose I should now go Spartan 3 specific and use the Xilinx DCMs? Can someone point me to beginners doc on clock distribution and DCMs? I am printing the 68 page XAPP462 as I write this post but sheesh what a horse!



Thanks,



Brad


What do you mean "better results"? Sounds to me like you have a timing issue between your data and clock. What is the timing relationship between the two? Is the DAC clock feeding into the FPGA or out from the FPGA? What edge of the clock is the DAC reading data on? What edge of the clock is the FPGA sending the data on?

Rick "rickman" Collins rick.collins@XYarius.com Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY removed. Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company Specializing in DSP and FPGA design URL http://www.arius.com 4 King Ave 301-682-7772 Voice Frederick, MD 21701-3110 301-682-7666 FAX

It's running now. Not all my pins were soldered correctly. And a timing variable was off to boot. I may still want to use the DCM however.

To answer your questions:

Well right now I'm a happy camper.

An FAE suggested I run an outside clock to the FPGA and to the DAC.

Rising

I switched it back to rising with this sort of VHDL: if( VGACLK'event and VGACLK='1')

Thanks for your help. What's with your web site?

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required