xiilnx spartan 3 starter kit connection to Ethernet LAN

Hi,

I have a Spartan 3 starter board and NET1 ethernet daughter card. I was expecting to use NET1 to connect the starter board to ethernet LAN. According to Xilinx tech support the NET1 card can be used only for transferring data between a PC and the starter board, but not for connection as a host on a LAN.

Does anybody have a suggestion on how to make the Spartan 3 starter board a host on a LAN?

Also, how can we connect a USB camera device to the Spartan 3 starter board? What hardware and software are required for this purpose?

mali

Reply to
drmali2001
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You will need an ethernet adapter. The usual approach is to buy it as an add-on module or to use an old ISA ethernet card that is fully documented (vs one of the ones that itsn't). If you buy an add-on module all the protocol stuff may be taken care of for you, if you use the card you are going to have to have something on the FPGA capable or running what is basically "software" - in theory you might do it with logic, but in practice you will want a processor core in there to runa program.

It is also possible to couple the ethernet signals fairly directly into the FPGA. See fpga4fun.com for an example - but again, you'll need to run protocol "software" somewhere in the device.

This is close to impossible. Implementing device side USB has several possibilities, but talking to a USB device is a far more complicated task because you must play the host function. You'll either need to add a USB host controller chip and software to run it, or make your own USB host controller in the FPGA.

Both of your questions suggest that an FPGA, or at least an FPGA alone, may not be the right platform for your application. Have you considered a small controller board which might already include ethernet and USB host capabilities? What is the driving requirment for an FPGA architecture? Perhaps you can find a controller board that also has a user FPGA.

Reply to
cs_posting

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