I have an idea for an electronics project (don't I always?), but have hit a bit of a stumbling block.
The idea was to make a PC-based logic analyzer. I would build a board with an FPGA and some buffer SRAM, and the PC would read from this buffer. The problem is that I would need at least 32 channels at 20MHz, and I have yet to find a way to transfer data to the PC at sufficient speed to handle this, other than PCI (which would be a lot of work and very expensive). USB2 Hi-speed (480Mbit/s) is not enough, according to my calculations.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here had better ideas? Perhaps someone sells a peripheral card with a high-speed external bus?
Assuming that this is a personal project, you may want to consider purchasing a personal version of BDS XPCI PCI IP core. Furthermore, you will have to perform bus master (initiator) transfer to get the performance you are thinking of. BDS XPCI PCI IP core supports bus master transfer, but the user will have to design quite a bit of backend user logic to make it happen. BDS XPCI PCI IP core is a Xilinx (TM) LogiCORE (TM) PCI compatible (replacement) PCI IP core developed by Brace Design Solutions. BDS XPCI32 PCI IP core is available for as little as $100 for non-commercial, non-profit, personal use, and the same 64-bit version BDS XPCI64 PCI IP core (Includes BDS XPCI32 PCI IP core) goes for $200. Since the pricing starts at only $100, it is ideal for HDL learners, FPGA beginners, FPGA hobbyists, computer hardware enthusiasts, or student graduation projects. BDS XPCI PCI IP core comes with a PCI testbench for Verilog HDL which allows the user to simulate the design extensively on an HDL simulator like ModelSim before firing up the FPGA. VHDL support is currently poor, but VHDL porting of reference designs and PCI testbench should be available by end of the month. BDS XPCI PCI IP core officially supports the following PCI boards.
- Insight Electronics Spartan-II 200 PCI Development Kit
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BDS XPCI PCI IP core "unofficially" supports the following PCI boards.
- Avnet Xilinx Spartan-3 Evaluation Kit
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- Enterpoint Broaddown2 Development Board
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So with BDS XPCI PCI IP core, almost anyone can make their own PCI device for about $400 to $500. ($300 to $400 for the board + $100 for BDS XPCI32 PCI IP core) For commercial users who want to modify a Xilinx LogiCORE PCI or want to convert a design that uses Xilinx LogiCORE PCI to an ASIC (FPGA to ASIC conversion), BDS XPCI PCI IP core is also available in Verilog HDL RTL. For more information, visit Brace Design Solutions website at
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Kevin Brace
dsg wrote:
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Brace Design Solutions
Xilinx (TM) LogiCORE (TM) PCI compatible BDS XPCI PCI IP core available
for as little as $100 for non-commercial, non-profit, personal use.
http://www.bracedesignsolutions.com
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