Verilog VHDL ASIC FPGA..

Michael Hart wrote: Recently, I've been playing with Xilinx's Spartan-3E Starter kit. It was $150, which includes on-board programming(ie no programming cable req'd), and gives access to several different features via onboard features: Ethernet Serial VGA External 40-pin FX2 connector Switches, rotary encoder LEDs LCD And then has multiple types of memory like DDR SDRAM, flash The board is based on a Spartan-3E XC3S500E FPGA, and also has a CPLD, and a PROM. The FPGA is a ~500K gate model. The only downside is that that memory is DDR which is a PITA in which to interface. Other boards have easier to access SRAM. I bought my board here http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavTop=2&NavSub=423&… they also have a $79 Basys board which lacks some of the flashier options but is cheaper. There really isn't any other cables/power supplies/software to buy. Xilinx gives their webpack ISE (basically an IDE) to download for free. The ISE is basically all you need. (if you go xilinx route, make sure to turn off your virus scanner prior to installing webpack ise -- it really makes a difference. The install will take 4 hours otherwise) I will say that coming from a limited electronics background, but wholly comfortable with microcontrollers, that going to FPGA-related technology has been a completely larger step up. I'm in the process of learning Verilog and while the syntax is close to C, the approach of stored program execution vs hardware description is miles apart. There is definitely a learning curve involved, but the limited payoffs so far has made it worth it. Xilinx and Altera are the two big FPGA companies, and I chose Xilinx and Verilog because a very cool Amiga-on-an-FPGA board that is out there was based in that. The site http://www.fpga4fun.com is a pretty nice beginners site. Good luck Keith P.S. I was amazed when I first got the free ISE software and installed it. I created a schematic, dropping and dragging logic gates, assign switches and leds. Start the compilation, and voila the design was instantly created, realized, alive, and working. Look ma, no wires! :)