13 Nov
2011
13 Nov
'11
10:13 a.m.
> I wonder if there is open source / reasonably
priced tools to take
> the source -> workable code.
Open source, no. But both Xilinx and Altera
offer the compiler tools
(runnable on Windows and Linux) needed to run on all their low-cost
devices (and some of their high-end ones) for free;
...except that you have to (a) be willing to run either Windows or
Linux, (b) run on their choice of hardware, and either (c1) set up a
very heavily firewalled sacrificial system or (c2) trust the security
of your system to code they aren't even willing to let you look at.
I'm not willing to do (c2) at all, and not willing to do either (a) or
(c1) unless I'm getting paid a fair bit to do so ((b) might join (a)
and (c1), if their required hardware is something I don't have, though
that's highly unlikely).
I'm much less concerned about tools than I am about documentation on
the hardware's interface, on what the bits in the blob thrown at the
hardware mean (and how to thrown them at it, though that part is much
more likely to be documented). I would probably find open-source tools
In the case of the FPGAs I've looked at, the actual way to get the data
into the chip is docuemtned, but what all the bits mean is not.
useful mainly as hardware documentation, though if
they are properly
designed I might be able to pull off their UI and stick on something I
find usable.
I'd love to get into FPGA hacking. But not nearly enough so to
tolerate something as abusive towards their users as "you have to run
our closed-source code". :-=FE
From a _hobbyist_ perspective, I am not sure you're
missing much. I've
designed with FPGas as part of a job, and didn't enjoy
it much. It is
very different from designing logic cirucitry the old-fashioned way for a
start.
For a one-off design, where size is no real issue, I much prefer to grab
a handful of TTL pacakges and start soldering.
-tony