Just though I would mention FPGALink here too. It is an open-source library for USB-FPGA hardware and it works well on the Beaglebone Black board. That makes playing with FPGA on a BBB very easy.
https://plus.google.com/100916504717963582641/posts/eNZZzqFQzyQ
@Michael_Jones How does this compare to what is on Logi-Bone?
Hi @Jason_Kridner : Roughly same size of FPGA. FPGA has its own memory so no need to configure it every time you start it up. More I/O (72). High-Speed USB 2.0.
Quite a bit smaller as it is 43x61mm (smaller than a credit card). It can be used on its own (doesn’t require a BBB to function). You can stack it up. And importantly it is available now.
Also I am working on an interface board so it can be plugged on top of the BBB. I am investigating using the PRU for that although GPMC is also possible.
@Jason_Kridner
I certainly don’t want to open a flaming forum post, but here is what I see.
- Logi-Bone is ~40% the cost
- Open Source
- Generation newer Spartan 6 LX9 with all the bells and whistles
- Real time processing using the GPMC bus where USB is not time deterministic with roughly 2x bandwidth of stated performance of given USB driver benchmarks
- No Beaglebone CPU loading with GPMC bus directly connected to memory bus
- Dynamic programming from the BB
- Self programming capability
- Directly stackable with the Beaglebone
- Plug and play expansion to 300+ off the shelf hardware modules
- 2x SDRAM
- 4x Flash
If anyone has direct needs send me an email and I can set you up with a pre-release board.
Keep an eye out for a kickstarter soon
Cheers!
Hi @Michael_Jones
No risk of starting a flaming war despite someone’s best attempt (The beers are on you if the three of us ever meet @Jason_Kridner ) as they are different products.
The aes220 is a standalone board for rapid prototyping which happens to also work well with the BBB or the Raspberry Pi or I’m pretty sure but haven’t tested it the Cubie board. It just need an USB cable or a 5V power supply to run.
On the other hand the Logi-Bone is directed squarely at the BBB.
Some clarifications on the interesting points you made:
The aes220 is also open-source and that post was to show FPGALink which is a separate open-source project running on it.
USB vs GPMC vs PRU: there are pro and cons to all these. One plus of the USB is that it leaves the port on the BBB free for other use like LCD or EMMC memory.
Spartan 6 LX9 vs 3AN: bells and whistles maybe but whether one would do more with it debatable.
The nice thing about the AN is its integrated flash allowing for designing a smaller board.
Dynamic and self programming: I could have got wrong what you mean by that but you can program the aes220 via the USB link with the BBB and the program can be stored in the FPGA Flash to subsequently boot from it too.
Plug and play extensions: the aes220 ports arrangement is very modular so it would take 10 minutes to cut a piece of vero board and solder a connector on it to be able to interface to Pmod modules which is I believe what you are referring to here. I might provide that in the future, although the plan is to also produce some extensions myself so they will integrate better size wise with the board to keep the whole thing compact. Size is an important factor in the aes220 concept.
Kickstarter I think is a brilliant idea and wish you folks at ValentFX good luck with it. I’ll certainly be watching it.