Re: CPLDs/FPGAs toolchain

From: Mark McDougall <msmcdoug_at_iinet.net.au>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2016 10:45:55 +1000
Message-ID: <571AC5C3.4030402@iinet.net.au>
On 23/04/2016 7:41 AM, silverdr@wfmh.org.pl wrote:

> One of the n00bs question is: are the HDL designs transferrable
> (capacity permitting) between FPGAs and CPLDs? And another one: are
> those transferrable (when common language like Verilog or VHDL is
> used) between chips from different vendors?

In short, yes. If you write VHDL or Verilog, you will be able to switch 
between the major vendors' devices without too many issues. Where they 
differ is in the clocks/PLL's and the on-chip memory, and how you 
synthesize them.

I'd suggest you look at one of the free/student versions of ModelSim if 
you want to avoid "vendor lock" as you put it. There were versions 
packed-in with older releases of Quartus, for example. IIUC there are 
also opensource/free version of simulators available which should be 
adequate for simulation. Someone mentioned these are "useless" for 
synthesis, but if you're only simulating they should be perfectly fine.

I have several years of experience in FPGA design, in both VHDL and 
(some) Verilog. I can't overstate the usefulness of simulating your 
design, especially when starting out. One of our early clients insisted 
on a full simulation test-bench for a sizeable project; we actually 
wrote several times more code for, and spent many more hours developing 
the testbench than the actual target design itself, and it was an 
invaluable lesson.

FTR having worked with Altera & Xilinx, I much prefer the former, both 
the devices and the tools. So much so, I actively avoid Xilinx work 
these days. Ughh!! I also much prefer VHDL over Verilog, despite having 
a software background, though I'd concede that writing testbenches is 
much more efficient in Verilog!

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall              | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug> |   with less resistance!"

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