CoolRunner-ll: Xilinx CPLD Development Kit （3）

Published:2011/7/28 22:10:00 Author:Li xiao na From:SeekIC

By Paul Goossens

Software

The software that comes with the kit is extremely extensive and distributed across two CD-ROMs. The design software and a number of examples may be found on tire CD-ROM labelled iSE’. The other CD-ROM contains a multimedia presentation about the development board, together with some additional technical information.

In our case the ISE software suite contained version 5.1. Meanwhile, updates have become available on the Xilinx website, and all users of the kit are encouraged to get these free downloads. During installation you are prompted to register ownership of the product, which is possible by Internet, fax or e-mail.

Within ISE, designs may be entered in a number of ways: Verilog and VHDL are the two languages the software understands. Besides, the software contains its own schematic capture utility that allows a circuit to be drawn in a more conventional way. The state machine editor is a nice bonus feature thrown in by the people at Xilinx. This editor takes the hassle out of designing a state machine. Just draw it, enter the right conditions and hey presto the software generates a valid VHDL file. If you’re after bugs or improvements, analyzing and/or modifying such a state machine is much easier than examining just about any piece of VHDL code.

Fortunately, ISE also contains a tutorial providing step-by-step guidance on how the software is best used. As usual, it is recommended to complete the tutorial to the very end. Doing so will eventually save you a lot of time searching for the desired function.

To cap it all, ISE also contains a program that allows a CPLD to be easily programmed from a PC. In this way, the entire programming cycle is dealt with by a single software package.

Finally

This development kit is highly recommended if you are interested in CPLDs, or just want to gain experience in describing circuitry in the Verilog or VHDL language. On their website Xilinx also offers a considerable number of free examples for use with ISE. The price of the Xilinx CoolRunner-H kit, its availability and ease of ordering are first-rate and we hope other suppliers of development kits will follow suit.

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