Computer Architecture and VLSI

State of the art facility with networked PCs running the latest Xilinx FPGA design software suited for rapid prototyping of architectures, as well three sets of different FPGA development boards. The PCs also run the latest Mentor Graphics VLSI development tools hosted off a Linux high performance server.

Boards Available:

SignalMaster:
This is a system for prototyping that combines a TI DSP and a Xilinx FPGA. At a lower level, the DSP can be programmed with TI's Composer Studio and the Xilinx FPGA with an HDL (Verilog/VHDL), or it can be programmed directly from Matlab/Simulink at a higher system level. This piece of equipment is networked, so it persists in the network, and can be accessed from any PC.

XESS MODEL XSA-50 WITH MODEL XSTEND:
The XSA-50 Board has a logic density of 50,000 gates with a Spartan-II FPGA. The Spartan-II is combined with a 8-Mbyte synchronous DRAM to give you the resources for building a complete, soft-core RISC microcontroller system! Or anything else you might think of... The bitstream for the XSA-50 can be stored in the on-board 1 Mbit Flash so the FPGA loads its configuration as soon as power is applied. Or you can download to the board through the parallel port. The interface CPLD on the XSA-50 can be programmed so that you can download directly to the board using the XILINX programming tools!  You can also test and debug your circuits using the XILINX ChipScope software with the XSA-50. The XStend Board adds a stereo codec, LEDs, switches, and a dedicated prototyping area to the XSA-50.

XESS MODEL XS40-005XL:
The XS40-005XL Board is perfect for experimenting with FPGA designs, microcontroller programming, or hardware/software codesign. The 9,000-gate XC4005XL FPGA operates at 5V so you can connect it to commonly available TTL chips. Digital logic designs can be loaded into the FPGA. The microcontroller can use the FPGA as a coprocessor. The 128-KByte SRAM can store microcontroller programs/data or serve as general-purpose storage for FPGA-based designs.

XESS MODEL XS95-108:
The XS95-108 Board is perfect for experimenting with CPLD designs, microcontroller programming, or hardware/software codesign. You can implement logic circuitry with the CPLD. The microcontroller can use the CPLD as a coprocessor. The 128 KByte SRAM can store microcontroller programs/data or serve as general-purpose storage for CPLD-based designs.