Re: [oc] Interested in helping out

["Andrew Martens" <amartens@interchange.ubc.ca>]

> Andrew,
>
> you can do a lot even without actual hardware. Of course it is nice to
> eventually turn on some LEDs on development board but gate-level
simulators
> can simulate your design very good and often your design will work in real
> FPGA if it works on gate-level simulator (at least this is my experience
> with Xilinx Foundation and Virtex FPGAs ...).

Well, I'm looking through Xilinx's software offerings, and there's quite a
bit to choose from... Unfortunately, I'm not a bit fan of time-based
licensing, especially if the recommended software turns out to be something
other than Foundation Base ($99 USd) - since the next offering up the ladder
is Base Express ($495 USd and out of my price range).  Their student edition
seems as though it may be of questionable usefulness, as it only will
support devices up to 20k system gates.

Now I realize why our digital systems design labs went with Altera FPGAs and
development boards - they have a _free_ student version of their software.
Well, I suppose that Xilinx's software does seem a tad more sophisicated...

Is there someone out there who is experienced with Xilinx's software who
could suggest what I should buy to help out with OC?  Feel free to mail me
in private at amartens@interchange.ubc.ca

> > What is the suggested development hardware (ie FPGA development kit,
> > OCRP-1 board, etc.) for somone looking to be a part of an OpenCores
> > team?  What software will I need?  And most importantly (being a
> > student), how much will this cost me?
>
> You can of course join the queue of all interested for OCRP-1 or get some
> other FPGA board (or PLD).

I'm quite tempted to sign up for a fully assembled OCRP-1 (if the cost will
be in the low hundreds of $), but first it seems that I'm going to have to
get some Xilinx software - which is starting to look prohibitively
expensive.  Naturally, if I pursue a 68k-core design route (see below), I
may not get one.  Well, unless someone thinks I could rig up a 68k core to
work on the OCRP-1 board...

> Regarding your work: you can help with existing design, start something
new,
> ... It depends what you would like to do.

For a while I was toying with the idea of making a Motorola 68k-compatible
core, although there's a few issues I have yet to look into:  whether (a)
Mot would be really hostile to the idea (as ARM appears to be), (b) whether
there would be any demand for such a core, and (c) the approximate number of
gates required.  One of the key reasons for doing a 68k core is that I've
got a lovely set of 68k manuals that Motorola gave me, and because they seem
to be used all over the place.

If people are really keen on a 68k-compatible core, I'll investigate it
further and possibly even come up with a development plan.  "Keen" meaning
"Someone should speak up if they think it's a good idea, and let me know if
it's a bad idea."  If not, I'd be happy to jump on board any other OpenCores
project that needs additional manpower (assuming I manage to pick up the
software I need).

Cheers,
Andrew "Skippy" Martens

http://www.mp3.com/benzene - tell the world about the sound of Benzene
http://skippy.dhs.org/ - now with a hideous new design