<div dir="ltr">I have used Spartan 3 and 6 series. Since we're comparing commercial temp grade parts, the XC6SLX25 [1] has about the same number of logic cells and almost four times as much block ram. The Artix FPGAs have more multiplier/DSP cores, though. Unfortunately the Artix FPGA that is competitive spec-wise with the LX25 is not available yet (our Xilinx reps told us next summer, probably), so Spartan 6 is still where it's at for the low end (and by low end, I mean under $50/device in volume).<div>
<br></div><div>So, we could buy a significantly more expensive Zynq that has 1/4 the block ram, or we could just use a Spartan 6 and a $5 Cortex-M4 microcontroller if needed. Since our applications are block ram intensive, we went with the Spartan 6.</div>
<div><br></div><div>[1] <a href="http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/XC6SLX25-2FTG256C/122-1753-ND/2339839">http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/XC6SLX25-2FTG256C/122-1753-ND/2339839</a></div></div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 6:11 PM, Greg London <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:email@greglondon.com" target="_blank">email@greglondon.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
digikey lists the 7010 going for $55.<br>
<a href="http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=XC7Z010-1CLG225C&vendor=122" target="_blank">http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=XC7Z010-1CLG225C&vendor=122</a><br>
<br>
What chips/families do you use?<br>
<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
> I do, but haven't tried the Zynq. They have not been price competitive<br>
> when<br>
> compared to a discrete FPGA and microprocessor combination.<br>
> On Dec 19, 2013 5:48 PM, "Greg London" <<a href="mailto:email@greglondon.com">email@greglondon.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>><br>
>> Maybe I could start with a poll:<br>
>><br>
>> How many people on the list use FPGA's for design?<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> > Nice.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > I don't know why the price is so different compared to the zedboard.<br>
>> > All I can guess is that avnet seems to make prototype boards<br>
>> > for corporate engineering companies, and they figured those buyers<br>
>> > could afford a markup. I think thye spent quite a long time to get<br>
>> > the board to work, plus dealing with the ZYNQ chip being a long time<br>
>> > in coming. It will be interesting to see how parallella's first<br>
>> > batch of consumer boards hold up in the field. January maybe?<br>
>> ><br>
>> > Has anyone worked with the zynq chip?<br>
>> > I've fiddled with it using the xilinx pre-built AXI slaves.<br>
>> > I have some home-grown axi slaves and I haven't<br>
>> > found a good explanation of how to hook it up<br>
>> > to the rest of the design.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > Greg<br>
>> ><br>
>> >> I am always amazed when I see what kid of FPGA you can get from a<br>
>> >> Kickstarter<br>
>> >> project. Parallella has a Xilinx Zyng-7000 on it and Parallella only<br>
>> >> costs<br>
>> >> $99<br>
>> >> (as compared to the $349 deep academic discount of a Zedboard).<br>
>> >><br>
>> >> Now there is Logi-Bone... a Spartan 6 shield for $69? How in the name<br>
>> of<br>
>> >> Sam<br>
>> >> Hill are they doing that? Volume? I doubt it...<br>
>> >><br>
>> >><br>
>> <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575992013/logi-fpga-development-board-for-raspberry-pi-beagl" target="_blank">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575992013/logi-fpga-development-board-for-raspberry-pi-beagl</a><br>
>> >> _______________________________________________<br>
>> >> Hardwarehacking mailing list<br>
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>> >> <a href="http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking" target="_blank">http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking</a><br>
>> >><br>
>> ><br>
>> ><br>
>> > --<br>
>> ><br>
>> ><br>
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>><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div>--<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>