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Build your own FPGA (2012)

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Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#2
I sometimes think it would be fun to build a big board with just a load of NAND gates on it, with power connected up on the PCB, but inputs/outputs going to banana plug jacks. You then wire up your logic with patch cables, a bit like modular synthesizers.

Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#3
post #2

I sometimes think it would be fun to build a big board with just a load of NAND gates on it, with power connected up on the PCB, but inputs/outputs going to banana plug jacks. You then wire up your logic with patch cables, a bit like modular synthesizers.

NANDputer lives!

http://blog.kevtris.org/?p=62

Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#4
This reminds me when I first started getting into FPGA's... a looong time ago. I to code verilog by using this cool feature in Quartus, which was the design software for then Altera FPGA's (now Intel). It had this feature where you could draw a schematic using 7400 logic and it would turn that into the rbf file to config the FPGA. I just thought that was so cool at the time and it was a nice entre into that world.

Later, I got curious, and it had feature to output the 7400 schematics to verilog HDL code. I became very interested in that and eventually learned verilog from the schematic capture and some online tutorials. It wasn't long and I left schematic capture behind. But I thought it was a great way to get into HDL coding.

Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#5
post #2

I sometimes think it would be fun to build a big board with just a load of NAND gates on it, with power connected up on the PCB, but inputs/outputs going to banana plug jacks. You then wire up your logic with patch cables, a bit like modular synthesizers.

Reminds me of the "Electronic Lab" toys I had as a child https://www.petervis.com/electronics-lab/200-in-one-electron...

Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#6
post #5
post #2

I sometimes think it would be fun to build a big board with just a load of NAND gates on it, with power connected up on the PCB, but inputs/outputs going to banana plug jacks. You then wire up your logic with patch cables, a bit like modular synthesizers.

Reminds me of the "Electronic Lab" toys I had as a child https://www.petervis.com/electronics-lab/200-in-one-electron...

I remember those as a kid. Is there a modern version?

Re: Build your own FPGA (2012)

#8
post #4

This reminds me when I first started getting into FPGA's... a looong time ago. I to code verilog by using this cool feature in Quartus, which was the design software for then Altera FPGA's (now Intel). It had this feature where you could draw a schematic using 7400 logic and it would turn that into the rbf file to config the FPGA. I just thought that was so cool at the time and it was a nice entre into that world. La…

I started playing with FPGA's while in uni (on my own) when I found out NI's Multisim had the option to export your logic circuits as vhdl. So I used my student email to get a copy of Multisim and get a discount on a Digilent Nexus 2. I was drawing logic circuits and then running them on my board. I was having a lot of fun with it but focus shifted and haven't touched FPGA's since.
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