Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
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Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#2So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff.
Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p framebuffer to attach over the ARM PMI bus to an Atmel SAM9 part but this is much nicer being fully integrated. My plan now is to build a system out of it and then spin a board without the extra bits to get the board price down around $99 rather than $400. Very interesting architecture.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#3Isn't this the same CPU/FPGA that is on the Parallella? The 7020?
Should provide a decent sized ecosystem if it is.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#4So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
I'd be interested in knowing how fast data can be transferred between the fpga fabric and the processor. Any idea?
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#5So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
Chuck, have you verified that the price is $15? because i heard it's mostly marketing and the real price is much higher.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#6So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
I'd be interested in knowing how fast data can be transferred between the fpga fabric and the processor. Any idea?
Xilinx' block diagram shows the FPGA having direct access to both the peripheral bus and the memory bus, including the cache coherency port, so I'd guess you can transfer data to the ARM cores fairly fast (as fast as you can get something from dram into L2 cache).
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#7So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
I'd be interested in knowing how fast data can be transferred between the fpga fabric and the processor. Any idea?
You should take a closer look at Xilinx's tech docs (there are a lot): http://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/soc/zynq-7000... - it uses ARM AMBA for interconnect.
FWIW, Parallella uses a very similar chip (ZYNQ7010 vs 7020) and lists the interconnect bandwidth as 2.4GB/s so I'd expect it'd be around there.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#8So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
Chuck, have you verified that the price is $15? because i heard it's mostly marketing and the real price is much higher.
Well it was a quote I got from the distributor. At a conference the guy talking about the chip gave me that price and I asked the distributor to verify it. They squirmed a bit but eventually said they would (also Arrow btw).
That said, there has apparently been a lot more interest in this chip than Xilinx expected and I got the impression they were worried they had under priced it. But some of the markets they are shooting for won't tolerate a higher price so my hope is that it will hold. At 10K units its only a $150K buy to get the 'good' price, one wonders if you could get enough interest in a kickstarter to meet that quantity goal.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#9So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
I'd be interested in knowing how fast data can be transferred between the fpga fabric and the processor. Any idea?
I believe the 2.4GB/sec is the spec rate for this chip. Their demo board does three 1080p feeds mixed into a 1080p output which suggests it is pretty usable.
One of the key differences in this chip versus other architectures is that ARM system boots first and has some ability to do reconfiguration. (all of the key subsystems for the ARM core to boot are hard blocks.)
I don't hold out a lot of hope for open floorplanning tools from Xilinx but they do have a Linux toolchain so hopefully it will be possible to do native development.
Re: Zedboard, dual ARM cores with an FPGA attached
#10So I submit this because I just bought one ($395 from Arrow) and the parts are supposed to be like $15 in quantity. My goal is to build a simple framebuffer in it such that you can have not only an ARM SOC with memory controllers, gigabit ethernet, etc. But also a well documented (and actually changeable) way to display stuff. Prior to finding out about this chip I was sort of half-heartedly working on a simple 1080p…
Interesting.
Zynq-7020 is supposedly less than $50 in reasonable quantity, if you stay firm with the distributors. Xilinx are known for unpublished discounts, using the discount code Altera :)
BTW Couldn't you make a cheap FPGA into a frame buffer, not use a separate ARM chip?