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Considering FPGA

05/20/2009

Since this will be an experimental computer (kind of personal laboratory), FPGA seems to be the obvious option for its base technology. Once the machine has been built, I would be able to teak the circuits at not cost without even opening the case. Besides, it is a good opportunity for me to get started with this technology.

However, FPGAs don't come in DIP encapsulations much less with .100 mil inter-legs spacing, a little detail that takes me away from the traditional cheap prototyping boards that I know. There are prototyping boards for FPGAs, indeed, and they come will cool and convenient features such as USB, Parallel ports, Flash memory etc, but they are consequently expensive.

I had never thought in wasting my time making custom PCB cards, but that could be an alternative to the expensive FPGA prototyping boards, though PCB design doesn't sound too much attractive to me. In such case I would have to discart SRAM FPGA at once to focus on flash-based ones only.

So the FPGA pick is not as obvious as it seemed at first though still a very atractive one.