Gadget Factory

Sneak Peek: Papilio RAM Prototype

— by

Jack Gassett

There is a new FPGA Dev board in the works at Gadget Factory. The new board, codenamed Papilio RAM, brings some exciting new features to the Papilio Platform:

Papilio RAM Prototype

  • 2-16 Mb of 16bit SRAM.
  • Spartan 3A FPGA in a BGA package means that gate densities from 50K-1400K can be populated.
  • Spartan 3A allows multi-booting multiple bitstreams from a single SPI Flash chip.
  • Spartan 3A supports Secure DNA for secure deployment of applications.
  • Multi-Layer design means the board is just 2×2 inches, much smaller than the Papilio One.
  • Four 16-bit Wing slots for a total of 64 I/O pins.

With this new board the sky is the limit and the following types of projects can be implemented:

  • ucLinux running on the Microblaze 32 bit processor
  • JOP – Java Virtual Machine
  • x86 processor which allows DOS to run.
  • Arcade Games that require more than 45K of RAM.
  • Amiga 500 on an FPGA projects

Prototypes have been built and we are in the process of testing the design and building more prototypes for sale.

Status:

  • Currently the AVR8 processor has been ported and the ASCIITest sketch which tests UART communications works correctly.
  • All I/O ports have not been verified yet. A full ucf file needs to be generated.
  • Memory has not been verified, a test application needs to be created.

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Responses

  1. buckanear Avatar
    buckanear

    Interesting project.

    Interested in about when first boards are shippable.

    With 64 I/O I guess the BGA is a FTG256 package.

    james

  2. Jack Gassett Avatar
    Jack Gassett

    Yes,

    It is indeed the FTG256 package. I just ordered enough parts to build 5 more boards so I might be able to have a couple boards available in a week or so. It would still be “Prototype” status, it will be a while before I can have the board fully tested and supported in all the Papilio projects.

    Jack.

  3. jefke Avatar
    jefke

    Hi,

    Nice project.

    What’s going to be the standard fpga densisty ?
    Any ideas about the costs yet for a board.

    1. Jack Gassett Avatar
      Jack Gassett

      I will probably start out with 200K and 400K options as the standard densities, just like the 250K and 500K for the Papilio One now. In time I will offer the 700K and 1400K options as well.

      I haven’t had the time to do a cost analysis yet, I want the pricing to be in the $85-135 range with $100 being the optimal price. I might have to make a new revision to bring the costs down to get it into that range, but I just haven’t had the time to really get the numbers in an excel spreadsheet yet.

  4. Tweets that mention The new Papilio FPGA board with Spartan 3A chip and 512kB RAM: — Topsy.com

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nikhil, GadgetFactory. GadgetFactory said: The new Papilio FPGA board with Spartan 3A chip and 512kB RAM: http://www.gadgetfactory.net/blog/?p=302 […]

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