Gowin Arora V SRAM Based FPGAs - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2022, 12:10:12 pm
content: They have finally done it, the notable thing is the embedded transceivers and higher logic density, There was a rumor that they would embed DDR4 chips too, but this version does not have it.https://www.gowinsemi.com/en/product/detail/60/Has anyone get samples or price info?

author: Boscoe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2022, 11:49:40 pm
content: These FPGAs look very interesting however what is the tooling like? What IP is available? Yes, it takes an enormous effort to develop and sell an FPGA however in the west (and for hobbyists) labour is too expensive to not have a comprehensive IP catalog.

author: kmike
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 06:24:29 am
content: You can check their IP catalog here:https://gowinsemi.com/en/support/ip/What I don't like is the only package avaiable is FPG676A...

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 01:14:01 pm
content: Quote from: ali_asadzadeh on October 04, 2022, 12:10:12 pmNope. From what I see they just some released preliminary documentation, other essential documentation is missing and there is no software support yet. But nevertheless these devices look very interesting.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 01:41:23 pm
content: In their software for their existing parts they have a lot of IP cores, all of them are free, And I think we would get a lot more IP cores for this generation, I hope they would sell them around 10-15$ price point.Also I hope to see some versions with embedded DDR part and also QFN88 package too!

author: SpacedCowboy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 03:19:55 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on October 05, 2022, 01:14:01 pmI mean, every FPGA vendor announces the chip's capabilities well in advance of them getting to the customers, but once announced with a feature list, they'realmostcertain to appear in due course.Gowin's IP list is pretty impressive. Their software is very (very!) bare-bones - nothing like the complexity of the big two. In some ways that's appealing... In others, downright annoying.What is sorely lacking is the sophistication of their IP - in my aborted attempt to port BrianHG's DDR ip to the Gowin chips, the difference between the Altera and the Gowin IP was stark. The documentation reflected that...On the other hand, the chips are very very cheap for what they do, the IP is all freely available, and the software is fairly straightforward to get working with ModelSim - they provide the simulation models that modelsim can read, for the Gowin primitives.So, you pays your money, and you makes your choice. The uplift from the 9K to the 20K board from SiSpeed is quite significant for $7 difference, and it's on a nice form-factor SO-DIMM with DDR already mounted. As a 'build-in' module, that's a pretty good deal under a lot of circumstances, IMHO.

author: up8051
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 03:43:27 pm
content: It is a pity that the chips are not available in the LCSC / JLCPCB.I use 1k / 4 / 9k tang nano modules but sometimes the connections do not suit me and I would like to produce a short series of my own PCBs.Accessibility at JLCPCB would make this a lot easier.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2022, 05:55:19 pm
content: Quote from: SpacedCowboy on October 05, 2022, 03:19:55 pmI have used a Gowin FPGA for a relatively simple project and found their software to be useful. But I have to admit my project didn't need complicated constraints. Also I didn't use any of their programmer interface. I went straight to using SPI from the microcontroller that was on the board already. Getting the SPI programming working was very straightforward.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2022, 09:48:45 pm
content: Guy's I have some new suggestions, Please email Gowin support and ask for release time and suggest that if the device price would be around 10$ you would use it in your products! So they know how to price the product.

author: mc68000
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2022, 11:53:10 pm
content: , but I doubt that will work. They are using TSMC as their competitors do. I do not think there is magic to get much cheaper. But it would be a nice try.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2022, 08:58:29 am
content: The strategy will work, Just look at #MahsaAmini in twitter or #مهسا_امینی and I bet you should already heard about it in the news.