FS: Mercury DIP FPGA module - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 04:35:02 pm
content: My friend and I make this small FPGA module that can fit in a breadboard!It packs a Spartan-3A FPGA onto a 64-pin DIP package, along with a USB programming port, Flash and SRAM memories, 5-volt tolerant I/O, and an onboard 8-channel ADC.They are on sale this weekend!Check it out here:http://micro-nova.com/mercury

author: ashley.hughes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2012, 11:21:28 pm
content: Looks really cool, I am thinking about learning some FPGA based electronics in the near future.My only grief is the lack of mac versions of the IDE's and programmers. I know industry is mainly windows though.I will keep the mercury in mind when I get one. Love the tutorial as well on your site.

author: ptricks
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2012, 12:38:03 am
content: I wish I had the cash to spare, that is a really nice FPGA part. You seem to have covered a lot of the hurdles that I have had to go through learning FPGA.I had to buy a jtag , I had to buy level converter parts because FPGA don't like anything higher than 3.3V, your board has those. For those not having used FPGA before, they are VERY unforgiving of how you connect to the interface pins. They are not like a MCU where a split second wrong connection and the part still works, do it with an FPGA and you can destroy that pin and as much as the parts cost you don't want that to happen too often.Anyone looking to get started with FPGA though, the board the OP is selling looks to cover all the issues and should work well. Not an endorsement and I don't know the OP, just from the looks this looks good and is priced fair.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2012, 05:28:28 pm
content: Quote from: ashley.hughes on November 28, 2012, 11:21:28 pmI know, it's too bad Xilinx (and Altera for that matter) don't offer Mac versions of their IDEs. If they did, we'd certainly develop a Mac version of our programmer utility.On a related note, we plan on releasing a Linux programmer utility for Mercury around New Year's.Quote from: ashley.hughes on November 28, 2012, 11:21:28 pmThanks Ashley! We are planning on adding more tutorials very soon. Everything from basic logic gates all the way up to a VGA driver and special-purpose-processor! Stay tunedQuote from: ptricks on November 29, 2012, 12:38:03 amThanks ptricks!

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2013, 11:06:49 pm
content: Quote from: mark2112 on December 09, 2012, 05:28:28 pmWe've released a Linux programmer utility for the Mercury FPGA board!http://micro-nova.com/mercury/programmer

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2013, 01:27:07 pm
content: Quote from: mark2112 on January 29, 2013, 11:06:49 pmUnder WINE?QuoteAlexander.

author: smackaay
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2013, 06:30:12 pm
content: I bought one of these about a month ago, haven't played with it much though. The form factor is pretty nice and seems to function well thus far.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2013, 03:50:08 pm
content: Quote from: firewalker on January 30, 2013, 01:27:07 pmNope, it uses MonoThis is explained in the included "readme" file, along with the driver installation procedure.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 02:39:19 pm
content: Quote from: mark2112 on November 23, 2012, 04:35:02 pmHey everybody! We recently added a lower-cost model with a 50K FPGA and no external SRAMhttp://micro-nova.com/mercury

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2013, 06:23:56 am
content: Hello everyone! And happy Thanksgiving week from all of us at MicroNova Electronics!To celebrate this week, we have a special promotion going on:Grab one of our Mercury 50k FPGA boards for just $39.99, using the coupon code "FARADAY".These have a 50k Xilinx Spartan 3A FPGA, along with a serial ADC, 5V tolerant I/O, 8-Mbit Flash storage, and USB programmer - all packed onto a 3" by 1" breadboard-friendly DIP package.http://micro-nova.com/mercuryLimit one per customer. While supplies last!And just reply here if you have any questions or comments about the product.

author: ElektroQuark
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 26, 2013, 07:25:08 am
content: No promotion for the 200k?

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 04:35:02 am
content: Hi,I got one of this boards today and I have the following issue: after downloading half the internet for Xilinx ISE thing, I've re-created the example from the site (led_demo) step by step. I've uploaded successfully using the programmer, but there is no blink at all.The four LEDs were OK before the first programming because they were list (amber). Now they don't do anything except becoming a dim amber when I press one of the buttons on the board (same as they were doing before uploading led_demo).Is there anything I did wrong (Xilinx IDE said everything was OK, the resources usage table was identical to the example in the web site)?The board is the 50K gates one without RAM.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 04:43:30 am
content: Hello sigxcpu! We'll figure this out!Check out step 2 of the tutorial. When you created the project, did you select XC3S200A or XC3S50A? (this targets the 200K and 50K FPGAs, respectively.)Best Regards,MarkQuote from: sigxcpu on November 30, 2013, 04:35:02 am

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 03:35:20 pm
content: It is set as XC3S50A (Spartan 3A group) with -4 speed.I've attached the project. Please disregard the changes, I've tried to ignore the counter and simply pulse the LEDs on every clock change. Still doesn't work.

author: Jon86
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 04:39:13 pm
content: Looks great! Very affordable too!Will definitely consider buying one

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 04:39:33 pm
content: Hello sigxcpu,Something was wrong with your UCF file. The < > brackets were showing up incorrectly (perhaps your browser copied/saved it as HTML-encoded text?)For the LEDs section, it reads:Code:NET "LED&lt;0&gt;" LOC = "P13" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED&lt;1&gt;" LOC = "P15" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED&lt;2&gt;" LOC = "P16" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED&lt;3&gt;" LOC = "P19" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;Instead of:Code:NET "LED<0>" LOC = "P13" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED<1>" LOC = "P15" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED<2>" LOC = "P16" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;NET "LED<3>" LOC = "P19" | IOSTANDARD = LVTTL ;So it was ignoring the LOC (pin location) constraints in the UCF file. If a given NET doesn't have an LOC constraint, the Xilinx compiler randomly assigns those nets to other pins! Transplanting a fresh UCF file into your project folder seems to fix the issue.You can get it from here:http://www.micro-nova.com/files/mercury.ucfI added a zipped version too:http://www.micro-nova.com/files/mercury.ucf.zip(so it downloads as a file, instead of opening as text in the browser)Let me know if this solves your problem!Best Regards,MarkQuote from: sigxcpu on November 30, 2013, 03:35:20 pm

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 07:55:10 pm
content: Yeap, that fixed it, thanks.The .zip idea is better, because the browser gets the file as text/plain, I think.Alex

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 08:55:16 pm
content: Now it seems that I'm running to another issue. The configuration is not written or read from the flash. Everytime I power-off, it starts with the four LEDs dim.I've tried to upload the bitstream keeping PROG low, to no avail.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 09:00:21 pm
content: Quote from: sigxcpu on November 30, 2013, 08:55:16 pmI take it you're using the USB programming port? (Please note the JTAG port only talks directly to the FPGA, and thus will not write to the flash.)After power-off -> power-on, what is the state of LED D5 at the top of the board? (amber or green)

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 09:48:30 pm
content: Yes, USB port only. I do not have a JTAG interface (very low level hobbist, not much equipment).After reset, I think the top led is amber (there are two small dots in it: red and green). During upload it is green only.This is the burn log:Connected to board; serial number is 257.8Mbit Flash chip detected (ME1B)Erasing Flash chip. This may take a moment. Please wait...Read 54756 bytes -> 208 sectors.Writing new sectors...Successfully wrote 208 flash sectors.Flash write complete.Time elapsed: 00:00:09.4168423

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 09:54:08 pm
content: Go ahead and post your project folder again. I can try it on my board.For clarity: the issue is after a cold power-up, the LED doesn't flash? But it flashes OK immediately after programming (without removing power)?

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2013, 01:30:47 am
content: Yes, whenever I re-insert power (cold boot, right), the 4 LEDs are a dim amber.After programming finishes, the "application" starts. It looks like the programming is volatile.This happens with both PROG button pressed during programming and with it released.The biggest change I've noticed is this: after burning the wrong bitfile (the one with HTML-formatted .ucf) the LEDs were off, even after a cold boot. It looked like it kept its wrong "firmware".After fixing the UCF file, the LEDs are dim amber after a cold boot, exactly like they were when the board arrived.

author: mark2112
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2013, 02:55:26 am
content: Hi sigxcpu,I'm sorry about this. It sounds like your board might have a flaky FTDI chip. We've encountered one other board in-house with these same symptoms; yours must have made it past quality control.I will immediately ship you a replacement and send you an email with the shipping details.Best Regards,MarkQuote from: sigxcpu on December 01, 2013, 01:30:47 am

author: sigxcpu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2013, 04:04:05 am
content: Don't bother, as I will leave US tomorrow. If there is anything I can do on my side it would be nice.Thank you,Alex