Ok... so i'm ignorant of CPLD devices.... However I want to learn (or at least attempt). What's the difference between the XC2C64A and XC9572XL. I was going to purchase both from Seeed, but the XC2C64A CoolRunner-II CPLD development board is out of stock. Is there enough differences as a learning board to justify getting both, or is the CoolRunner board better (thus why it's sold out and the other has 14 left)? It appears from my ignorance on the subject that the CoolRunner has less Macrocells (not sure what that is), and from what i can tell from the description they run on (or support) different voltage levels?
I know they say easy to program with BusPirate, but would it be suggested to get the BusBlaster to use rather than the BP?
Just looking for some advice from others that know more.
Edit:
Ahh.. .just found on the product page the comparison chart:
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Xil ... lRunner-II (http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Xilinx_CPLDs:_XC9500_vs_CoolRunner-II)
It says the coolrunner is suggested, but as a learning platform would either be just as good as the other? 5 volt tolerant may be useful for interface to arduino? (not sure how useful that would be)? Also it shows that its faster.
Once again, just looking for suggestions.
Right now the Bus Blaster will only program the CoolRunner-II with urjtag programming app. urJtag supports the XC9572XL, but for some reason the current version chokes with the programming file. I'm hoping it will get worked out with the Bus Blaster and CPLD dev-boards now out in the wild.
The Bus Pirate can program both, so can any microcontroller with the XSVF player firmware.
If you need voltage translation between 3.3volts and 1.2volts, then use CoolRunnerII. If you can get by with a single voltage level, or need to translate between 5volts (tolerant) and 3.3volts-1.2volts, use XC9572XL. For simplest design use XC9572XL because it only needs a single power supply (CRII needs 1.8volt core too).
Great, thanks for the heads up. i believe i'll go ahead and grab the XC9572 and wait on the CoolRunner and BusBlaster (good to know it currently doesn't support the XC9572).
I saw discussion of a fix today on the urJTAG mailing list. They know what the issue is (a timeout, the XC9572XL needs longer to erase than SVF standards allow) the question is the best way to implement a fix (if at all, I suppose).
Also the XC9572 has more macrocells then the coolrunner2, so larger project would fit the cpld.
Macrocells are programmed to do whatever you describe (or what the 'compiler' thinks you describe ;) ) in Verilog/VHDL/Whatevers. They (macrocells) consist of bunch lowlevel logic components (like AND,OR, BUF and NOT ports) that are connected (programmed) to perform a certain function. The more macrocells, the more logic can be replaced by a single device.
ahhh, i misunderstood you, so the issue is with urJTAG, not with the BusBlaster. That makes sense. I went ahead and grabbed the XC9572 this morning... i was going to go ahead and get the BusBlaster too, but it was out of stock so instead I got the logic shrimp. I'm a sucker for electronic playthings :) I'm trying to get a small group of guys from work that are also interested to get together on an at least monthly basis to learn and experiment. Just waiting for one of the guys to change work schedule in the next few weeks (he got promotion).