PHYS 432 - Programmable Logic

Overview

Lab 5 of PHYS 432 is an introduction to programmable logic, specifically EEPROMs, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). In the past this lab covered simple PIC microprocessors instead of FPGAs, so I have left that material linked below. There are also a few links for getting started with more complex microprocessor ecosystems, namely the Arduino.

While it is easier to learn the concepts of digital electronics on discrete logic components, modern electronics designs are almost exclusively implemented with only a few programmable logic devices. The purpose of this lab is to provide a basic introduction to the general concepts of these programmable logic devices without going too far into the details of how these devices work.

The information provided on the PLD Info, FPGA Info, and PIC Info pages are intended to give you some more details which may be useful for people who want to make use of these devices in their projects. Exploring these topics further in your projects is highly encouraged.

The software needed to complete the lab is installed on the PCs in Room 11. For completing Lab 5, I strongly encourage you to use the lab PCs. If you have time left at the end, and are interested in using some of these techniques in your project, you could try to get this installed and running on your own laptop. In some cases this is not trivial, however, so I would not waste your time on this in lab.

Lab Instructions

Code Resources

PLD code: ledenc.pld, ledcnt.pld, optional 4-bit counter version: ledcnt16.pld
FPGA Verilog files: seconds.v, buttontest.v
Other FPGA files: pins.pcf, apio.ini
Pre-compiled PIC test file: default.hex
PIC assembly code: clock.asm

Applications

WinCUPL from Microchip
TL866 programmer page for downloading Xgpro software
GQ-4x4 software page
TinyFPGA BX Guide
MPLAB development environment for PICs
PICkit 1 Classic
PICkit 2 information

Documentation

Other Code Examples

More documentation and useful resources can be found on the PLD Info, FPGA Info, and PIC Info pages.

Arduino Links

Arduino Home Page
Arduino Getting Started
Learning arduino from adafruit.com
I found the built in examples to be the most useful

I have a few Arduino UNO and Micro boards available if somebody would like to play with these.

Digital Electronics