This is an introduction to the Altium NanoBoard-3000 FPGA
Welcome to the training module on the Altium Nanoboard-3000 FPGA. Here we discuss the key features, architectual details and give a functional overview of the device.
The 3000-series NanoBoard provides the perfect entry-point to discover and explore the world of soft design in a low-cost, fun way. In true NanoBoard style, each board in the series offers a reprogrammable hardware platform that harnesses the power of a high-capacity, low-cost programmable device to allow rapid and interactive implementation and debugging of your digital designs. The NanoBoard 3000 provides a fixed User FPGA that is located on the motherboard itself and provision for the attachment of a single peripheral board. Much of the peripheral resource functionality found on the NanoBoard NB2 is also found on the NanoBoard 3000, along with additional resources of its own – including Relays, Power PWM Drivers and a MIDI interface.
The NanoBoard 3000 is supplied with a Xilinx Spartan 3AN FPGA, hardware, software, IP, and dedicated Altium Designer Soft Design license. Using NanoBoard 3000, designers can construct, test, and implement FPGA-based embedded systems. IP libraries and intuitive graphical editors enable users to add processors, memory controllers, peripheral blocks, and software stacks. Designers also have the option to deploy designs in modular commercial enclosures. The IP libraries and intuitive graphical editors that are central to Altium Designer means that you can simply add processors, memory controllers, peripheral blocks and software stacks. They have everything you need to create next-generation, FPGA-hosted embedded systems with off-the-shelf components without having to write HDL or low level driver code.
This page gives a high-level block diagram of the NanoBoard-3000, the heart of which is the Host Controller FPGA (NanoTalk Controller). Motherboard resources are highlighted, showing which are dedicated for use by the Host Controller and which are available to the User FPGA. In addition, indication is given on how the satellite boards ( peripheral board , speaker board and TFT LCD panel board) fit together within the system.
The NanoBoard 3000 SPI system involves a variety of SPI-compatible slave resources, located across the hardware system – on the motherboard itself and also on certain peripheral boards that plug into the motherboard. The majority of these SPI resources are accessible by three distinct SPI masters, over a common, multiplexed SPI bus. Providing the required SPI bus arbitration between the masters, and access to the SPI devices, is the NanoBoard 3000's SPI Controller. The Controller, which is part of the NanoBoard firmware, plays the role of multiplexer/router – determining which master has access to the common SPI bus and which SPI slave device is selected for communications.
Each of Altium's 3000-series NanoBoards is a 242 x 176mm (9.5" x 6.9") six layer printed circuit board, powered by an external 5 Volt regulated supply. One of the plane layers is used predominantly as a grounding plane (GND, AGND, AUGND, SHIELD), but incorporates split regions to accommodate 1.2V, 1.8V and 2.5V supplies. The other plane is used primarily for 5V and 3.3V supplies. Both top and bottom of the board are used for component placement. The motherboard features a variety of resources, many of which are made available to the on-board User FPGA. There are also a number of system resources, that are not accessible from the User FPGA device, but are available to the user in various situations – such as audio-related connectors and resources for powering the board. Some system resources are only used by the motherboard itself, such as memory devices used by the firmware running in the board's Host Controller FPGA device (NanoTalk Controller).
The NanoBoard 3000 is connected to your PC via one of the computer's standard USB 2.0 ports. The NanoBoard provides a corresponding port through use of a USB B-type connector. Providing the high-speed interface between the NanoTalk Controller and the USB bus is an EZ-USB SX2™ device (CY7C68001-56LFC, from Cypress Semiconductor). This device has a built-in USB transceiver and a Serial Interface Engine (SIE), which automatically manages the USB protocol. The device is powered by the motherboard's 3.3V supply and is configured to provide a 16-bit bidirectional data bus to/from the NanoTalk Controller.
In addition to JTAG chain management and communications with board resources locally, the NanoTalk Controller multiplexes the various device chains (NanoBoard, Hard JTAG and Soft JTAG) to present a single JTAG link to the PC on which the Altium Designer software is installed. This single chain is then de-multiplexed by the software.
The analog R, G and B signals – required for output to a connected monitor – are obtained by passing the 24-bit digital RGB video signal (RGB, 8-bits parallel) through a THS8134 Video DAC device. For each colour, the 8-bit digital signal can be converted into 256 distinct analog levels. These levels specify the intensity of each of the three primary colours. By driving each output into a 75Ω load prior to the connector, standard video output levels are achieved, ranging from 0V (total darkness) to 0.7V (maximum brightness). With each analog input being one of 256 possible levels, the monitor can display each pixel on the screen with one of 16777216 colour permutations.
The NanoBoard 3000 provides a single FPGA device, to which an FPGA design is targeted and ultimately programmed. Referred to as the 'User FPGA', this device is fixed on the motherboard – there are no daughter boards used with the 3000-series NanoBoards. The actual FPGA device resident on the motherboard will depend on which variant of NanoBoard you are using. The NanoBoard 3000XN provides a Spartan-3AN device (XC3S1400AN-4FGG676C) as its User FPGA. This is the same device that is used on Altium's Xilinx® Spartan™-3AN daughter board DB41.
The NB3000 contains many digital devices that are highly sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD).To provide a level of protection against such discharge, the NB3000 incorporates shielding for the following metallic-based components that are routinely handled: RS-232 port, CAN port, USB port, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, power toggle switch and SD card reader. Each of these components is connected to a common SHIELD point.When the NB3000 is connected to a PC using the USB connection, the component SHIELD is essentially tied to the PC’s chassis ground, and it is through this ground that any build-up of electrostatic charge will be dissipated (discharged). If the NB3000 is not connected via USB, then the electrostatic charge is coupled via a 10M resistor and 470pf capacitor to logic ground (GND). In addition, ESD, RFI/EMI and aggressive earth management requirements are achieved through protective shield nets made available to the motherboard, daughterboard and peripheral boards via the mechanical standoffs. A dedicated ESD pad is also provided on the motherboard.
The NanoBoard 3000 provides a high-quality audio sub-system, complete with analog mixer, power amplifier and various sound output methods. The NanoBoard 3000 provides a 3.5mm stereo audio jack for connection of an external audio device, labelled 'LINE IN' on the board. At the heart of the audio system is a stereo audio power amplifier – a PT2300 device, from Princeton Technology. This device incorporates stereo bridged audio power amplifiers capable of producing 2W output power (into a 4Ω load), with DC volume control. It is powered by the motherboard's 5V power supply. Input for the device is the stereo audio signal sourced from the analog mixer, discussed in the previous section. The stereo amplifier in the output stage of the device is formed by wiring two pairs of operational amplifiers into a 'bridged' configuration.
Stylish, robust and ready-to-use, the NanoBoard 3000 Modular Enclosure is the perfect solution for deploying the NanoBoard 3000 Smart FPGA Development Board. And its modular design means it's not limited to just one application. Create prototype products, demonstrate concepts, and do short production runs with just a few assembly steps, or use it for fixed or free standing field electronics applications.
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