Hacking the Xbox

Appendix D - Getting Started with FPGAs 245
comes with a 50,000 gate FPGA for about $150. The board also includes
a few megabytes of RAM, a parallel port, a VGA port, a PS/2 keyboard
port, and a few other essential items.
The other option is to build your own board from scratch, if you’re
feeling bold. Other appendices in this book describe how to get into
board layout and fabrication and how to attach fine-pitched FPGA
devices to your boards. It is actually quite rewarding to try to build your
own boards, and I recommend giving it a try; the cost of fabricating a
board is well below $100 these days, so you don’t lose too much even if
your board doesn’t work in the end.
If you are making your own board, you will need to buy your FPGA
from a Xilinx distributor. The Xilinx webpage (www.xilinx.com) has the
most up-to-date links to distributors. As of this writing, one of the more
convenient distributors is NuHorizons (www.nuhorizons.com), as they
offer product availability and pricing information on their webpage
without requiring registration or a special customer account.
FPGA development software can usually be acquired at a low price or
for free. For example, Xilinx offers a free development environment for
its Virtex-II (up to 300K gates), Spartan II-E and CoolRunner lines of
parts. The development environment is called the Xilinx ISE WebPACK,
and it is available for download after registration at www.xilinx.com.
This free environment sports an impressive list of features, including
schematic and HDL input, HDL synthesis, a flooplanner, timing driven
place and route, timing analysis, and power analysis tools.
Xilinx also offers a version of its software called “Xilinx Student
Edition” through Prentice-Hall. This software comes bundled with a
number of tutorials and documentation that can help you get into FPGA
design. You’ll find a wide variety of helpful tutorials and lectures on the
Xilinx website under the “Education” tab.