Todd Freeman wrote: > Ok... I give... anyone have FPGA programming knowledge on here? I would > be willing to chip in to pay them to make an open source/hardware fpga > that would allow us to use the kopin displays or a displaytech device? I > am very surprised that no one has even tried yet (saying this since I > have not seen anyone talk about it ... someone may be but...) I never said I wasn't working on it ;^). The hard part isn't generating the video, it's the PCI interface. ISA is easier, and USB is next. By the way, I dug up my single-PIC P4 driver code that emulates a glass TTY with an 8x8 font. Anybody interested in this, drop me a note. > If we could get one design that would work maybe we could all buy some > FPGA's in a bulk buy... buy some displays in another... and wire us some > hardware! :) No need. "10,000 gate" chips are going for $10 these days. A VGA video timing and character generator fits into that with space to spare. Or if you're on a tighter budget, scavenge an old VGA-to-NTSC scan converter. Most of them contain three video ADCs, some fast SRAM, an FPGA, a video DAC, and a multi-tap delay line. These go for $10 at hamfests. All you do is pop out the configuration serial PROM, and download your own design into the chip. > I know that it is not that easy but... as a side note... anyone have the > stuff to go from VHDL code to the output code that these companies want? > I have talked to 2 of them and they keep wanting me to buy there $20000+ > program ... then I explain I am a college student *phone goes thunk* You can get the Altera tools FREE from www.altera.com. You can easily apply for the Xilinx University Program as well (www.xilinx.com), with a little support from an advisor. Or you can buy the Xilinx Student Edition software and textbook for <$200 from Prentice-Hall. Wait a month for the new edition, which has the Foundation 1.5 tools. And while you're waiting, apply for FREE hardware from the XEss corporation (www.xess.com) who make a series of nifty little starter boards for FPGA design. Don't learn VHDL. Do learn Verilog, and try out the FREE Verilog simulation tool known as VeriBest from www.wellspring.com. Did I mention that you can get both software and hardware FREE? Oh, yeah. I did. It's like getting kids hooked on drugs for nothing in the schoolyard, so that when they grow up and get jobs they'll support a real habit. Good luck, -Rehmi -- Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org
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