MICROELECTRONIC SYSTEMS NEWS
FILENUMBER: 452
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FPGA Course Training Materials cmc
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DATE: april 1995
TITLE: FPGA Course Training Materials
FPGA Course Training Materials
(Contributed by Kathryn Campbell of the Canadian Microelectronics Center)
Field-Programmable Gate Array technology offers an increasingly popular,
low-cost and low-risk route for rapid product development and prototyping.
To introduce new users to this technology, Canadian Microelectronics
Corporation (CMC) offers three packages of FPGA training material, produced
under contract to CMC. These packages have already proved valuable as they
formed the nucleus of four related courses at the 1994 Canadian Workshop
on Field-Programmable Devices. Beginning with an entry-level approach to the
technology and moving to more complex material, the three FPGA training
packages respectively deal with the following design tools and device
technologies:
1. ALTERA: The lecture notes in this first package provide an
overview of FPGA technology, architecture and CAD tools and the
lab guide describes the use of Altera's development tool software,
schematic capture and simulation (through Altera's Higher Education
Program, the development tool software is available at little or
no cost).
Source: Professor Stephen Brown, University of Toronto
2. VIEWLOGIC: These lecture notes and lab guides emphasize VHDL
system design using Viewlogic design tools and Xilinx devices. This
training material could be used to support an advanced level of
training in Altera ( or any other vendor's) environment.
Source: Cameron Patterson, Alberta Microelectronic Centre
3. MENTOR GRAPHICS AND CADENCE: This package deals with both
schematic capture and VHDL in the Mentor Graphics and Cadence
software design environments and uses Xilinx and Actel devices.
Generally more complex than the other two packages, this material
could be used to support environments from other vendors.
Source: Professor Robert McLeod, University of Manitoba
The documentation in all cases (lecture notes and laboratory guides) is
available in hardcopy as well as PostScript and FrameMaker formats.
For more information about the FPGA training materials which cost $50,
contact:
Kathryn Campbell
Canadian Microelectronics Corporation
Telephone: 613-545-6717
FAX: 613-548-8104
E-mail: campbell@cmc.ca
dbouldin@utk.edu