Spartan 3 starter kit is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) kit targeted at beginners. It is less complex than a development board and comes with a variety of components to simplify the design process.
In this blog post, you will find out who the Spartan 3 starter kit is meant for and how to maximize the kit when designing an Integrated Circuit (IC).
Who is the Spartan 3 Starter Kit for?
It is meant for beginners in the FPGA design industry. They need it to get a hang of how the circuit boards’ design process work.
How does the Spartan 3 Starter Kit Work?
It works by offering a wide range of components, peripherals and tools that help bolster the FPGA design process.
Advantages of Working with the Spartan 3 Starter Kit
The kit offers digital circuit designers an instant access to the complete form capabilities of the Xilinx Spartan 3E family. For emphasis, that is the primary FPGA family that the Spartan 3 starter kit is pegged to.
Aside from the complete development board solution, the Spartan 3 starter kit also offers the following benefits.
1. Shortened Development Timeframe
Generally, FPGA development boards help to reduce the time spent on configuring the device. The same is the case with the Spartan 3 starter kit, which offers a shortened development timeframe.
Through the schematics and pre-verified design files, digital designers can get an idea of the steps to take to complete the designs in real-time.
2. Multiple Applications
The Spartan 3 starter kit is primarily used to configure and make prototypes of devices in the industrial and laboratory industries.
You can also use it to make devices targeting consumers in the storage, consumer electronics, data communication, servers and telecommunication markets.
3. Rapid Data Transfer
Transferring data and bitstream to and from an FPGA takes time. However, you can now enjoy speedy data transfer, thanks to the rapid transfer model of the Spartan 3 starter kit.
The speedy data transfer is provided by both the proven memory interface controller and the connection of the kit to the DDR2 memory.
4. Ideal for Prototyping
Generally, the Spartan 3 starter kit is used to make prototypes of the wide range of devices in the Spartan 3E Family.
5. Support for Multiple Applications’ Prototyping
You can also use the Spartan 3 starter kit to make prototypes of multiple Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).
It is possible because of the support for applications using both the differential I/O standards and single-ended design formats.
6. Support for Multibooting
The Spartan 3 starter kit also supports multibooting. The support is rendered by the multibooting of multiple preprogrammed pre-verified designs in a single prototyping session.
What is in the Spartan 3 Starter Kit?
What are some of the components of the Spartan 3 starter kit? Here are some of the items to expect in the box:
- The Spartan 3 starter kit.
- Experiments/hardware manual.
- USB (RS232) Cable
- Power adaptor/supply
- Resource CD, including data sheets, evaluation software, example designs, whitepapers and application notes.
- Parallel JTAG Programmer.
Conclusion
Consider getting the Spartan 3 starter kit if you want to become a better and experienced digital circuit designer. The kit contains both the starter board and several peripherals, tools and components to simplify the device configuration process.
