It is a nice move there to acquire the Spartan 6 development board. You can achieve a lot with it, device configuration-wise. But before you make that buying decision, we would like to help you make the best buying decision.
Asides from being a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), the Spartan 6 development board also serves a couple of purposes, one of which is doubling as a bridge connector with other boards.
In this article, we guide you on how to make the best buying decision for the Spartan 6 development board.
Understand the Usage
The Spartan 6 development board is a development board, a platform for you to build prototypes of circuit boards.
It is specially designed for beginners who want to get a hang of the circuit board design process. The Spartan 6 development board is also equipped with a variety of components that can be configured with ease.
Security Features
One of the primary security features of an FPGA development board is the DNA security that prevents the design concepts to be stolen or extracted.
That is missing on the Spartan 6 development board. It could have made a lot of sense to have it here to bolster the design protection.
But what is not missing on the board is another important security feature – the component protection. The board features a Fixed Transparent Case, specially designed to protect the components from damage.
Device Documentation
The manufacturer (Xilinx) provided a wide range of documents to help you when configuring or making prototypes of the Spartan 6 development board.
These documents have been arranged and saved in the Dropbox. Examples of the documents you can find in the Dropbox are:
- User Manual
- Tutorial
- Schematics
- Verilog HDL Coding Examples/Guidelines
Affordability of the Spartan 6 Development Board
Entry-level beginners and students benefit the most from what an FPGA development board offers. But when these boards are expensive, these set of users may be unable to afford them.
That is one of the unique attributes of the Spartan 6 development board – it is affordable. Thus, it is one of the best FPGA development boards for students, amateurs and entry-level digital designers looking for a low-cost variant to start with.
Dual-Faceted Connectivity Option
You can make connections and establish real-time communication with the Spartan 6 development board via its dual-faceted connection options.
These are the VGA and USB. The VGA interface is industrial-grade and uses a 16bit memory. It also has up to 65,536 Display Colors. For emphasis, the thousands of colors are derived from its support for the RGB565 Color Format.
The USB is designed to be a USB-to-UART Bridge Connector, especially for external communications.
