Make a new Board

[PoojaN]

I have been doing projects on Arty A7 board, and I wanted to try to make my own development board. But I don't understand how to interface memory with the chip. 

Can anyone help me with this? 

[jpeyron]

Hi @PoojaN,

Are you looking to route DDR3 to an Artix 7 FPGA? 

If so this is not a trivial task. Here is the DDR2/DDR3 Low-Cost PCB Design Guidelines for Artix-7 and Spartan-7 FPGAs that might be useful. 

best regards,

Jon

[PoojaN]

Hi @jpeyron

 

No I am not looking to route the DDR3, but that is helpful in either way. My problem was, if I make my own board, how will I interface Flash memory with the FPGA so that I can store my own code.  I would need a flash circuitry as well as there must be some programming involved for when to pull the CS low or high. 

Thanks,
P

[jpeyron]

Hi @PoojaN,

Here is the Arty-A7 schematic. On page 6 is the FLASH.  The 7 Series FPGAs Configuration User Guide and  Using SPI Flash with 7 Series FPGAs should be useful as well. Here is a forum thread that might be helpful with interacting with the flash.

best regards,

Jon

[PoojaN]

So where do I start with this, because the Configuration User guide is pretty overwhelming.

[jpeyron]

Hi @PoojaN,

Unfortunately, I have not routed FLASH to an FPGA nor designed a flash controller. Hopefully one of the more experienced community engineers will have some input for you.  The forum thread linked should be helpful. I did also find the Connecting Cypress SPI Serial Flash to Configure Xilinx FPGAs.

best regards,

Jon