How to program an XC5210

A

Adam

Guest
I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
 
Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:
I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
 
I have to say I'm pretty disgruntled with Xilinx right now. I've
talked to two people there so far, including a lengthy private email
exchange with Peter, and nobody seems to want to tell me how to do
this. Peter was unable to suggest a single newer 5V part, and was
unwilling to tell me what tools can be used to program the older 5V
parts.

I'm beginning to look at other vendors; perhaps they support their
customers a bit better than that.

Peter Alfke <peter@xilinx.com> wrote in message news:<3F8C2262.633780A8@xilinx.com>...
Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:

I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
 
In a total time-span of seven hours and 29 minutes we have not been able
to come up with a satisfying answer. Shame on us !
Peter Alfke
============================================
Adam wrote:
I have to say I'm pretty disgruntled with Xilinx right now. I've
talked to two people there so far, including a lengthy private email
exchange with Peter, and nobody seems to want to tell me how to do
this. Peter was unable to suggest a single newer 5V part, and was
unwilling to tell me what tools can be used to program the older 5V
parts.

I'm beginning to look at other vendors; perhaps they support their
customers a bit better than that.

Peter Alfke <peter@xilinx.com> wrote in message news:<3F8C2262.633780A8@xilinx.com>...
Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:

I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
 
Settle down guys .....

Adam: Peter is right, XC5210 is an old device, 'not for new designs'.
Down side is this has also made it a 'tool orphan', but if you
go back far enough, there are tool flows for it.
If Xilinx were like Borland, they would put this into a museum,
but there are also side issues, like who owns all the code, which OS
it can run on, and who will be lumbered with support .....

Peter: Adam may need 5V and/or low Icc of the simpler XC5210.
A downside of the singular evolutionary focus on speed / die shrink,
is that the voltage tolerance, and static Icc (and even startup Icc)
have all taken hits.
The XC5210 may indeed 'belong in the old folks' home', but
it also illustrates that 'newer' spins do not guarantee
better numbers.

The CPLD sector _has_ woken to the importance of static Icc
( look at the spec-trading between Lattice and Xilinx on
uA values in their newest cpld families )


Adam: Some newish devices do have 5V tolerant IOs
( see the other thread Re: SpartanXL )

Atmel still make low-end 5V FPGA devices, so they could
be another candidate.
Altera have some that have 5V tolerant IOs.

You can design with single supply 5V FPGAs, but will pay more
for the venerable devices, than if you add another regulator with
a newish, cheaper device. (but not too new, or you loose 5V tolerance :)

-jg


Peter Alfke wrote:
In a total time-span of seven hours and 29 minutes we have not been able
to come up with a satisfying answer. Shame on us !
Peter Alfke
============================================
Adam wrote:

I have to say I'm pretty disgruntled with Xilinx right now. I've
talked to two people there so far, including a lengthy private email
exchange with Peter, and nobody seems to want to tell me how to do
this. Peter was unable to suggest a single newer 5V part, and was
unwilling to tell me what tools can be used to program the older 5V
parts.

I'm beginning to look at other vendors; perhaps they support their
customers a bit better than that.

Peter Alfke <peter@xilinx.com> wrote in message news:<3F8C2262.633780A8@xilinx.com>...
Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:

I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
 
Here are some possible solutions:

- If 5V tollerance will work, use SpartanXL.
- If you need a true 5V device, use Spartan or XC4000E
- Software for Spartan, SpartanXL and XC4000E is available for free at:
http://www.xilinx.com/ise_classics/index.html

- If you absolutely have to use the XC5200 family, you will need to get
a copy of the XACT 6.0
software. You will probably need to contact our hotline to get this
version.

Steve

Adam wrote:

I have to say I'm pretty disgruntled with Xilinx right now. I've
talked to two people there so far, including a lengthy private email
exchange with Peter, and nobody seems to want to tell me how to do
this. Peter was unable to suggest a single newer 5V part, and was
unwilling to tell me what tools can be used to program the older 5V
parts.

I'm beginning to look at other vendors; perhaps they support their
customers a bit better than that.

Peter Alfke <peter@xilinx.com> wrote in message news:<3F8C2262.633780A8@xilinx.com>...


Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:


I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
 
A 5210? Yuck. The 5200 series is arguably the worst thing that Xilinx put out in its
history, which is why it was so short lived. If you need 5v, use a 4000E or Spartan. If
low power is important, then look back to the 3100, that is if you really need to use
legacy parts. For 5200, and if I remember right 3100 you'll need to go all the way back to
XACT 6, which also means you need to find a machine that runs windows 3.1. The xact 6
command line worked for most stuff under win95, but as I recall not all of the gui stuff
did (such as the floorplanner). I think Xilinx still has M1 tools available for download
that support the 4000E and Spartan lines.

Steve Lass wrote:

Here are some possible solutions:

- If 5V tollerance will work, use SpartanXL.
- If you need a true 5V device, use Spartan or XC4000E
- Software for Spartan, SpartanXL and XC4000E is available for free at:
http://www.xilinx.com/ise_classics/index.html

- If you absolutely have to use the XC5200 family, you will need to get
a copy of the XACT 6.0
software. You will probably need to contact our hotline to get this
version.

Steve

Adam wrote:

I have to say I'm pretty disgruntled with Xilinx right now. I've
talked to two people there so far, including a lengthy private email
exchange with Peter, and nobody seems to want to tell me how to do
this. Peter was unable to suggest a single newer 5V part, and was
unwilling to tell me what tools can be used to program the older 5V
parts.

I'm beginning to look at other vendors; perhaps they support their
customers a bit better than that.

Peter Alfke <peter@xilinx.com> wrote in message news:<3F8C2262.633780A8@xilinx.com>...


Adam, why do you want to use such an old device? Unless you have very
special circumstances, it is best to throw away such old parts and
design with and for newer devices like Virtex and Spartan.
One year in the life of an FPGA equals 15 years in human life. That
means your 5210 really belongs in the old folks' home.
Rest assured that we still sell XC3000, 4000 and 5200 devices for
replacement purposes. But we discourage new designs with them. Newer
devices are so much better and cheaper, and supported by better software.

Peter Alfke
===============
Adam wrote:


I have VHDL. I want to create a bitfile for a Xilinx XC5210.
What tool(s?) do/can I use?

I have ISE webpack 6.1, but it does not seem to support this device.
Click to expand...
--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email ray@andraka.com
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759
 
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