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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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13 years ago

Adc /dac

Hello...i'm so new to verilog HDL n FPGA.... i want to ask is it possible to design ADC and DAC using Verilog HDL?. if possible how to design it? Thanks,
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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13 years ago

If you mean implementing a true ADC or DAC (i.e. using analog signals), with Altera devices the answer is No. FPGAs and CPLDs are inherently digital devices so you can interface an external A/D or D/A converter but you are not supposed to directly connect analog signals to the device pins.

Remarks:

- other vendors may have mixed signal FPGAs, for example Actel Fusion devices.

- a simple D/A conversion can be implemented driving a fpga pin with pwm, although you generally also need additional analog stages (buffer, amplifier, filter) out of fpga.

- I even saw a couple of applications where digital FPGA pins (actually a LVDS receiver and a LVTTL output) were used to implement A/D conversion, through an external RC. Anyway this is a non conventional design and I don't think it leads to a straightforward implementation.