choosing a FPGA from 28 nm technology

Question

Hello,

I am doing ECE final year and doing my project about Altera and Xilinx FPGAs in 28 nm technology. I was suppose to choose one device from each company regarding its performance (cost,power,speed and area) and then implement a multiplier on those FPGAs and then synthesis and analysing the report.

I have chosen Arria V family because in its information said it has a balance of cost , low power and high performace , now in arria V family I must choose a device . I have made a weighting system for choosing a device but still I am not sure about my decision. for implementing a multiplier which device is better ? when I want to compare the area , which factor I should consider as the main factor ?

would you please give me some suggestions.

Regards

altera_forum · Answer

What kind of multiplier? all chips have embedded multpliers now - so if thats all you want then you will be using &lt;1% of the smallest Arria V device. Even if you implement it without using the embedded multipliers, you still wont be using much of the smallest one.

altera_forum · Answer

I must choose a device from altera and then decide which multiplier I need, I mean 64 x 64 or 1024 x 1024 or higher or lower numbers , depending on the device I am choosing. but firstly I must choose one device from 28 nm technology , from any family in 28 nm technology . I have chosen Arria V but I am not sure if Cyclone or Stratix can be better choices or not ?

I am so new with FPGAs and I feel so confused.

altera_forum · Answer

For your project, a cyclone would be more than adequate. As you increase the families Cyclone -> Arria -> Stratix the main things you pay for are extra IOs and better transceivers. The technology between the families is otherwise pretty similar.

If all you are doing is a multiplier, then go as cheap as possible.

altera_forum · Answer

I really appreciate your help.

I have one more question , if I choose any family, let's say Cyclone , now I have to choose only one product in this family , and for choosing that product I must consider power , price , speed and area . when I want to compare the area , which factor I should consider as the main factor ? DSP slices ? number of I/Os ? ...

also for price, I have used prices from digikey.ca but they are so expensive, my professor did not accept my price table that I've made regarding that website prices , is there any other way to get prices ?

altera_forum · Answer

If all you are buying is single chips, then something like digikey prices will be what you pay. But the smallest cyclones start at around $30, but thats the part price. You probably want a dev board that will have discounts to academic institutions.

As for how to compare things to xilinx, that will be difficult. I assume you'll need the same Input and output, so IO requirements will be known. Power comparison should also be pretty straightforward. But as the Altera and Xilinx architectures are different, it is very difficult to compare area of logic or DSPs.

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choosing a FPGA from 28 nm technology

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