fpga is getting heated unusually

Which of the following states reflects what's in the FPGA's boot FLASH?

a) Factory image.

b) A user image - something you've already programmed in.

c) It's empty - as a result of you consciously erasing it.

Based on the above if it's:

a) You probably have some damage to the board

b) It could well be your FPGA design that is resulting in contention and too much current being drawn

c) Very similar to a)

Is it this board: cyclone iii fpga starter kit (http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3-starter.html) ?

If not let me know which one you are referring to. Also, identify exactly which jumpers are fitted.

Regards,

Alex

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Which of the following states reflects what's in the FPGA's boot FLASH?

a) Factory image.

b) A user image - something you've already programmed in.

c) It's empty - as a result of you consciously erasing it.

Based on the above if it's:

a) You probably have some damage to the board

b) It could well be your FPGA design that is resulting in contention and too much current being drawn

c) Very similar to a)

Is it this board: cyclone iii fpga starter kit (http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3-starter.html) ?

If not let me know which one you are referring to. Also, identify exactly which jumpers are fitted.

Regards,

Alex

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Yes the board is cyclone 3 starter kit FPGA. We checked the adapter , it is perfectly fine. I can't find any shorted pins also .Can anybody suggest what the reason could be?

thanks in advance!

I'm sure the adapter is fine and I'm not surprised you can't see any shorted pins. If there is damage then it is likely to be to one of the chips, internally. How this has come about, only you can guide us...

I have one of those dev boards sitting on my desk in front of me. So, I may be able to help you assess yours.

Do any of the LEDs light up when you power it up? With the factory image (what the board was supplied with), 7 blue LEDs illuminate on mine. Perhaps the most obvious one; does your 'POWER' LED light up?

If you're concerned about your board, don't leave it powered on for very long for the time being. Don't leave it powered longer than you need. The LEDs on my board illuminate within half a second of power up.

Regards,

Alex

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I'm sure the adapter is fine and I'm not surprised you can't see any shorted pins. If there is damage then it is likely to be to one of the chips, internally. How this has come about, only you can guide us...

I have one of those dev boards sitting on my desk in front of me. So, I may be able to help you assess yours.

Do any of the LEDs light up when you power it up? With the factory image (what the board was supplied with), 7 blue LEDs illuminate on mine. Perhaps the most obvious one; does your 'POWER' LED light up?

If you're concerned about your board, don't leave it powered on for very long for the time being. Don't leave it powered longer than you need. The LEDs on my board illuminate within half a second of power up.

Regards,

Alex

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The power ON LEDs are getting lighted immediately and when we burnt our code which lakes leds blink, the LEDs do blink. The program is working fine but the FPGA is getting heated in 3 seconds ! very fast its becoming very hot . I fear if the FPGA will get fully spoilt if I leave it powered on even for a minute.

We are now trying to give less input current by changing the adapter and by using a variable power supply. The adapter that was given with the kit is 12v/2A . I thought of giving 1.5 A current. Will that help?

Actually we used a PLL to increase the frequency from 50Mhz to 100 Mhz because we are using a ADA board interfaced with the Cyclone 3 starter board. The ADA board has a DAC which works at 125 MSPS. So we used the PLL. Do you think PLL could be the reson for this unusual heating of the FPGA?

All other chips are normal and only the FPGA is getting heated up !

That sounds promising. So, next steps...

Is your FPGA design programmed into the board's FLASH, so that the FPGA boots from power up?

Or, are you programming the FPGA, using the Quartus programmer, after you've powered the board up?

If you've programmed your design into the board's FLASH then, to establish that your board is still good I want you to restore it to it's factory state. Follow the instructions in the cyclone iii fpga starter kit user guide (http://www.altera.co.uk/literature/ug/ug_ciii_starter_kit.pdf). Read the 'Programming the Flash Device' section on page A-5. Having done this, and power cycled the board, the FPGA should not get warm. If it still does you, probably, have a problem with your board.

If you are programming after power up, and the FPGA only gets warm then, you have a problem with your design - which we can address.

Regards,

Alex

Also, I am not sure if the board usually gets heated up as soon as the power is switched on and then cools down or does this sudden heating up of the FPGA mean that it has a problem.

Since am doubtful about this, I fear to use the board for more than 5 seconds.

The board should not be doing this, no.

Restore the board's FLASH memory, using the instructions I've already provided, so that - most importantly - it's in a known state. If the FPGA still heats erratically, you have a problem with the hardware.

The problem is, by the time I power ON the board to do the factory reset procedure('Programming the Flash Device' section on page A-5), the FPGA is getting heated. i.e. in 3 seconds. So I'm afraid if the transistors will get damaged by then.

What do I do ?

It doesn't sound like your board is particularly usable as is. So, I'm not sure what you've got to loose.

However, one final thing to try before reprogramming it. Do this to establish if it is already in it's factory state. This isn't foolproof but it will tell you whether the FPGA is booting it's factory image.

Run the "Board Test System" software (runs on your PC) that came with the kit. Download the 'Kit installation' from board's homepage on Altera's site if you can find it.

This software allows you to test certain FPGA interfaces. If it works from power up then the FPGA is being configured with the default factory image and there is little or no point in reprogramming the board's FLASH.

Get familiar with the Board Test System software without the hardware on. It'll complain it can't find the board - fine. I suggest you find the 'Toggle All LEDs' button. Exit the software.

Then:

1) Power up the board.

2) Run the software.

3) Try toggling the LEDs.

4) Power off the board.

I think you can do all that in 3-4 seconds.

If the LEDs (LED1-LED4) toggle when you push the button, then the FPGA is (almost certainly) being configured with the factory default image. So, you need not reprogram the FLASH.

If they don't toggle the FLASH has probably been changed and I suggest you do try to reprogram the FLASH.

Like I say - the board doesn't sound like it's of much use at the minute. What have you to loose?

Regards,

Alex