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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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13 years ago

Is the AD/DA converter Cyclone 3 starter kit compatible

Hello,

I am looking for a high speed DAC and found this 14 bit 250 MSPS DAC.

Here is the link: http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=73&no=360&partno=2

However it says that it is Cyclone 3 development kit compatible. I have a Cyclone 3 starter kit which also uses a HSMC connector. I am concerned whether this DAC will be compatible to the Cyclone 3 starter kit. Any inputs will be highly appreciated.

Regards,

Ranjan

16 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    Are there some AD/DA Data Conversion Card (or ICs) with more than 2 channels per each which are compatible with Cyclone?

    Actually, I should work with Cyclone II and I need, let say 8 channels AD and 8 channels DA converters which I should externally interface with FPGA...

    Also, I don't need very high sample frequencies... I should use it in power electronics applications...
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    If you don't need high frequencies then any ADC/DAC with parallel or SPI interfaces can be used with a cyclone. I'm not sure you'll find a ready made HSMC card with lots of channels so you may have to make your own board.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    Are you sure that I can interface ADC/DAC as a external IC to the Cyclone II via parallel or SPI?

    Please, give me some examples, a few ADCs, DACs from the market, that I can use in my application...

    In Cyclone II Handbook I've found some LVDS which is high speed differential interface...

    I'm a beginner, so please, advice me!

    Best regards. Nikola.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    The Cyclone FPGAs can also handle CMOS or LVTTL inputs/outputs, so can be used with almost any ADC/DAC on the market. Giving an exact reference is difficult without knowing your requirement, but you can go on a manufacturer web site and do a parametric search to find the converter you need.

    As long as its I/O is compatible with one of the I/O standards on the FPGA then you can use it. You may have to write some HDL yourself to interface with some ADC/DAC, depending on the interface type and your requirements. But this code to write isn't very complicated.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    --- Quote Start ---

    If you don't need high frequencies then any ADC/DAC with parallel or SPI interfaces can be used with a cyclone. I'm not sure you'll find a ready made HSMC card with lots of channels so you may have to make your own board.

    --- Quote End ---

    Ahem.....

    http://www.nialstewartdevelopments.co.uk/products.htm

    My GPIB has 8* ADC inputs and 8*DAC outputs.

    They're out of stock but a new set are due in a week or so.

    GBIP = General Purpose Interface Board, but I realise now many assume is

    a GPIB protocol interface board.

    Unfortunately I can't get anyone at Altera to change the description here...

    http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/kit-daughter_boards.jsp

    To the OP, email me at the link above and I'll let you know when they're in.

    Nial
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    This is a very interesting prototyping board, it's a shame Altera didn't include it on their daughterboards list.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    --- Quote Start ---

    This is a very interesting prototyping board, it's a shame Altera didn't include it on their daughterboards list.

    --- Quote End ---

    Thanks, it is there under "HSMC GPIB" , not a great description.

    One of the potentially most useful bits are the two SPI interfaces which should allow interfacing to simple eval boards with all sorts of functionality (GPS, accellerometer, higher accuracy ADC etc).

    It's pretty low volume so expensive for me to produce. I thought there were bound to be bits that nobody is using which I could cut out to get the price down a bit. I set up a survey and asked those who'd bought one to fill it in. Unfortunately the response was that every functional IO block had the almost the same usage/ interest.

    Nial
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    And after posting that I checked the link and the description has at last been changed!

    Let the massive flood of orders commence (or not).

    Nial.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    13 years ago

    In the Cyclone II -> Features -> Altera's Cyclone II FPGA Interfaces & Protocols Support at the Altera's site is written that SPI and I2C standards can be implemented in Cyclone II devices to provide low-speed communication links between integrated circuits, processors and peripherals.

    I've seen in some schematic for Cyclon II board that all I/O pins are LVDS (p/n), which is related to high-speed signaling, as I understood. There were no one pin which is used for SPI or I2C serial interface...

    Can anyone advice me? I need 8 digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and 8 ADCs which should work with SPI or I2C interface... For my application, I don't need to use high-speed signals, I need sampling frequency maximal 1MHz (but a few hundreds of kHz will be enough)...

    So, in which way should I connect some 8-channel DAC or ADC to the Cyclone II board? Which pins of FPGA should be connected to SPI or I2C pins of DAC/ADC?

    Thank in advice!