Olimex has showcased a prototype of their small (5×5 cm) iCE40HX1K-EVB development board powered by Lattice Semi iCE40 FPGA, programmable with OLinuXino development boards via the UEXT interface, and compatible with Project Icestorm open source toolchain for Lattice iCE40.
iCE40HX1K-EVB specifications:
- FPGA – Lattice Semi iCE40HX1K-VQ100 FPGA @ up to 533 MHz with 1280 gates, 160 Logic Array Blocks, and 64 kbit memory
- System Memory – 256Kx16 SRAM (Samsung K6R4016V1D-TC10 )
- Storage – 2MB serial flash
- Expansion
- UEXT connector for programming
- 34-pin header to access FPGA I/Os
- Misc – 2x user buttons, reset button, 2x user LEDs
- Power Supply – 5V via power jack
- Dimensions – 5×5 cm (4-layer PCB)
The company has also made four stackable add-on boards to connect to the 34-pin expansion header:
- iCE40-ADC fast 100Mhz ADC with BNC input connector for Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) with up to 512 KB buffer
- iCE40-DAC fast 100Mhz DAC with BNC output connector for Direct digital synthesizer (DDS) generator
- iCE40-DIO fast IO with level shifter
- iCE40-IO with VGA and PS2 keyboard connectors board to emulate older computer
The boards still need to be tested, and all five boards are expected to sell starting June 1st, with iCE40HX1K-EVB going for 22 Euros. There’s no product page yet, but you can already check the Kicad and PDF schematics on github.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Why don’t put fully potential chip for few $ : iCE40HX8K?
Looks great if they can pull it off!
@boobypi
If I read the datasheet well the 8k version is produced only in BGA package. The board on the picture seems to use TQFP package, but 4k version of the chip is available in TQFP. Considering the price difference between 4k and 1k is about $1, I think it would be worth upgrading it to 4k.
The Lattice ICE40HX8K-B-EVN is $42.88 for comparison, it has the 8K BGA part instead of the 1K part on the Olimex board. I agree with @boobypi, Olimex should have put the 4K part on their board, the price difference is trivial. I hope the Olimex bord will work with iCEcube2. Icestorm still looks a work-in-progress, e.g., there’s still no simulator.
I see from the Rev-A schematic that the Olimex board uses the 100-TQFP 1K FPGA which costs $3.95 ea. in qty.-100. The 4K FPGA comes in a slightly larger 144-TQFP package and costs $5.55 ea. in qty.-100. The qty.-100 cost difference is only $1.60 for a part that is much more usable! Some Options (Digi-Key): iCE40HX1K-VQ100 $4.95 qty.-1, $3.95 qty.-100 iCE40HX1K-TQ144 $5.71 qty.-1, $4.57 qty.-100 iCE40HX4K-TQ144 $6.97 qty.-1, $5.55 qty.-100 ICE40HX8K-CB132 $9.70 qty.-1, $7.76 qty.-100 (BGA) I posted a comment on the Olimex page asking why they didn’t use the 4K part. There must be a good technical reason for… Read more »
Olimex 8K board prototyped, a bit more expensive:
https://olimex.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/ice40hx8k-evb-oshw-prototypes-are-ready-to-test/