On Nov 24, 7:01 pm, jdw <jwal...@nait.ca> wrote:
> I hope I am not being presumptuous in seeking assistance from this
> group. I have been trying to research material with respect to a
> digital course I am teaching at a technical college in Edmonton,
> Alberta Canada (NAIT). The course is introductory in nature and is
> presently covering the usual digital topics including PLD programming
> quite well, however we are still back in the CUPL/palce22v10 era,
> which of course is embarrassing. I am toying with introducing Matlab
> (we could use it later in other courses) since it now appears to
> provide a means of creating VHDL code. Having read intensively for a
> couple of weeks I now see VHDL as a workable language, but probably
> excessively demanding of the students I am dealing with. Of course
> there is also the issue of the hardware that would be used in this lab/
> lecture course. To this moment I have been in contact with Aldec and
> am considering a development kit from Xilinx.
>
> In Alberta we have many dinosaurs, but I would prefer not to be one of
> them. If you feel you could comment constructively and don't mind
> taking a few minutes, I would be most appreciative. I am not that
> far from retirement age, have an EE degree, and am just trying to do
> my bit to improve the quality of what we are offering our students.
> It is very challenging jumping into something as complex as FPGA
> programming as you can no doubt understand.
>
> Jack

In addition to the UP2, there are other options. A MAX-II board
(think of it as 200 of your 22V10's in one chip) can be had for as
little as $50. Similar boards exist for the CoolRunner.

Both Altera and Xilinx have special programs for educators. I have
taken advantage of both, and they were both very valuable.

While everything they *need* can be done with just a simulator, do not
undervalue blinking lights. Having their work manifest itself in a
"real" object makes the connection much stronger, and stimulates
learning.

Having taught a couple of VHDL classes, I can very strongly recommend
the Peter Ashenden books. The Student's Guide for beginners, and the
Designer's Guide for advanced students and instructors.

I hope this helps,
G.