ECE 241 Lab 1 – Getting to Know your Environment!

When starting a new engineering activity, never underestimate the value of “blazing a trail” using a simple example, e.g. the “blinking light” test. Such a test allows you to focus on the design flow, rather than the design, and will give you (and your manager!) the confidence that you are ready for more complex challenges.

Objective

Enter a schematic design using the Xilinx ISE tools to connect a button to an LED. Simulate, synthesize, download, and test.

Pre-Lab Exercise

Familiarize yourself with the Xilinx ISE tools by watching the Digilent videos and reading the tutorials available on the web.

Experiment (15 pts)

Demonstrate your behavioral simulation and your circuit implementation to the TA. The pushbutton on the D2XL board is connected to FPGA pin P15 and the LED is connected to P38. The button is connected first to an IBUFG symbol, then an inverter, then the LED. You will need to create a UCF file to assign the pins.

Report (5 pts)

The design for this lab was completely specified. Thus, turn in a one-page, professional report that describes your design process. Be explicit and complete, e.g., read lab instructions, read ISE tutorial, ran ISE software, etc. Briefly elaborate on any problems you encountered. Finally, attach to your report hardcopies of your schematic, behavioral simulation, and the design summary.

Specifics

1. Pin 15 is normally used for a clock input, so you will need to connect the button input to a “global input buffer” (IBUFG) on your schematic, then an inverter.
2. Be sure you have identified the FPGA by the correct device family, device, and package; otherwise you won’t be able to program the FPGA.
3. You will need to set the FPGA start-up clock to “JTAG Clock.” This is done under the “startup options tab” of the process properties dialog box for the “Generate Programming File” process. (right click and select “properties”)