[Cryptech Tech] Alpha board strategy

[Leif Johansson]

> 18 feb 2015 kl. 20:57 skrev Шатов Павел <meisterpaul1 at yandex.ru>:
> 
>  
>  
> 18.02.2015, 21:52, "Randy Bush" <randy at psg.com>:
>>  I see the tool cost not just as something our project may have to
>>  bear, but a barrier to entry. If we design the alpha board with FPGAs
>>  that requires several kUSD in tools, users that don't plan to build
>>  hundreds of boards will have a harder time.
>> 
>>  And just to make it easier for others to replicate what we do in order
>>  to build trust or try to contribute the tool becomes a problem if the
>>  cost serious dough.
>  
> Both ISE and Quartus are $2,995.
>> point taken.  pavel seems to suggest a finesse, if i understand him
>> correctly.
>> 
>>  2.5) I suggest that we use 484-pin devices, because in this package
>>  both Altera A7/A9 and Xilinx LX75 and LX150 are pin-compatible. We can
>>  have one board that will accept both the largest available FPGA with
>>  free license and the largest available in the entire family.
>  
>  
> I mean that if we choose Altera's devices, we can develop Alpha Board in such a way, that it will accept both A7 (largest device that is available with free license) and A9 (largest available device). End users can decide on their own what chip to solder. If we choose something from Xilinx, we can make our Alpha Board in such a way, that it will accept both LX75 (largest device that is available with free license) and LX150 (largest available device). It is impossible of course to make a board that will accept both Xilinx and Altera. My suggestion is to have one board that will suit users willing to use cheap FPGA and free license as well as users willing to use larger FPGA and paid subscription license.

that makes sense

>  
>  
> -- 
> With best regards,
> Pavel Shatov
>  
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