Welcome back to Exploring FPGA Graphics. In previous posts, we raced the beam: every frame the entire screen was generated from scratch. In this fourth part, we’re going to draw on a bitmap and drive the display from that. Bitmaps allow for more complex graphics, but require memory and increase latency. In this series, we explore graphics at the hardware level and get a feel for the power of FPGAs. We start by learning how displays work, before racing the beam with Pong, drawing starfields and sprites, simulating life with bitmaps, drawing lines and triangles, and finally creating simple 3D models. Read more

Designing with FPGAs involves many types of memory, some familiar from other devices, but some that are specific to FPGAs. This post gives a quick overview of the different flavours, together with their strengths and weaknesses, and some sample designs. This guide includes external memory types, such as SRAM and HBM, that are used in CPUs and GPUs, so much of what is said here is generally applicable, but the focus is on FPGAs. Read more

Welcome back to Exploring FPGA Graphics. In the previous part we got an introduction to FPGA graphics; now we’re ready to put our graphical skills to work recreating the arcade classic: Pong. In this series, we explore graphics at the hardware level and get a feel for the power of FPGAs. We start by learning how displays work, before racing the beam with Pong, drawing starfields and sprites, simulating life with bitmaps, drawing lines and triangles, and finally creating simple 3D models. Read more

Division is a fundamental arithmetic operation; one we take for granted in most contexts. FPGAs are different; Verilog can’t synthesize division: we need to do it ourselves. In this FPGA recipe, we’re going to look at a simple division algorithm for positive integers and fixed-point numbers. This method takes one cycle per bit: 32 cycles for 32-bit numbers. Revised 2020-07-28. Feedback to @WillFlux is most welcome. Division Defined Before we get to the design, it helps be familiar with some terminology. Read more

To work with standard monitors and TVs, you need to use the correct video timings. This recipe includes the timings for four standard display modes using analogue VGA, DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort: 640x480 (VGA), 800x600 (SVGA), 1280x720, and 1920x1080 all at 60 Hz. CRT monitors typically support higher refresh rates in addition to 60 Hz, such as 72 and 85 Hz, but most LCD monitors do not. There are an increasing number of televisions and monitors that do support high refresh rates, but these are beyond the scope of this guide. Read more

Welcome back to Exploring FPGA Graphics. In the previous part we created a version of the classic game, Pong. In this third part, we take inspiration from an even earlier game: Computer Space and work with sprites, bitmap fonts, and starfields. In this series, we explore graphics at the hardware level and get a feel for the power of FPGAs. We start by learning how displays work, before racing the beam with Pong, drawing starfields and sprites, simulating life with bitmaps, drawing lines and triangles, and finally creating simple 3D models. Read more

Sometimes you need more precision than integers can provide, but floating-point computation is not trivial (try reading IEEE 754). You could use a library or IP block, but simple fixed point maths can often get the job done with little effort. Furthermore, most FPGAs have dedicated DSP blocks that make multiplication and addition of integers fast; we can take advantage of that with a fixed-point approach. This post is part of a series of handy recipes to solve common FPGA development problems. Read more

Welcome to Exploring FPGA Graphics. In this series we explore graphics at the hardware level and get a feel for the power of FPGAs. We start by learning how displays work, before racing the beam with Pong, drawing starfields and sprites, simulating life with bitmaps, drawing lines and triangles, and finally creating simple 3D models. I’ll be writing and revising this series throughout 2020. In this first post, we learn how computer displays work and animate simple colour graphics. Read more

Welcome back to our three-part FPGA tutorial with SystemVerilog and the Digilent Arty A7. In part two, we’re going to learn about clocks and counting. Along the way, we’ll cover maintaining state with flip-flops, timing things with clock dividers, creating our first Verilog module, and controlling LEDs with pulse width modulation. You might be surprised how far counting takes you: by the end of this tutorial, you’ll be creating RGB lighting effects worthy of a cheesy gaming PC. Read more

This three-part tutorial provides a quick introduction to FPGA development with SystemVerilog and the Digilent Arty A7 board. No prior experience of FPGA development is required, but basic knowledge of programming concepts is assumed. If you can write a simple program in Arduino, Python, or JavaScript, then you shouldn’t have any trouble. I find working with FPGAs gives me a sense of delight so often lacking in modern software development. There’s something profoundly satisfying about designing at the hardware level, be it drawing graphics on a screen, producing sound from a speaker, or even implementing your own arcade game from scratch. Read more