[Fpga-synth] actel

[Eric Brombaugh]

ryan williams wrote:
> Has anyone had any experience with Actel parts? I'm seeing the igloo
> nano and proasic3 nano parts. any comments about using them for
> synths? I like the flash that they have and they are cheap. $5-$15 for
> 250K and less parts. they become much more, $40+ for the larger parts.
> 
> there is a cheap evaluation board. $55 for a igloo nano 250k board. it
> comes with a programmer stick that looks like it can be used in my own
> designs later. i don't know much about what to look for as far
> resources go. My thought it to use these cheap little $5 or $10 ones
> for individual modules in my mostly analog modular. I think of
> replacing the digital VCO i built last year that ran a dspic at 120MHz
> using 120mA at 5V. also, maybe a frequency shifter.

Sounds like a fun project. These low-power non-volatile FPGAs may be a 
good way to get fully digital modules that don't load down the overall 
system power as much as some of the older MCUs like the dsPIC30F series 
parts you were using before. Please keep us informed on how it goes!

Eric