Choosing the board(s) to meet your goals

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The relative merits of the various prototyping boards are subjective and it is not the purpose of this chapter to tell the reader which board is best. Acknowledging this subjectivity, Table 11 offers one specific suggestion for the weighting that might be applied to various features based on the above goals. For example, when creating a large number of evaluation boards, each board should be cheap and robust. On the other hand, when building a standard company infrastructure for multiple SoC prototyping projects, flexibility is probably more important.

We do not expect everybody to agree with the entries in the table, but the important thing is to assess each offering similarly when considering our next board investment. There are a large number of boards available, as mentioned, and we can become lost in details and literature when making our comparisons. Having a checklist such as that in table 11 may help us make a quicker and more appropriate choice. The column for cost may seem unnecessary (i.e., when is cost NOT important?) but we are trying to warn against false economy while still recognizing that in some cases, cost is the primary concern.

Readers may find it helpful to recreate this table with their own priorities so that all stakeholders can agree and remain focused upon key criteria driving the choice

Table 11: Example of how importance of board features depends on intended use

Example of how importance of board features depends on intended use.png

For the rest of this chapter we will explore the more critical of the decision criteria listed as column headings in Table 11.

XC17S30VC

Manufacturer:Xilinx
Xilinx SSOP8
Product Categories:

Lifecycle:Any -

RoHS: -

XC17S40LSC

Manufacturer:Xilinx
Xilinx SOP20 7.2
Product Categories:

Lifecycle:Any -

RoHS: -

XCR3384XL-12FTG256I

Manufacturer:Xilinx
CPLD CoolRunner XPLA3 Family 9K Gates 384 Macro Cells 83MHz 0.35um Technology 3.3V 256-Pin FTBGA
Product Categories: CPLDs

Lifecycle:Unconfirmed -

RoHS:

XCR3384XL-12TQ144C

Manufacturer:Xilinx
CPLD CoolRunner XPLA3 Family 9K Gates 384 Macro Cells 83MHz 0.35um Technology 3.3V 144-Pin TQFP
Product Categories: Programmable logic array

Lifecycle:Active Active

RoHS: No RoHS

XCR3384XL-7FT256C

Manufacturer:Xilinx
CPLD CoolRunner XPLA3 Family 9K Gates 384 Macro Cells 135MHz 0.35um Technology 3.3V 256-Pin FTBGA
Product Categories: Embedded - CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices)

Lifecycle:Active Active

RoHS: No RoHS

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Choosing the board(s) to meet your goals