[sdiy] What to do with XC4003A's

[Grant Richter]

Hi Jim,

I don't know what the gate count is for that part. But if it is high enough
you can implement a full multi-timbral multi voice synth engine including
keyboard encoder.

My best friend is the Chicago area Xilinx field applications engineer. We
have spent much time discussing the possibilities of big FPGAs as the new
hobbiest/hacker/midnight engineering hardware platform of choice.

With a sufficient gate count, you can "hardware code" complex functions that
would otherwise take a microprocessor and software. Since one of the
graphical interfaces is schematic based, it allows hardware oriented
engineers to play in an area previously requiring advanced software
expertise.

There is still an awful lot of engineering knowledge that has never made the
transition to digital platforms. During the technology transition from
continuos time computation to discrete time computation, the crude
development tools did not allow the accumulated knowledge base to be
transferred directly to digital systems. It is only recently that
development tools have become sufficiently advanced to allow the use of
familiar methodologies on the new platforms.

> From: patchell <patchell at silcom.com>
> Reply-To: owner-synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
> Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 20:44:24 -0700
> To: "synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl" <synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl>
> Subject: [sdiy] What to do with XC4003A's
> 
> Just "aquired" a couple of tubes of Xilinx XC4003A FPGA's.  I am
> trying to decide what to do with these things.  I could make a top
> octave generator out of them, I suppose.  I have always wanted to make
> some kind of an "organ".  Suppose I could also make some NCO's
> (numericly control oscilators, or phase-accumulator oscilators).
> 
> Decisions...decisions...
> 
> --
> -Jim
> ------------------------------------------------
> * Visit:http://www.silcom.com/~patchell/
> *-----------------------------------------------
> *I'm sure glad Merry Christmas comes just once a year
> * -Yogi Yorgensen
> ------------------------------------------------
> 
>