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Rating: 
Summary: Great PLD Software
Review: At the time I am writing this review (July, '03), 4.2i is still the most current student version of Xilinx ISE, although version 5.2i has been shipped to institutions in the Xilinx University Program (XUP). There ar no major differences in the user interfaces for ISE versions 4.2 and 5.2. A free downloadable version of ISE, called WebPack is available, from Xilinx.The Foundation 2.1 tools are no longer available in a student version from Xilinx. The current ISE 4.2i (and higher) software has a very different user interface from the earlier 2.1 tools. Unfortunately, to the best of my kowledge, all of the lab/texts available currently available here are based on the out-of-date 2.1 software. I have just written a lab/text that is based on the ISE 4.2/5.2i software. The book covers the use of ISE for combinational and sequential logic design, using schematic capture and HDLs (ABEL and VHDL),and basic state-machine design using schematic capture, the state editor, and HDLs. I've written the book to be used as a lab manual for just about any digital book out there now, or as a stand-alone intro to ISE for people that want to learn to use ISE. The tentative title is "Programmable Logic Fundamentals: A Step-by-Step Guide to Xilinx ISE and CPLDs." This book should be available early in 2004. If you are interested in leaning this software quickly and efficiently, you should keep an eye out for the book. I didn't really intend this to be a commercial for the book I wrote. But, since none of the lab books on the market address ISE (yet, at least), and since I am teaching digital electronics, using ISE this fall, I figured I may as well compile my lab activities and lecture notes into a form that my students can use, and get it published. In any case, if you want to learn to use Xilinx PLDs you really should switch to the new ISE 4.2 or higher software. I hope this review is helpful to you.
Rating:
Summary: Good Tools for Programming Xilinx FPGA
Review: This software is powerfull enough for most students. It supports both HDL entry (Verilog and VHDL) and Schematics entry. Maximum gates count you can have with this software is 300K gates (Spartan-II, Spartan-IIE, and some Virtex FPGA). As a comparison, one of the project that I did needed 10K gates, and it is a complete video game system called Pong. So, this software has quite a lot of potential. Of course, you still have to buy the FPGA board. But that's also true if you buy the professional version. There are some drawback with the student version that you should now.
1. The program that download the circuit, called Impact, does not work with Windows XP.
2. It does not support some older Xilinx FPGA. For example: XC400, Spartan and Spartan XL are no longer supported. If you want support for these older FPGAs, you have to use the older Xilinx Student Edition 2.1i.
There is a free version of the software called Webpack which can be downloaded from Xilinx website. It is newer, version 6.1i at the time I wrote this review, and it fully supports Windows XP. But it has less features, for example it doesn't have FPGA Editor while the Student Version 4.2i has it. Some FPGAs that are supported by the student version are not supported by Webpack. But Webpack supports newer Spartan 3, while the student version does not support it.
There are some errors regarding with the installation instruction that comes with the software. They posted a correction at Xilinx Education website. You can see it at http://xup.msu.edu/license/v42i/index.htm
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