Re: PCI card

[John Sheahan <jrsheahan-at-optushome.com.au>]

On Sat, Feb 15, 2003 at 12:26:25AM -0500, Mark Pictor wrote:
> looks to be the way to go, though it would still
> require someone familiar with the VHDL language.
> 
> FPGA? core? VHDL? An FPGA (Field Programmable Gate
> Array) is something like a computer: you can change
> how it behaves by re-programming it, and you can plug
> things in for features that programming alone won't
> give you.  The core is the program that goes in it. 

> VHDL is the most common language used to make the
> core.

there are two common languages, VHDL and verilog. 
there are religious wars as to which is superior :)

You can get pci parallel ports (for a while) 
that give a real time loop in the PC access.

Presumably the point of a FPGA here would be to 
offload the real time processing part from the host CPU 
to something remote and real time?  Which then drives the
motors with suitable amps/controllers.

If you are going to do the real-time offload - choosing
something with a lot less wires / longer range makes 
more sense to me.

The prior suggestions for ethernet seems sensible for this 
part. Put the real time external controller in a fpga or real-time
cpu or dsp (as suits the individual - I'd personally choose 
the fpga).  Keep the PC inside, not in the workshop.

john