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How Do I FPGA?

Ive been thinking about building stuff with FPGAs for a while, and usually get turned away because FPGAs are considerably harder to implement than microcontrollers since they have no on-chip memory. It is necessary to re-program the gates every time they power up, which requires an external flash memory chip. There arent great references online for the DIY community, so I figured Id post how to get this working. Not using dev boards opens a world of opportunities, so Im a proponent of not using Arduinos and their FPGA equivalent for too long (sure, theyre good to get started with, but dont become dependent). Not wanting to screw up an expensive complex board by being a first-timer at putting an FPGA into a circuit, I figured Id build a little test board with the cheapest Spartan 6 you can get (about $10), which comes in a solderable TQFP144 package. Sadly, most high end FPGAs are BGA and therefore quite hard to solder as a DIY project.”

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