Computer Logic Design Lab

ALERT: If you have Windows 2000 as your operating system, click here before you install Xilinx software.

The software that we use in the lab is called ISE Foundation 5.2i. It is a full-blown version with a lot of different options and capabilities.
For those of you that want to do a lot of your work at home, there is a free downloadable version of this software called ISE Webpack. As you can imagine, for free, it is limited in its capabilities. But, what it provides you is exceedingly powerful. Here is a basic overview of the pros and cons that you will need to review to determine if you want to install this software at home. Listed below the pros and cons and the instructions for downloading and installing. If you have any questions or problems after reading this don't hesitate to send me an email .

PROS:

1. The software is state of the art. It is constantly being updated to make sure it is current.
2. It provides an excellent VHDL editing and syntax checking platform. If you choose one of the devices available, you can do complete projects at home.
3. IT IS FREE

CONS:

1. It is a fairly large program. You will require 750 MEG free disk space during installation. For people with older, smaller machines, this may be a limiting factor.
2. The download is large. There are two files (one for the design software and one for the MXE simulation software). The first one is around 120 MEG and the second one is 50MEG. You are looking at around four hours using a standard modem. You could download them at the university but then you have to figure out how to get them home.
3. It will not target Spartan Devices, does not use FPGA Express, and does not have Coregen installed. These are minor items at this point in your learning curve.

To Install the Software:

1. Go to the following web site ( www.xilinx.com ).
2. Click on Products and Services at the top of the screen.
3. Click on Design Resources at the top of the screen.
4. Click on What's New in ISE 5.2 Logic Design
5. Click on Free ISE Webpack on the left side of the screen
6. Register and then go to download ISE Webpack. Remember your login and password. You will need these later to complete the installation.
7. Choose FPGA and CPLD. Choose the most current version and then download the files.

You should be aware that this information is only current as of June 2003 and is subject to change. My suggestion is to do a typical install (in English). If you choose a custom install you can quickly be faced with the prospect of downloading 10-15 different files. Use the smart download option and start the download before you go to bed. Four hours later you will have the two files downloaded.

The larger one is the main ISE webpack software. It is an executable program. Double click on it and accept the defaults. DO NOT change from the default installation directory. There are no licensing issues to deal with on this product.

The smaller of the two files is for ModelsimXE starter. This is your simulation software. It is provided free of charge to you with the limitation of only being able to simulate up to 500 lines of code. That is more than sufficient for this course. As with webpack, double click on the program and follow the installation procedure. Accept all the defaults. At the end of the installation you will be stepped through the licensing procedure. You will need your hard drive serial number for this. To obtain that, go to a command/dos prompt and type "dir/p" and it will show up as volume serial number. It will be four numbers/letters a dash and four more numbers/letters. Once you finish this procedure you will have your license file emailed to you. Using notepad, save the license file somewhere (that you remember) on your hard drive and then run the licensing wizard. You can find the licensing wizard at start, programs, modelsim. If you do this incorrectly, you will know when you go to simulate your program since modelsim will complain about not being able to find the license file.

If you have any problems getting this to work, email Kayla .