myhdl-list — Mailing list for discussions on MyHDL

Re: [myhdl-list] FW: Floating-point support --> Fixed-point

[Karl K. <kk...@be...>]

I am interested in the status of Fix point support in MyHDL. Is there some
effort on the way to implement this. I am a newbie on the Python side but
may be able to contribute from the hardware side. I have done some work on
an ASIC fix point DSP component library in Verilog in the past.

Cheers,
Karl Kaiser

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 6:34 AM, Christopher Felton
<chr...@gm...>wrote:

> <snip>
>> On a related sidenote, the situation is completely different for
>> fixed point. I have little experience with it, but great interest
>> in enhancing MyHDL support for this. It seems this could be a
>> "killing feature", as Verilog doesn't have it and I think the VHDL
>> approach can be improved. I have been following Chris Felton's
>> work with great interest. As it happens, I am now doing a project
>> involving fixed point and after that I hope to have time
>> to work on it in MyHDL.
>>
>
> I do agree, Fixed-point will always be a popular topic in HDLs (ASIC/FPGA).
>  Tom Dillon has done some work in this area in the past as well.  Both VHDL
> and SystemC have been working on standardizing fixed-point notation (
> http://www.vhdl.org/fphdl/,
> http://standards.ieee.org/getieee/1666/download/1666-2005.pdf).  They are
> both good starts for what is currently supported.  But I believe with
> MyHDL/Python you will have much more power than the VHDL/SystemC approaches.
>
> One mistake I made with my approach was using the "Q" notation.  We had a
> sub-thread on this in comp.dsp (
> http://www.dsprelated.com/showmessage/133353/2.php), which notation makes
> sense for fixed-point.  The "Q" (sometimes "S", etc) has some limitation.
>  The notation used in the SystemC LRM (or VHDL?) is a better notation
> because you can move the "point" outside of the actual word size.  I have
> wanted to update my write-up and examples with a better notation and
> examples of the "point" outside the word size.  I will keep you posted.
>
> As for the floating-point, I think most inquires, on this topic, have to do
> with more than simple floating-point support.  I believe they would like a
> panacea; take a sequential algorithm, in double precision, and convert it to
> hardware.  As mentioned and I agree with Jan D., this is a large task, and a
> task that is not in the boundaries of the MyHDL scope.  Someone with
> experience in this area (doctoral topic?) could build support on top of
> MyHDL (Algorithm translator --> MyHDL --> RTL) or something.
>
> .chris
>
>
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-- 
Best regards,

Karl Kaiser | 408 306 1755

[myhdl-list] FPGA Camp

[Karl K. <kk...@be...>]

Dear MyHDL list readers.

I could not help myself and wanted to see the MyHDL booth with my own eyes
at yesterday's FPGA Camp here in Silicon Valley. Here are a few noteworthy
points.

- Booth general appearance was great
- Banner targeted the right audience
- Flier was great
- Christoper did a GREAT job as a representative pitching MyHDL (I tested
him before outing myself as a MyHDL list member)

So in short, I think this was a great success and I really want to
congratulate the team that pulled this together from the Sponsor Tachyon to
the contributors preparing the material to Christopher Lozinski doing the
biggest legwork.

Looking forward, what about leveraging the momentum of the booth by trying
to get a paper into one of the sponsoring FPGA publications. This way many
new engineers can be reached and a few are going to try MyHDL out.

Cheers,
Karl Kaiser

[myhdl-list] One Engineer at a time. Conference Report Mentorship Network Proposal

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

It was the last person I spoke to, I think Karl Kaiser, who gave me the 
best advice.  MyHDL will move forward not by selling to the top of the 
organizations, but by starting at the bottom.  Like the evolution of 
linux, we need to get one person at a time to use it.  Support them, and 
get the next person using it. Eventually management will find out it is 
being used on projects, and end up supporting it.

I had thought that the large chip vendors would jump on the board as a 
way to sell to the python market place. Boy was I wrong.  Sure I 
collected 3 cards, one from each of the big 3, but they just are not 
that interested, not until such time as we start to move lots of boards, 
at which point, we no longer really need them.  But will still welcome  
them.

I also thought, it is obvious this is how it should be done, there will 
be lots of interest in consulting.  Boy was I wrong.

The conference  had Cisco talking about 10 gigahertz data transfer 
rates.   This FPGA array stuff still seems to be more about bandwidth, 
then about designing complex algorithms.   One engineer was complaining 
about not enough pin count.  Clearly his abstractions are wrong.

There were a lot of design engineers who walked by and read our poster, 
but had the vacant expression on their faces, like they did not 
understand.  They didn't.

There is strong moral support for MyHDL.   Like the guy who bought a 
board the other day.  Like the guy who said he will have to get his boss 
to spring for a class.  Like the three guys who have now offered to 
connect their boards.  And starting from companies like Tachyon 
simulation software.   And from all the lurkers on this mailing list.

It is a start.  The longest journey begins with a single step.

But we still have to win these guys over one engineer at a time.

I am horrified that I saw all these people at the conference, got back, 
and see not a single new posting on the mailing list.   I am hoping the 
download numbers tell a different story.  What do the mailing list 
subscriptions say?

So here is what I propose.   Let us put together a mentoring network.  I 
do not know about you, but I am always embarrassed to post my problems 
to a general mailing list.  My stupidity is then on the web forever.  
For those who are seriously interested in this stuff, let us assign them 
a mentor.  It goes two ways.  The mentor helps them get up to speed, but 
also the mentor gets a chance to hook them on this technology and draw 
them in.  We hope that they will stay with the technology, and pay it 
forward, by mentoring some other people.

Here is my specific proposal.  Forgive me for using names before 
speaking to these people.  They may well decline to participate.   We 
have the two guys who want to port to their favorite boards.  Three if 
you count Chris Felton.   Thank you.  Most appreciated.  Jan Coombs 
asked me what he could do.  Maybe he would agree to mentor the two 
newbies efforts.  Now he does not know everything, perhaps Chris Felton 
would agree to only support Jan Coombs.  That would minimize Chris's 
time.  We would have a hierachy connecting the newbies to the most 
senior people.   The newbies get support.  The middle guys get respect.  
The senior guys feel that their time is being well leveraged.   We can 
all watch the network grow.  The newbies know they are just two people 
away from the senior guys, and the senior guys know they are supporting 
a broad network with very little time and effort.

How does that sound?  Maybe eventually we can partition the network by 
industry.  The image processing guys over here, the communication guys 
over here.

I think the grass roots approach makes sense.  I think the mentoring 
network makes sense.  Chris Felton is still on track to push out the 
code for the class. Jan Coombs could try it out, and document it, and 
then push it out to his mentees.  Eventually I hope that this approach 
would spread MyHDL in a very grass roots fashion.  Like a prairie fire.

So let me know what you think?  Does anyone else want to be a mentor?  
Does anyone else want mentoring?

And my eyes are on the obligatory Design Automation Conference in June 
in San Diego.  This time I think the banner should say:

The Future of DA is open-source python.
   Understand the paradigm shift today.

More of a marketing message than an engineering message.  We can tell 
the managers that their teams need to understand this paradigm shift.  I 
had so many people ask me why not C?  I should have answered because in 
python we think about things differently, it is a paradigm shift.  We 
are not longer doing functional decomposition into design, simulation, 
verifaction and validation.  We are now building models, reusing class 
libraries, benefiting from polymorphism, multiple inheritance, 
decoration, and for the hard core python guys, acquisition, and 
interfaces.    The different language allows a different paradigm.  
Their organization needs to be educated about this paradigm shift.

I wondered if we should be in the python conferences or in the design 
automation conferences.   Clearly the big money here is in the design 
automation conferences, not in the hackers.  And they do need our help.

This experience has been great for me.  I have made significant progress 
on my chip design these last few days. I had a great time.  I learned a 
lot.  And this is way more interesting than my other job.  I will be 
around for a while.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Expect a paradigm shift.
http://MyHDL.org

Re: [myhdl-list] Commercial support / training classes

[Andrew S. <g.a...@gm...>]

I also have a small stepper motor controller implementation that could be
used for a class (after review by some experts :-)).

The only problem with it is that you have to hook up a stepper motor driver
chip.  You can do this on a breadboard, but it entails hooking up about 10
wires.  Sort of a waste of time during a class.  I used the L298N driver
chip which can come as a thru-hole part.

Cheers!
Andrew


On Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 3:01 PM, Christopher Lozinski <
loz...@fr...> wrote:

>
> > As for training, the biggest issue is probably that
> > there is no ready-to-use  material yet.
> I totally agree.  Chris Felton has a hardware project that generates a
> sound that we could
> use as the basis for the project.   I think a number of us could try to
> duplicate it, edit up the training
> materials in some shared environment, like Google Docs, and before you
> know it we would have a
> training class.
>
> > And before that,
> > the first issue is probably to determine what public we
> > would be targetting and what kind of prelimary knowledge
> > we should/can assume.
> I think we should target the mass market of python developers who want
> to tinker with FPGA's.
> People like me.  For us, meaning experienced python developers, it is
> obvious this is the way to go.  Trying to sell a hardware engineer on
> dynamic binding is going against the flow.
>
> Chris Felton recommends that we do a distributed class.  We would like
> you Jan to do a general presentation on the software and theory, and
> then dive into hands on application. I think we should be done in a
> day.  I think the Silicon Valley standard is do it on a weekend.
> Better yet, you might want to do a video presentation one Saturday,
> people can read the web site during the week, and then come back the
> following Saturday for a class room class, where the "experts" look over
> your shoulder to help you.
>
> Next question can we use the content from the website for the flyers?
> Since the back side of the flyer will sell the class, this is commercial
> use, and needs your approval.
>
> And would you be willing to introduce the class?  How many hours of
> presentation would you like to do?
>
> Is there anyone else who would like to do a presentation on this material
> for the class? Who else is interested in building the hardware demo, and
> editing up the google docs presentation?
>
> --
> Regards
> Christopher Lozinski
>
> Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
> http://textfaster.com
>
>
>
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Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL skeptics anticipation

[Francesco B. <fra...@gm...>]

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 9:29 PM, Jan Decaluwe <ja...@ja...> wrote:
> 2) why MyHDL if we have SystemC
>
> MyHDL is not the first attempt to use a mainstream
> programming language as a HDL. In fact, SystemC is
> a C++ class library backed by big EDA.
>
> However: MyHDL is the first credible attempt to use
> an very high level "scripting" language like Python
> for this purpose. It has the same advantage as Python
> over C++: for many people, it is a much quicker and
> fun way to get the job done.
>

If I may, I think another important reason is that MyHDL license is
strictly better.
If you as much as download SystemC you agree to a non-completely-free
license that, to quote a ridiculous (for me at least; I am not a
lawyer) part of it, states:

"Recipient shall assist OSCI to the extent reasonably necessary to
protect and maintain the Marks worldwide,
including, but not limited to, giving prompt notice to OSCI of any
known or potential infringement of the Marks,
and cooperating with OSCI in preparing and executing any documents
necessary to register the Marks, or as may
be required by the laws or rules of any country or jurisdiction."

The license is the reason why the Fedora Electronic Lab Linux
distribution does not include SystemC.

MyHDL license gives all the freedom that a user should need.

Francesco

[myhdl-list] MyHDL skeptics anticipation

[Jan D. <ja...@ja...>]

When presenting MyHDL to a new audience, a number of
skeptical reactions can be anticipated. As a matter
of preparation, here are a few that I expect, with
my thoughts.

1) synthesizing from Python/MyHDL must be much more
inefficient than from Verilog/VHDL  directly

False: MyHDL conversion automates some cumbersome
tasks, but doesn't essentially change the abstraction
level. If you need RTL for mainstream synthesis,
you have to write MyHDL at the RTL level. The
synthesis efficiency is essentially the same.

2) why MyHDL if we have SystemC

MyHDL is not the first attempt to use a mainstream
programming language as a HDL. In fact, SystemC is
a C++ class library backed by big EDA.

However: MyHDL is the first credible attempt to use
an very high level "scripting" language like Python
for this purpose. It has the same advantage as Python
over C++: for many people, it is a much quicker and
fun way to get the job done.

3) the real future is high-level or behavioral synthesis

MyHDL can convert to Verilog or VHDL at various levels,
including the "behavior level".
However, it is true that high-level synthesis these
days typically starts from some C dialect.

I believe that high-level synthesis does have a future,
but I also think it will never be as general as
RTL synthesis. I believe the RTL level to be "lingua
franca" in digital design. I think that we will see many
different "high-level synthesis" engines tied to
specific application domains. In contrast, the RTL level is
universally applicable (albeit at a much lower level.)

I also believe that MyHDL could be a much more interesting
platform to develop high-level synthesis engines with
high-level python code as input, and MyHDL RTL code
as output.

Last but not least, high-level synthesis tools are
*extremely* expensive - only a few people can afford
them.

Jan

-- 
Jan Decaluwe - Resources bvba - http://www.jandecaluwe.com
     Python as a HDL: http://www.myhdl.org
     VHDL development, the modern way: http://www.sigasi.com
     Analog design automation: http://www.mephisto-da.com
     World-class digital design: http://www.easics.com

Re: [myhdl-list] Conference: Logos

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

We are well past the one man show.

Chris
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Xperia(TM) PLAY
> It's a major breakthrough. An authentic gaming
> smartphone on the nation's most reliable network.
> And it wants your games.
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/verizon-sfdev
> _______________________________________________
> myhdl-list mailing list
> myh...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list


-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

[myhdl-list] Board Integration

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

That offer also holds true for listing boards.

There was the gentleman who offered to integrate the inexpensive Lattice 
Semiconductor board.
Chris Felton verbally offerered to support that effort, indeed he has 
ordered the board himself.

I am so impressed by all of Chris's efforts.  I am just heading off to 
pick up his beautiful and technical poster.

If you make it so that I can create your circuit board without leaving 
python, then it gets your logo on our booths and on our websites.   If 
we link to your board, you should link to our websites.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Re: [myhdl-list] Conference: Logos

[Christopher F. <chr...@gm...>]

They are companies that have worked with MyHDL in the past.  Some 
provide services and some provide software etc.  I was going after 
demonstrating more than a "one man show".

Chris

On 4/5/2011 11:38 AM, Christopher Lozinski wrote:
> Chris Felton found two companies  that want to work with us.  Great.  I
> am all for interoperability.
>
> So if you are responsible for a software package that works with MyHDL,
> please print me a logo,
> and I will exhibit it in the booth, and point to it as an example of
> interoperability.
>
> Print your logo here
>
> FedEx Office center located at:
>
> 1440 Vine St LOS ANGELES, CA 90028-8110 UNITED STATES
>
> Phone: (323) 871-1300
>
> before 4 pm california time today.
>
> We will add it to the booth.
>
> I will also point to it during the show as an example of the policy of interoperability.
>
> In the long run, I want the two products to work together seamlessly, and
> more importantly I want to cross link our websites.
>
> Do not make the print job too big or obnoxious.  Just the right size based on the other logs
> in the banner.
>
> If you would like to contribute by paying to print some flyers, that would also be great. Maybe we need $50 total.
>
> I am also a little torn by all of this.  I guess if MyHDL supports Verilog and VHDL, why bother linking to all these tools.  So here are the rules.  If you commit to providing a Python api that we can call
> to run your tools automatically, and if you agree to link to us appropriately on your website, then we will link to you and promote your product.
>
> How does that sound everyone?
>
>

[myhdl-list] Conference: Logos

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

Chris Felton found two companies  that want to work with us.  Great.  I 
am all for interoperability.

So if you are responsible for a software package that works with MyHDL, 
please print me a logo,
and I will exhibit it in the booth, and point to it as an example of 
interoperability.

Print your logo here

FedEx Office center located at:

1440 Vine St LOS ANGELES, CA 90028-8110 UNITED STATES

Phone: (323) 871-1300

before 4 pm california time today.

We will add it to the booth.

I will also point to it during the show as an example of the policy of interoperability.

In the long run, I want the two products to work together seamlessly, and
more importantly I want to cross link our websites.

Do not make the print job too big or obnoxious.  Just the right size based on the other logs
in the banner.

If you would like to contribute by paying to print some flyers, that would also be great. Maybe we need $50 total.

I am also a little torn by all of this.  I guess if MyHDL supports Verilog and VHDL, why bother linking to all these tools.  So here are the rules.  If you commit to providing a Python api that we can call
to run your tools automatically, and if you agree to link to us appropriately on your website, then we will link to you and promote your product.

How does that sound everyone?


-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL Course

[David R. <dav...@gm...>]

I have just ordered the board from DSPtronics, the 500K flavour. There are
several reasons why I decided to buy this board. I think it would be worst
to share with the "community" such reasons.

1) We should test all the examples of the class in one board. Plus this
board has Mixed signals capabilities. This will allow to create very
interesting projects (e.g. some analog/Digital project where a type of
control is required: a board with cheap photo diode that increments an LED
intensity as a function of the light intensity. Or a set of LED that light
according to the frequency detected) . If there are "Class developers" using
different boards it will be more difficult to reach a consensus.

2) There is no need to say who the real contributors to this project
are/been... I am not. The purchasing of the board can be used as a way of
funding their contribution (Why not? I have enjoyed their e-mail for the
last year). This is better than giving money to a project without knowing
where the money is going.

3) This is a nice opportunity to have real project where MyHDL is push to
the limit. Some of the conversations here have been a little bit
"philosophical"  ... let's have a platform to test those arguments. See how
the synthesis tool works. Let's take decisions based on data that anybody
with the same tool can test, confirm or refuse. This method of working is
known as "Scientific method".

I hope more people will purchase more boards. The most difficult thing is
always the beginning. The more we work with the same tools the better...and
faster.

regards,
David

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 3:52 AM, Christopher Lozinski <
loz...@fr...> wrote:

> On 4/4/11 5:53 PM, Andrew Stone wrote:
> > I will test the course material on the Lattice XP2 Brevia.  Its a pretty
> > inexpensive board so is good for classes.
> I invited you to edit the course material.  Soon I will move it to a
> Zope 3 wiki.
>
> Please make that commitment on the wiki.
>
> Please say a little about the board, url , price, specs.
>
>
> It would be great if you would also commit to documenting the lattice
> interface.
>
> --
> Regards
> Christopher Lozinski
>
> Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
> http://textfaster.com
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Xperia(TM) PLAY
> It's a major breakthrough. An authentic gaming
> smartphone on the nation's most reliable network.
> And it wants your games.
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/verizon-sfdev
> _______________________________________________
> myhdl-list mailing list
> myh...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list
>



-- 
David Rodríguez Martin
Cambridge,UK

[myhdl-list] FPGA Camp Poster Version 4

[Christopher F. <chr...@gm...>]

Version 4 of the poster was uploaded.  This is a 60"x36" banner.

http://www.myhdl.org/doku.php/users:cfelton:fpgacamp:fpga_camp

.chris

Re: [myhdl-list] help - hot bit encoder

[Jan C. <jan...@mu...>]

On 05/04/11 03:50, David Blubaugh wrote:
 > Is there anything that I can do to help ??

Yes please!  Run the code attached to my posting. It prints the 
correct result in reversed binary during simulation, but the result 
is not converted back from a signal list to intbv for return.

Hot-bit encoding has just one bit set true at any time. My code 
should convert this back into a simple number, representing the 
position of the set bit.

For a sixteen bit wide input vector, and a four bit output vector 
it produces code the equivalent of this:

  o[3] = i[15]|i[14]|i[13]|i[12]|i[11]|i[10]|i[9]|i[8]
  o[2] = i[15]|i[14]|i[13]|i[12]|i[7]|i[6]|i[5]|i[4]
  o[1] = i[15]|i[14]|i[11]|i[10]|i[7]|i[6]|i[3]|i[2]
  o[0] = i[15]|i[13]|i[11]|i[9]|i[7]|i[5]|i[3]|i[1]

Jan Coombs

Re: [myhdl-list] Commercial support / training classes

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

Do you want to go ahead and print it at kinkos.

I am always reluctant to move transactions through my accounts, that 
gives me two more accounting transactions to track.

I will send you the two page flyer in a minute.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Re: [myhdl-list] Commercial support / training classes

[Christopher F. <chr...@gm...>]

On 4/4/11 10:19 PM, Christopher Lozinski wrote:
> Looks great.
>
> This is particularly useful for beginners, .... It is particularly
> useful if you want to move your design between Verilog and VHDL.
>
> redundant, how about especially convenient the second time.

Ok, change made and uploaded.

thx, chris

>
> On 4/4/11 7:59 PM, Christopher Felton wrote:
>> I uploaded a new version 3 poster,
>> http://www.myhdl.org/doku.php/users:cfelton:fpgacamp:fpga_camp.  I added
>> credit to Jan Decaluwe for information / media used from the
>> www.myhdl.org site.  I also used Thomas Traber's plots from the projects
>> space.
>>
>> Thomas would you like credit mention on the poster as well?  The rest of
>> the plots were mine.
>>
>> .chris
>>
>> On 4/4/11 4:30 AM, Jan Decaluwe wrote:
>>> On 04/02/2011 09:01 PM, Christopher Lozinski wrote:
>>>>> As for training, the biggest issue is probably that
>>>>> there is no ready-to-use  material yet.
>>>> I totally agree.  Chris Felton has a hardware project that generates a
>>>> sound that we could
>>>> use as the basis for the project.   I think a number of us could try to
>>>> duplicate it, edit up the training
>>>> materials in some shared environment, like Google Docs, and before you
>>>> know it we would have a
>>>> training class.
>>>>
>>>>> And before that,
>>>>> the first issue is probably to determine what public we
>>>>> would be targetting and what kind of prelimary knowledge
>>>>> we should/can assume.
>>>> I think we should target the mass market of python developers who want
>>>> to tinker with FPGA's.
>>>> People like me.  For us, meaning experienced python developers, it is
>>>> obvious this is the way to go.  Trying to sell a hardware engineer on
>>>> dynamic binding is going against the flow.
>>> Ok, agreed.
>>>
>>>> Chris Felton recommends that we do a distributed class.  We would like
>>>> you Jan to do a general presentation on the software and theory, and
>>>> then dive into hands on application. I think we should be done in a
>>>> day.  I think the Silicon Valley standard is do it on a weekend.
>>>> Better yet, you might want to do a video presentation one Saturday,
>>>> people can read the web site during the week, and then come back the
>>>> following Saturday for a class room class, where the "experts" look over
>>>> your shoulder to help you.
>>>>
>>>> Next question can we use the content from the website for the flyers?
>>>> Since the back side of the flyer will sell the class, this is commercial
>>>> use, and needs your approval.
>>> I notice that the content licensing on the website is confusing -
>>> my idea was  to use the GNU free documentation license but the
>>> create commons license is still there, apprarenlty I forgot to
>>> remove it from the wiki template.
>>>
>>> I have not yet studied the details of these licenses.
>>>
>>> Note that the wiki content is contributed by several people.
>>> We probably should discuss the license we should use, so that
>>> everyone knows what he/she gives way. I think I would be in favour of
>>> license that requires honouring copyright notices (refering to the
>>> myhdl.org contributors) and that lets one use the content
>>> for any type of use. For the texts that I have written, you
>>> can use it along those lines.
>>>
>>>> And would you be willing to introduce the class?  How many hours of
>>>> presentation would you like to do?
>>> If someone drives the development of a class in a shared
>>> environment, I'm prepared to review and offer suggestions.
>>> After the material is ready, we can see for what part
>>> my involvement could be useful, and I certainly would
>>> be willing to contribute.
>>>
>>> My availability until April 24 is very limited though (milestone)
>>> and it will be on best effort basis.
>>>
>>> Jan
>>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Xperia(TM) PLAY
>> It's a major breakthrough. An authentic gaming
>> smartphone on the nation's most reliable network.
>> And it wants your games.
>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/verizon-sfdev
>> _______________________________________________
>> myhdl-list mailing list
>> myh...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list
>
>

Re: [myhdl-list] Commercial support / training classes

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

Looks great.

This is particularly useful for beginners, .... It is particularly 
useful if you want to move your design between Verilog and VHDL.

redundant, how about especially convenient the second time.

On 4/4/11 7:59 PM, Christopher Felton wrote:
> I uploaded a new version 3 poster,
> http://www.myhdl.org/doku.php/users:cfelton:fpgacamp:fpga_camp.  I added
> credit to Jan Decaluwe for information / media used from the
> www.myhdl.org site.  I also used Thomas Traber's plots from the projects
> space.
>
> Thomas would you like credit mention on the poster as well?  The rest of
> the plots were mine.
>
> .chris
>
> On 4/4/11 4:30 AM, Jan Decaluwe wrote:
>> On 04/02/2011 09:01 PM, Christopher Lozinski wrote:
>>>> As for training, the biggest issue is probably that
>>>> there is no ready-to-use  material yet.
>>> I totally agree.  Chris Felton has a hardware project that generates a
>>> sound that we could
>>> use as the basis for the project.   I think a number of us could try to
>>> duplicate it, edit up the training
>>> materials in some shared environment, like Google Docs, and before you
>>> know it we would have a
>>> training class.
>>>
>>>> And before that,
>>>> the first issue is probably to determine what public we
>>>> would be targetting and what kind of prelimary knowledge
>>>> we should/can assume.
>>> I think we should target the mass market of python developers who want
>>> to tinker with FPGA's.
>>> People like me.  For us, meaning experienced python developers, it is
>>> obvious this is the way to go.  Trying to sell a hardware engineer on
>>> dynamic binding is going against the flow.
>> Ok, agreed.
>>
>>> Chris Felton recommends that we do a distributed class.  We would like
>>> you Jan to do a general presentation on the software and theory, and
>>> then dive into hands on application. I think we should be done in a
>>> day.  I think the Silicon Valley standard is do it on a weekend.
>>> Better yet, you might want to do a video presentation one Saturday,
>>> people can read the web site during the week, and then come back the
>>> following Saturday for a class room class, where the "experts" look over
>>> your shoulder to help you.
>>>
>>> Next question can we use the content from the website for the flyers?
>>> Since the back side of the flyer will sell the class, this is commercial
>>> use, and needs your approval.
>> I notice that the content licensing on the website is confusing -
>> my idea was  to use the GNU free documentation license but the
>> create commons license is still there, apprarenlty I forgot to
>> remove it from the wiki template.
>>
>> I have not yet studied the details of these licenses.
>>
>> Note that the wiki content is contributed by several people.
>> We probably should discuss the license we should use, so that
>> everyone knows what he/she gives way. I think I would be in favour of
>> license that requires honouring copyright notices (refering to the
>> myhdl.org contributors) and that lets one use the content
>> for any type of use. For the texts that I have written, you
>> can use it along those lines.
>>
>>> And would you be willing to introduce the class?  How many hours of
>>> presentation would you like to do?
>> If someone drives the development of a class in a shared
>> environment, I'm prepared to review and offer suggestions.
>> After the material is ready, we can see for what part
>> my involvement could be useful, and I certainly would
>> be willing to contribute.
>>
>> My availability until April 24 is very limited though (milestone)
>> and it will be on best effort basis.
>>
>> Jan
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Xperia(TM) PLAY
> It's a major breakthrough. An authentic gaming
> smartphone on the nation's most reliable network.
> And it wants your games.
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/verizon-sfdev
> _______________________________________________
> myhdl-list mailing list
> myh...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list


-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

[myhdl-list] Conference: Final Preparations

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

Attached are the vendor instructions for the  show.

I should have a 5 ft table but maybe no wall.  I went to Fed Ex Kinkos.  
They have these gorgeous banners on sale 5ft by 3 ft for $59.00.  Chris, 
you can print 30in x 40 in for $134 or edit the banner to fit their 
sale.  Your choice.  Me, I hate spending money. The banners have 
grommets for hanging, and role up nicely.    They also sell tubes for a 
few dollars.  Perfect, I can get the banner here in Los Angeles and not 
damage it in the car.    I leave 7 pm on Tuesday.   If they can print it 
before well then I can pick it up here.

http://www.fedex.com/Dropoff/LocationResultsAction.do?selectedLocationsIndex=0&partyIndex=0
Kinkos at the intersection of vine and sunset in hollywood.

If not I need to call to find out the nearest one to the conference that 
has the large format vinyl printers.

So how do I put it up if they do not have a wall?   After much thought, 
I went to home depot and bought two 8 ft redwood poles for 7.49 each.  I 
carefully selected the straight ones without knots.  If they have a 
table with legs on the outside, I can duct tape the pole to the legs. If 
the legs are inside, I can tie the the tops of the poles together, and 
the bottoms to the legs, and the table will keep them apart.  So I 
should be good to go.  Hopefully they have a wall.

So I am taking:

    * Rope
    * Twine
    * duct tape
    * scotch tape
    * power strip
    * Extension chord
    * Plastic Box to raise my computer monitor
    * Mac Mini, monitor, video camera.
    * Brown sheet to cover box and table .
    * business cards
    * flyers.
    * Stapler, to staple business cards to index cards and make comments
    * Pens
    * Water bottles
    * nuts


Am I forgetting anything?

Here are the vendor instructions.
> It is a sold out event, so arrive early to set up the booth. Plan to be there latest by 3:30 PM 
> You would be provided with a table (apx ~5ft) to set up as a booth. 
> The event is community supported, so you would need to set-up your own booth, and all logistics related to it (power strip, extension cords, table cloths etc.). Power outlet is not guaranteed. 
> Keeping the community spirit, please help wrapping up the booth and leave your table in the same condition you received it. 
> Bring flyers, demo boards etc to distribute during the day of the event. 
> You would be able to put banners on the table or as a backdrop. Access to wall for setting up the banner would depend on the location of the booth, and may not be possible.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Re: [myhdl-list] Commercial support / training classes

[Christopher F. <chr...@gm...>]

I uploaded a new version 3 poster, 
http://www.myhdl.org/doku.php/users:cfelton:fpgacamp:fpga_camp.  I added 
credit to Jan Decaluwe for information / media used from the 
www.myhdl.org site.  I also used Thomas Traber's plots from the projects 
space.

Thomas would you like credit mention on the poster as well?  The rest of 
the plots were mine.

.chris

On 4/4/11 4:30 AM, Jan Decaluwe wrote:
> On 04/02/2011 09:01 PM, Christopher Lozinski wrote:
>>
>>> As for training, the biggest issue is probably that
>>> there is no ready-to-use  material yet.
>> I totally agree.  Chris Felton has a hardware project that generates a
>> sound that we could
>> use as the basis for the project.   I think a number of us could try to
>> duplicate it, edit up the training
>> materials in some shared environment, like Google Docs, and before you
>> know it we would have a
>> training class.
>>
>>> And before that,
>>> the first issue is probably to determine what public we
>>> would be targetting and what kind of prelimary knowledge
>>> we should/can assume.
>> I think we should target the mass market of python developers who want
>> to tinker with FPGA's.
>> People like me.  For us, meaning experienced python developers, it is
>> obvious this is the way to go.  Trying to sell a hardware engineer on
>> dynamic binding is going against the flow.
>
> Ok, agreed.
>
>>
>> Chris Felton recommends that we do a distributed class.  We would like
>> you Jan to do a general presentation on the software and theory, and
>> then dive into hands on application. I think we should be done in a
>> day.  I think the Silicon Valley standard is do it on a weekend.
>> Better yet, you might want to do a video presentation one Saturday,
>> people can read the web site during the week, and then come back the
>> following Saturday for a class room class, where the "experts" look over
>> your shoulder to help you.
>>
>> Next question can we use the content from the website for the flyers?
>> Since the back side of the flyer will sell the class, this is commercial
>> use, and needs your approval.
>
> I notice that the content licensing on the website is confusing -
> my idea was  to use the GNU free documentation license but the
> create commons license is still there, apprarenlty I forgot to
> remove it from the wiki template.
>
> I have not yet studied the details of these licenses.
>
> Note that the wiki content is contributed by several people.
> We probably should discuss the license we should use, so that
> everyone knows what he/she gives way. I think I would be in favour of
> license that requires honouring copyright notices (refering to the
> myhdl.org contributors) and that lets one use the content
> for any type of use. For the texts that I have written, you
> can use it along those lines.
>
>> And would you be willing to introduce the class?  How many hours of
>> presentation would you like to do?
>
> If someone drives the development of a class in a shared
> environment, I'm prepared to review and offer suggestions.
> After the material is ready, we can see for what part
> my involvement could be useful, and I certainly would
> be willing to contribute.
>
> My availability until April 24 is very limited though (milestone)
> and it will be on best effort basis.
>
> Jan
>

Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL Course

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

On 4/4/11 5:53 PM, Andrew Stone wrote:
> I will test the course material on the Lattice XP2 Brevia.  Its a pretty
> inexpensive board so is good for classes.
I invited you to edit the course material.  Soon I will move it to a 
Zope 3 wiki.

Please make that commitment on the wiki.

Please say a little about the board, url , price, specs.


It would be great if you would also commit to documenting the lattice 
interface.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com

Re: [myhdl-list] help - hot bit encoder

[David B. <dav...@ya...>]

Is there anything that I can do to help ??
 
David
 
 


--- On Mon, 4/4/11, Jan Coombs <jan...@mu...> wrote:


From: Jan Coombs <jan...@mu...>
Subject: Re: [myhdl-list] help - hot bit encoder
To: myh...@li...
Date: Monday, April 4, 2011, 10:01 PM


On 03/04/11 12:02, Jan Decaluwe wrote:
> Jan:
> 
> You struggle with the difference between elaboration
> and simulation. All code outside generators is elaborated
> once by the Python interpreter. All code inside generators
> is alive during simulation.

When you put it like that it sounds very simple.  I have separated the build time and run time code better now, and it seems to be working, up to a *reversed, where I have got stuck before.  Code is attached.

>   . . .
> For example, the following code passes your tests,
> converts, and is synthesisable. (Expressing the
> don't care conditions which are probably there
> is not possible in this way however.)

Thanks for your simple solution, mine was also not intended to cover illegal states in the hot-bit vector.  For the purposes of understanding how to write complex mappings, and for the original goal of posting this elsewhere I would like to complete the code in the explicit style - help alstublieft!

Jan Coombs.

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xperia(TM) PLAY
It's a major breakthrough. An authentic gaming
smartphone on the nation's most reliable network.
And it wants your games.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/verizon-sfdev
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----


_______________________________________________
myhdl-list mailing list
myh...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list

Re: [myhdl-list] help - hot bit encoder

[Jan C. <jan...@mu...>]

On 03/04/11 12:02, Jan Decaluwe wrote:
> Jan:
>
> You struggle with the difference between elaboration
> and simulation. All code outside generators is elaborated
> once by the Python interpreter. All code inside generators
> is alive during simulation.

When you put it like that it sounds very simple.  I have separated 
the build time and run time code better now, and it seems to be 
working, up to a *reversed, where I have got stuck before.  Code is 
attached.

>   . . .
> For example, the following code passes your tests,
> converts, and is synthesisable. (Expressing the
> don't care conditions which are probably there
> is not possible in this way however.)

Thanks for your simple solution, mine was also not intended to 
cover illegal states in the hot-bit vector.  For the purposes of 
understanding how to write complex mappings, and for the original 
goal of posting this elsewhere I would like to complete the code in 
the explicit style - help alstublieft!

Jan Coombs.

Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL Course

[Andrew S. <g.a...@gm...>]

I will test the course material on the Lattice XP2 Brevia.  Its a pretty
inexpensive board so is good for classes.

Andrew

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 1:33 PM, Christopher Lozinski <
loz...@fr...> wrote:

> I have started a Google Doc for the MyHDL course.
>
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vo7bMRoc_KOM0bt7XDmV62IqCXweeK9WlhdeUv-nbes/edit?hl=en#
>
> We expect to make money off offering this course, so whoever wants to
> contribute to it, we are happy to compensate you out of the revenue
> made.  More than that, we hope you will also be one of the teachers, for
> those students who live near you.   There are not enough experienced
> MyHDL people for the number of python developers who will want to use it.
>
> I do not expect to make much money off this, mostly I am doing this
> because it is way easier than trying to figure out everything myself.
> In particular there are a bunch of class libraries that I hope someone
> else writes.
>
> If you want edit permission on the course material, please let me
> know.   You can either volunteer, or enter into a business relationship
> for the work you provide.
>
> --
> Regards
> Christopher Lozinski
>
> Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
> http://textfaster.com
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Create and publish websites with WebMatrix
> Use the most popular FREE web apps or write code yourself;
> WebMatrix provides all the features you need to develop and
> publish your website. http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-webmatrix-sf
> _______________________________________________
> myhdl-list mailing list
> myh...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list
>

Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL Course

[Christopher F. <chr...@gm...>]

On 4/4/2011 3:26 PM, David Rodríguez wrote:
> I am based in Cambridge, UK. I use Python and vhdl at Work, hence the
> interest in Myhdl. But with a baby born this year, there has been no
> much time to dive into it. Cambridge is very devided between verilog and
> Vhdl, I know arm uses Verilog and that has shifted the hdl community
> here a lot...just a ramdom comment
>

Congratulations on the bundle of joy.  I will have my second born this 
summer (two under two) I can relate to the no time!  But I have been 
using MyHDL for many years and find ways to sneak it into my day job.

I see the same, I need to know Verilog and VHDL to not limit myself. 
Although my main job focus is as a DSP (applied) Engineer.

Chris Felton

Re: [myhdl-list] MyHDL Course

[David R. <dav...@gm...>]

I am based in Cambridge, UK. I use Python and vhdl at Work, hence the
interest in Myhdl. But with a baby born this year, there has been no much
time to dive into it. Cambridge is very devided between verilog and Vhdl, I
know arm uses Verilog and that has shifted the hdl community here a
lot...just a ramdom comment
On 4 Apr 2011 18:34, "Christopher Lozinski" <loz...@fr...>
wrote:
> I have started a Google Doc for the MyHDL course.
>
>
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vo7bMRoc_KOM0bt7XDmV62IqCXweeK9WlhdeUv-nbes/edit?hl=en#
>
> We expect to make money off offering this course, so whoever wants to
> contribute to it, we are happy to compensate you out of the revenue
> made. More than that, we hope you will also be one of the teachers, for
> those students who live near you. There are not enough experienced
> MyHDL people for the number of python developers who will want to use it.
>
> I do not expect to make much money off this, mostly I am doing this
> because it is way easier than trying to figure out everything myself.
> In particular there are a bunch of class libraries that I hope someone
> else writes.
>
> If you want edit permission on the course material, please let me
> know. You can either volunteer, or enter into a business relationship
> for the work you provide.
>
> --
> Regards
> Christopher Lozinski
>
> Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
> http://textfaster.com
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Create and publish websites with WebMatrix
> Use the most popular FREE web apps or write code yourself;
> WebMatrix provides all the features you need to develop and
> publish your website. http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-webmatrix-sf
> _______________________________________________
> myhdl-list mailing list
> myh...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/myhdl-list

[myhdl-list] Conference: Resources List, Progress Python and MyHDL job Board.

[Christopher L. <loz...@fr...>]

On the back of the why MyHDL flyer we have an empty page.  I intend to 
put attached list of resources on it.  Comments invited.  Phone numbers 
and emails have been deleted from this internet posting.
Please note the new job board!  http://myhdl.specialtyjobmarkets.com

So we have a booth, a poster, a flyer,  a circuit board, a job board, an 
open source product, great documentation,  a senior technical 
consultant, a junior technical consultant, consulting services, a person 
who has committed to create the class blinking light source code, a 
person who has committed to testing out that code, and completing the 
class material.  And $150 for printing.

Amazing.  Just unbelievable.  I have spent the last two years hacking 
iPhone software, this is so much faster, easier and more fun.

So here are the resources.  Please make your comments.

MyHDL.org                              Main Web site.

http://www.dsptronics.com/   Recommended Board

http://MyHDL.specialtyjobmarkets.com Consulting Job Board

Christopher Felton    Senior Technical Consultant Mineapolis

Jan Coombs Junior Technical Consultant  U.K.

Christopher Lozinski Class Registration, Consulting Services Los Angeles.

MyHDL Class URL

Python.org  Download python.

Xilinx ISE Webpack (www.xilinx.com)

Any other volunteers?  Recommendations?

That still leaves us with half a page.  It goes to print tomorrow.  
Maybe we can add some more text back in.   Jan do you want to update 
that document accordingly.

-- 
Regards
Christopher Lozinski

Check out my iPhone apps TextFaster and EmailFaster
http://textfaster.com