Spartan® Family FPGAs

[javiertavares]

HI EVERYONE!!!

I HAVE A SPARTAN 3E STARTER KID, IT HAS A 3.3V SOURCE, THE DATA SHEET FROM DE CI SAYS I CAN GET 3A, BUT, SINCERLY I DON'T THINK THE BOARD CAN GIVE ME THAT MUCH, SO, I HAVE TWO QUESTION, WHICH IS THE MAXIMUM CURRENT THAT I CAN GET FROM THE BOARD??? THE SECOND ONE, CAUSE I DON'T KNOW THE CURRENT MAXIMUM, I TRYED TO USE AN EXTERNAL SOURCE BUT, THE SPARTAN COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE INCOMMING SIGNALS, WHAT DO I NEED TO GET IT???

YES I TRYED TO CONNECT BOTH GROUNDS TOGETHER BUT THAT DIDN'T WORK.

THANKS

JAVIER TAVARES

[kelbyp]

Hi JAVIER,

Are you talking about how much current the 3.3V source can sink?  For the best power estimation you can either use the XPower Estimator (XPE spreadsheets found at www.xilinx.com/power), which is more of a preliminary power design tool good for determining what your power supplies should be; then there is a XPower tool that comes with the ISE install (depending on what version you have it is either XPower or XPA.  up to 9.2i, it will be XPower.  10.1 uses XPA), which can help you optimize your power and can also be used as an accurate representation of what power consumption your device can handle.  Hopefully this helps

[javiertavares]

Thanks, I'll try it.

See you soon.

Take Care