The Anyboard: a rapid-prototyping system for use in teaching digital circuit design

A rapid prototyping system for teaching digital design is described. The system uses electronically-reconfigurable field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to implement a specific logic design without requiring any physical changes to the prototyping system. The user specifies designs using a text based description language. The prototyping system partitions the input logic among the available FPGA resources while observing constraints on gate density and chip I/O. The combinational logic blocks (CLBs) in each individual FPGA are then placed and the interconnections are routed. Once programmed, the system can be exercised using a pattern generator and logic analyzer. The Anyboard system reduces the time required to implement a design and avoids some of the problems associated with the use of wire-wrap or prototyping board implementations