Programming cable for Papilio Pro

Question

I want to buy a Papilio Pro. For programming this FPGA, I need a cable. I can use a Xilinx programming cable or others cable which are cheaper like this cable.

I suppose with Xilinx programming cable, I can use Xilinx programmer kit. It is possible to use it with a cheaper cable ? What can I do with a Xilinx programming cable which i can't do with a standard cable ? It is illegal to use Xilinx programmer kit with a cable which is not a Xilinx official cable ?

Answer 1

You do not need a programming cable to program the Papilio Pro board. It includes onboard USB -> JTAG functionality. All you need is a usb type-a to mini usb cable and the Papilio Loader program.

That said the following Xilinx tools depend on a supported JTAG cable connection: 1. Impact: Programming, FPGA status, and readback. 2. Chipscope: internal logic analyzer and basic gpio controller operation 3. SDK: debugging and programming functionality only

For these the aforementioned Digilent programming cables (such as the HS3) are a good option that is cheaper than the Xilinx cable.

You can probably do without Impact fairly easily but you will miss the Chipscope functionality if you are doing any significant logic debugging and the use of the SDK debugger if you are doing significant software development/debugging using the microblaze processor.

I believe Chipscope requires a non-free license.

Answer 2

I got a Papilio/Pro, it doesn't have { R8, R10, R11 } resistors X____X which means the FTDI2232 chip is NOT connected to the fpga's jtag port