C is becoming more prevalent in FPGA design. It is the most natural way to describe DSP functions, encryption, high performance computing and other software-oriented, algorithmic applications. This 4-hour class is an introduction to C for FPGAs. At its completion the attendee will have the skills and tools to immediately move their existing C algorithms to an FPGA, or create efficient new applications in C and compile them to an FPGA.

For software engineers C is an opportunity to accelerate portions of code by moving them to FPGA. Partitioning between FPGA hardware embedded PowerPC and MicroBlaze processor cores is an important part of programming for FPGAs, and an area where C-based tools can help. Performance gains of 300x are possible.

For hardware engineers C is becoming a complimentary entry method to VHDL and Verilog (the Impulse compiler outputs either). This extends the hardware development process to include rapid prototyping of IP blocks from C code. Automatic conversion to VHDL or Verilog, coupled with automated optimization, makes system prototyping fast and easy.

Duration: 4 hours

Price: $99 which includes a free textbook, Practical FPGA Programming in C from Prentice Hall and a trial 90-day Impulse C license which will be used in the class.

Options: Attendees may choose to bring their own portable Windows PC and will receive a 90-day Impulse C license as part of the class, otherwise attendees will use PCs provided by Nu Horizons. Labs will use a NuHorizon's FX12 Virtex-4 based development board which may be purchased for an additional $200.