OVERVIEW

STEPFPGA MXO2Core is a miniature FPGA development core board designed based on Lattice MXO2-4000 FPGA chip. The embedded components such as LEDs, segment displays, switches and pushbuttons help users tangibly interact and observe experimental results. The DIP40 footprint features the flexibility to expand projects on breadboard or embed the board for your products. STEPFPA MXO2Core is also extremely user friendly for FPGA beginners where you can develop lots of FPGA projects using our cloud-based Web IDE (Verilog) with simple interface and abundant pre-built examples.

PROGRAMMING

Method 1: For beginners or hobby projects Go to: https://stepfpga.eimtechnology.com/, use our cloud based IDE tool to develop your project. No driver installation needed. Permanently Free!

Method 2: Use Lattice Diamond software Download the software from Lattice Semiconductor at: https://www.latticesemi.com/latticediamond, follow the instructions . Recommend for projects that uses advanced IP cores such as Phase-locked loop (PLL) for frequency boost.

ROADMAP

This board was initially launched on Kicsktarter in July 2022 and got succeeded by support over 300 backers around the world, see the campaign page for detials: Kickstarter Campaign Page

For beginners, the MXO2Core board are good for implementation of fundamental digital circuits appeared in your curriculum textbooks such as Logic Gates, Decoders, Multiplexers, Flipflops, Counters…With the 36 GPIO pins and maximum of 400MHz clock frequency (boosted by the internal PLL), you can add many extension modules to explore advanced applications such as industrial controls, communications, signal processing and synthesis.

HIGHLIGHTS

This STEP-MXO2Core board is a head-to-toe upgraded generation to the previous STEP-MXO2 board (will be retired by the end of 2022), here is a list of the key features of this new STEPFPGA MXO2Core board:

• No driver installation is needed, take a few seconds to flash the chip
• Support development on Web-based IDE platform
• Support Macbook, Windows, and Linux operating systems
• One USB to support UART and Program Flashing at the same time
• On-board peripherals, switches/pushbuttons/LEDs/segments
• DIP40 footprint is ideal for both breadboard projects and embedded product design

DEMOS

Here are two demos to use the WebIDE tool to program this FPGA board. No software needs to be installed, support Windows, Macbook and Linux. Extremely user friendly to beginners. Learn Verilog efficiently and get results tested immediately.

• Demo 1: Implement a 3-by-8 Decoder
• Demo 2: Build a piano with harmonics tone

QUALITY

This video below is an microscopic view of the fabrication quality of the board. The immersion-gold technology was applied on a nicely made 4-layer PCB.