OGD1P-256DDAV FAQ

OGD1 is a high-end FPGA prototyping kit and hardware engineering platform, equipped with the peripherals needed to develop and test computer graphics architectures. Because of the generalized nature of its core, OGD1 is very versatile and can be used for a wide variety of purposes requiring a large FPGA, PCI, fast memory, and user I/O. It is designed to be used by students learning FPGA programming, engineers needing a development platform or product base, hobbyists that want to hack their own hardware designs, users who want to the benefits of open hardware, and users who need custom peripheral devices.
OGD1 is what we call "Open Hardware" or "Free-Design Hardware", meaning that the design schematics, FPGA logic, and other details are available under Free Software licensing.

What can I do with OGD1?

Many users are interested in OGD1 as a platform for developing custom logic for their own uses or to collaborate on community development efforts on open hardware.
Some users are hardware designers that wish to use OGD1 as the basis for an end product. Developers can repackage and resell OGD1 with custom logic (and other modifications) for products that do not have the volume to justify a custom chip or which benefit from the features of OGD1. Volume discounts and free development support are available.
Users of OGD1 can also benefit from the community of other OGD1 users who develop and distribute "pre-compiled" logic for OGD1. This applies also to users who do not necessarily want to learn logic design themselves but want to avail themselves of logic designs they can download for free.
While OGD1, like a graphics card, features DVI transmitters and a PCI connector, there are many other uses for which OGD1's large FPGA and RAM are ideal. It features user I/O connectors, 256 MiB of RAM, and an additional power connector. OGD1 can be used to off-load computation or build custom peripherals, inside or outside of a PC.

What is the motivation behind OGD1?

We believe in the principles of Free Software. One of the major challenges for Free Software is finding compatible hardware. The Open Graphics Project (OGP) was started in response to poor support from graphics vendors. OGD1 was originally designed as a platform to develop new graphics hardware, but an Open Hardware community has rallied around it as a basis for the development of new hardware products developed primarily to support Free Software.
Just as the GPL guarantees certain software freedoms to use, study, modify, and share software, we also believe that similar freedoms can be had to some degree for hardware. This is why OGD1's design details are openly published.
For Traversal Technology, the Open Hardware Foundation, and the OGP, OGD1 also serves as a fund-raiser. To bootstrap our other open hardware efforts, we need a source of revenue. That revenue will be directly invested into more open hardware products.

Why do we need OGD1 and the OGP now that ATI is finally releasing programming documentation for their GPUs?

We applaud ATI for doing the right thing and making available their GPU documentation for use by Free Software developers. There are certain market segments where ATI's offering may affect us, but there are other market segments (e.g. embedded systems, single-board computers, servers, special-purpose, etc.) where our growth potential is entirely unaffected. Moreover, they in no way impact our broader goals of enabling hardware hacking and bringing open hardware to the people.
The OGP is set apart from other hardware vendors by striving to release documentation and source code for everything possible. Some vendors may provide enough information to developers to write Free Software drivers for an x86 PC. But many lock up secrets in their boot firmware, making it difficult or impossible to work with other architectures like SPARC or PowerPC. Plus, there will always be secrets of the inner-workings of the hardware that they will never reveal, making it challenging to add features they didn't expect you to add or work around undocumented hardware bugs.
Open hardware projects like the OGP ensure that no one is left without the ability to make the hardware they purchased work whenever, wherever, however they want it to.

What are the key features of OGD1?

Xilinx® Spartan™-3 XC3S4000 FPGA
Lattice® XP10 FPGA
64-bit PCI-X (133MHz) card edge (compatible with 32-bit 33Mhz PCI)
256 MiB of DDR400 memory
66 user I/O signals on a 92-pin Hirose connector
68 user I/O signals for an available 100-pin IDC connector
Video head 0: Dual-link DVI-D port (digital only, up to 2560x1600@60Hz)
Video head 1: Dual-link DVI-I port (digital and analog)
Digital up to 2560x1600@60Hz
330MHz RGB/VGA triple DAC (analog up to 2048x1536@70Hz)
S-video port (analog TV-out, PAL, NTSC, SECAM)

Who designed OGD1?

The founder of the OGP, Timothy Miller, and his partners at Traversal, Andy Fong and Howard Parkin, have in excess of a combined 30 years of hardware (PCB, ASIC, FPGA) design experience. In particular, they have experience developing graphics hardware used in air traffic control and military installations. OGD1 was designed based on that experience, with high standards for reliability, signal integrity, and component selection.
Many other OGP members have extensive digital and analog design experience. We would like to thank them for the many hours they contributed to careful and thorough design reviews at every stage of development. The technical quality has benefited greatly from their work.

Why is OGD1 so expensive?

OGD1 is actually very competitively priced compared to FPGA kits with similar capabilities and capacity. For very small FPGA projects, OGD1 may be over-kill. But for larger projects, OGD1 is a must and a bargain.

Are discounts available?

Yes. Please contact the Open Hardware Foundation (OHF) at to inquire. The OHF is responsible for all decisions regarding OGD1 discount offers. Limited quantities at $1000 and $700 price points are available, offered primarily to those who have contributed or wish to contribute to the OGP.
Additionally, bulk discounts are available. Contact us for more information if you are interested.

What kind of warranty do you offer for OGD1?

Traversal Technology offers a 1 year warranty with the full retail price. Discounts come with shortened warranty periods. Although modifications to OGD1 are generally encouraged, we do not take responsibility for damage caused by those modifications; at our sole discretion, we will selectively offer repair but not replacement services for modified boards.

What's this about a pre-order? Why don't you have any in stock?

Hardware fabrication is expensive and is especially expensive for small quantities. As such, we need to place a minimum order for 100 boards. When we have 100 pre-orders, we will be able to have the OGD1 boards built. Your credit card will not be charged until your OGD1 board is tested and shipped. Note that to combat fraudulent orders, we may find it necessary to place holds (not charges) on credit cards just before we place our order with the fabricator; this is to ensure that we have truly met the the minimum number of orders.
OGD1 is the first real hardware to be designed and produced by the OGP, and the large up-front fabrication costs are being handled by a very small number of people. To offset our risk, we require that a minimum number of pre-orders be placed before we spend such a large amount of our own money.
To encourage people to place pre-orders, we are offering a $100 discount and free accessories for the first 100 pre-orders.
Note: For those who do not wish to use a credit card, please contact us to arrange alternate means of payment.

Can I get a demo/sample of OGD1 before I buy?

Samples are reserved for special showings at trade shows. However, for parties interested in bulk orders, we may be willing to lend you one of our one-off prototypes that we have used to verify the OGD1 design.

If I buy an OGD1 board and plug it into my PC, will it work as a graphic card?

A prototype of OGD1 was demonstrated at the 2007 O'Reilly Open Source Conference. The entire presentation, using Ubuntu GNU/Linux, KDE, and OpenOffice.org, was given using the OGD1 card connected to the projector. Unfortunately, we are not able to share some parts of the logic and driver we used to give the presentation. Fully Free versions of these pieces are, however, nearing completion.
The Open Graphics Project (OGP) has developed a library of controllers for PCI, memory, video, a number of minor components, and the logic to bolt them all together. These are available for free download. Most of these controllers have individually been tested (some at OSCON), and we invite contributors to help finish the work.

The specs say that the PCI connector is PCI-X 64-bit, 133MHz. Will that work in my regular PC?

PCI-X is backward compatible with your 32-bit 33MHz PCI slots, and OGD1 has been tested with several PC motherboards. Note that some PC motherboards may position components so that they interfere with the "extended" part of the PCI card edge for some slots.
OGD1 is 6.875in long and 4.2in wide (17.46cm x 10.67cm). Some small form-factor systems do not provide enough room in one or both dimensions.

Will you be producing a PCI Express version of OGD1?

While most graphics cards now fit in PCI Express slots, PCI is more popular with users of FPGA kits. We have identified the parts necessary to support PCI Express, so if there is demand, we can build them. In the mean time, we need to sell the PCI version OGD1 to bootstrap our efforts.

What software will I need to develop logic for OGD1?

For simulation, we primarily use Icarus Verilog. Icarus is Free Software and is also available pre-packaged in Debian and RPM formats.
For the Xilinx FPGA, you need a version of ISE that supports the 3S4000 chip. The most recent versions of the WebPack do not. So you either need to get a commercial license, or you can add a service pack to the ISE WebPack version 6.3i. See this wiki page for details. ISE 6.3i can be run under WINE.
For the Lattice XP10, ispLEVER is a "free" download.

How do I load logic into the FPGAs?

For programming the XP10, you'll need a Lattice programming cable (provided free with the first 100 pre-orders). You'll also need programming software.
The XP10 is a flash-based device, so it remembers its programming across power cycles.
For the 3S4000, there are three options. One is to program it directly while live. This can be done using the Lattice programming cable and the Lattice programming software. The remaining two options require logic support in the XP10. Logic is available from the OGP that will read an SPI PROM and program the 3S4000 at power-up. Using that same logic along with our PCI controller, you can program the 3S4000 (or the PROM) directly over the PCI bus. This PCI controller and loader should be finished and pre-programmed into the XP10 at the time OGD1 ships.

What kind of graphics performance can I expect from OGD1?

There is currently no GPU available for OGD1, although we do have a specification for one. OGD1 is not actually intended for high-performance graphics applications, although having FPGAs, it is suitable for hardware implementations of the kinds of computations you might perform using GPGPU. We should also shortly have available logic for OGD1 that will allow it to behave as framebuffer graphics device with no acceleration. Shortly following that, we will support VGA emulation so that OGD1 can be used as the boot console in an x86 PC.

How can I help with the Open Graphics Project?

All of those interested in the OGP and open hardware are welcome to join our mailing list. Our members are interested in a variety of different projects, including logic for OGD1, development of our GPU, and a variety of other ideas that range from audio to wireless networking. We encourage newcomers to help with existing projects and introduce project ideas of their own.
In order to sustain itself, the OGP needs hardware to develop on, and that hardware is expensive. You can help our efforts by ordering an OGD1 board. You may also want to consider donating to the non-profit Open Hardware Foundation.