FPGA to Ethernet Direct

When [iliasam] needed an Ethernet connection, he decided to see how much of the network interface he could put in the FPGA logic. Turns out that for 10 Base-T, he managed to get quite a bit inside the FPGA. His original post is in Russian, but automatic translation makes a passable attempt at converting to English.

This is a classic trade off all FPGA designers face: how much external logic do you use for a particular design. For example, do you add memory to the PCB, or use FPGA resources as memory? Each has its advantages and disadvantages (that’s why it is a trade off). However, if you are trying to keep things cheap, slashing external circuitry is often the way to go.

The only thing between the Ethernet cable and the Altera FPGA (with some Verilog inside) is a pair of transformers and a couple of resistors. The Verilog handles all the encoding and decoding. We aren’t sure if it is the translation or just an idiom in Russian, but the post describes this as a “software” implementation, but–as we’ve pointed out before–Verilog on an FPGA doesn’t constitute software in the strictest sense. It describes logic gates that form hardware designs.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an FPGA pushed to avoid external devices. Even if it isn’t the right trade for your project, it is useful to have it in your bag of tricks. If you were seriously thinking of trying this, you might mine Opencores to see if any of the Ethernet PHY projects they list are useful to you, as well.

Filed under: FPGA, Network Hacks