Re: [openppc] Routing PPC mobos

["M&M's" <mms.kisskool@free.fr>]

Thanks for your answer...

As I am reading what you wrote, some questions arise. G3 and G4 would then
be absolutely impossible to route on a PCB by hand ? What is then the
meaning of OpenPPC ? Nothing more than a dream ?

And about what you said (133MHz tracks, crosstalk, ...) : I understand what
you are talking about, but is there somewhere I can find this ?

Speaking of the PCB routing tools, maybe I should try to find out whether my
school could get some for educationnal purposes (CAD soft vendors usually
offer such options to show how powerful their products are and hope that
future engoneers will choose 'em...).

This brings me to my last question. Nobody really knows how expensive
producing a proto PCB is... Should I understand that only big companies have
tried the OpenPPC concept ?? Thought it was something like the Linux
community...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alasdair Ferro" <aferro@lsil.com>
To: <openppc@opencores.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: [openppc] Routing PPC mobos


>
> Being a student in an engineers school in electronics (ESIEE Paris), I'd
> like to jump in the wonderful world of PPC boards design. I've got some
> background knowledge in electronics, Motorola architectures and
> software... What I have to do now is to learn how to route a PCB :)
>
> >  Does anybody have some good website / book / whatever to advise ? And
> > also, what is the typical prise of an homemade proto PCB with all
> > components, including the CPU ? Being a student, I'm not that rich
> > :)) Thanks in advance !
>
> Assuming you mean G3/G4 - there's some info about components and pricing
> on the openppc website (http://www.openppc.org). The major problem at
> the moment is the lack a suitable Northbridge, although the are
> developments which may change this. Also getting hold of PPC uPs in
> small quantities is.... interesting... :-) There was some discussion on
> the list, a while back, about the possibility of people manufacturing
> PCBs, but it never got very far - again there is some info on the
> OpenPPC web site. Routing the PCB is by no means easy - 133MHz tracks
> are prone to crosstalk, phase delays etc., which make it not an easy
> jobs. If you then start lokking at DDR or any modern memory sub-system,
> that adds more problems. Really you need a very good PCB design kit -
> which will set you back... lots - several thousand dollars.
>
> If all you want to do is look at PPC PCBs, then try some of the embedded
> uCs in the family, as these don't have as many issues - they don't need
> a northbridge, and have far more interfaces on chip.
>
> Alasdair
>
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