1. COE758 - Xilinx ISE 9.2 Tutorial 1
Creating Simple Project

2. Start Xilinx ISE software, and press OK on “Tip of the Day” to get to a screen
as shown above

3. Create new project by selecting File->New Project
New window will open.

4. Project location – select the directory for the projects
Project Name – select project name. Notice how directory with same
project name is added in the Project Location text field.
Press Next>

5. In the Device Properties selection of the device and package is done.
Family: Spartan3E
Device: XC3S500E
Package: FG320
Speed: -5
Preferred Language: VHDL
Keep the rest of the settings and press Next>

6. In this window you can either add new source , or leave it for later as it is
done in this tutorial.
Press Next> several times until finish and press Finish on the last window.

7. When new project is created source files can be added. Right click on the
device and select New Source.
New Wizard window is opened

8. Select VHDL Module and enter the name of the vhdl source file.
Press Next>

9. In this window input and output signals are specified.
Notice that for led and switch signals Bus checkbox is selected and size of
the bus is specified.
Press Next>

10. Last window in the wizard shows summary of the source including inputs
and outputs for that module.
Press Finish to add source file to project.

11. When source file is added ISE tool window should look as above
Next step is to add actual processing source code.

12. Sample VHDL program
library IEEE;
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_1164.ALL;
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_ARITH.ALL; Library definitions
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED.ALL;
entity tutorial is
Port ( clk : in STD_LOGIC;
led : out STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (7 downto 0);
switch : in STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (3 downto 0));
Input/Output definitions
end tutorial;
architecture Behavioral of tutorial is
signal counter: std_logic_vector(29 downto 0); counter definition
begin
process(clk)
begin
if(clk'Event and clk='1') then
if(switch(0)='1') then Counter counting up if switch is on, and counting
counter<=counter+'1';
else down if switch is off. Every addition occurs on every
counter<=counter-'1';
end if;
positive clock edge.
end if;
end process;
led(7 downto 0)<=counter(29 downto 22); Output of the top bits of counter on LEDs
end Behavioral;

13. When program is written its syntax can be checked by expanding Synthesize
and double clicking on Check Syntax. If errors are found, double click on
error and correct the mistake.

14. When all of the errors were corrected and Synthesis has been completed
successfully an assignment of inputs and outputs has to be done. Since
FPGA is already mounted on the development platform inputs and outputs
are restricted and have to be specified.
Only ones that are used have to be specified in the constraint file.
Add new source same way as before, but this time select Implementation
Constraint File, and specify name for the constraint file.
Press Next>

15. UCF constraint file is added to the VHDL file.
Select constraint file and double click on Edit Constraints (Text)

16. Enter constraints for the LEDs and Switches that are located in the lower
right corner.
Clock signal for all of the designs is connected to pin “C9” on FPGA

17. When code is debugged and constraint file is correctly entered we can
generate a configuration file. Right click on Generate Programming File and
select Run.
Similarly as before, if errors occur, double click on the error and correct it.

18. If configuration file is generated successfully we can load it on to the
platform.

19. Expand Generate Programming File, right click on Configure Device
(iMPACT) and select Run. iMPACT wizard window will open.

20. Select top option of configuring using JTAG and press FINISH.

21. On the initial iMPACT load wizard will prompt to select configuration files
for all of the devices present on the JTAG chain. Press Esc key for all of the
windows. Right click on the left device which represents Spartan 3E FPGA
and select Assign New Configuration File

22. To load program on the FPGA device, right click on the FPGA icon and select
Program. Programming properties window will be shown.

23. On the Programming Properties make sure verify is UNCHECKED.
Press OK at which point configuration file will be uploaded to FPGA.

24. Conclusion
This completes first simple tutorial which included:
•Creating new project
•Adding VHDL source file
•Writing simple program involving inputs and outputs with simple internal
counter
•Creating constraint file
•Generating configuration file
•Uploading configuration to FPGA device
Second tutorial covers use of internal BlockRAM and a Chipscope Pro embedded
logic analyzer which is required for completion of all the labs in the course.