Nexys A7 FPGA Trainer Board Recommended for ECE Curriculum

The Nexys A7 (previously known as the Nexys 4 DDR) is an incredibly accessible, yet powerful, FPGA development board. Designed around the Xilinx Artix®-7 FPGA family, the Nexys A7 is a ready-to-use digital circuit development platform that brings industry applications into the classroom environment.

Students can start learning right away with the Nexys A7 thanks to its versatile selection of interfaces, such as 10/100 Ethernet, USB, UART, JTAG, and VGA. With a built-in temperature sensor, microphone, and accelerometer, students can work on a variety of projects without needing any additional hardware. Of course, 5 Pmod ports are available for additional customizability and applications.

There are two variants of the Nexys A7: The Nexys A7-50T features the XC7A50T-1CSG324C, and the Nexys A7-100T features the larger XC7A100T-1CSG324C.

The Nexys A7 is supported by Xilinx's Vivado Design Suite. Both variants of the Nexys A7 are supported by the free WebPACK edition, which helps keep costs down for students.

• FPGA Features

  • Internal clock speeds exceeding 450MHz

  • On-chip analog-to-digital converter (XADC)

  • Programmable over JTAG and Flash

• System Features

  • USB-JTAG programming circuitry

  • 16 MB QSPI Flash 
    • Due to supply chain constraints, either the S25FL127S or S25FL128S Flash Memory may be loaded on your board. These parts are not functionally equivalent, but flash programming through Vivado and the QSPI boot mode are not affected. More information can be found in the Nexys A7 Reference Manual, available in the Support tab. 

  • Powered from USB or any 7V-15V source

  • microSD card connector

• System Connectivity

  • 10/100 Mbps Ethernet

  • USB-UART Bridge

• Interaction and Sensory Devices

  • 3-axis accelerometer

  • PDM microphone

  • PWM audio output

  • Temperature Sensor

  • 2 four-digit seven-segment displays

  • USB HID for mice, keyboards, and memory sticks

  • 16 Switches

  • 16 LEDs

  • 2 tri-color LEDs

  • 12-bit VGA output

• Expansion Connectors

  • 4 Pmod connectors

  • Pmod for XADC signals

• Product Compliance:
  • HTC: 8471500150
  • ECCN: 5A992.c