There is one FPGA board that I have not seen (although that doesn't mean it does not exist). If you want to use a modern FPGA on your own PCB, it can be a challenge. Almost all of the modern large iterations are BGA(Ball Grid Array) which can be difficult to hand solder as well as challenging to route on 2 to 4 layer PCBs. It is also sometimes a challenge to interface since many of them have IO voltages below 3.3Vs.
It would be interesting to have a small FPGA board that exposes a significant number of pins (perhaps a PGA arrangement) as well as level translators to make it easier to integrate an FPGA into a hobbyist design.
There are a few FPGAs available in QFP packages (The TRION FPGA from Efinix for example) that could be reasonable easy for most people to use, but having a through-hole version with high pin count would be more awesome.
The TinyFPGA EX is close to this, but you still have a ton of pins you can't get to.
As an example - I'm working on a vintage TRS-80 model 1 replacement motherboard and the only option I have for through-hole complex logic that is both actually still produced and supports 5Vs is the Atmel ATF1504/8 CPLD. It would be fantastic to instead of a through-hole solderable FPGA that has 5V level converters to use in place of the CPLD.
I suppose I should stop complaining and start designing said FPGA PCB.
As IO drivers on the die get faster with more modern processes, this necessitates packages with less destructive parasitics. Your typical FPGA is about 40% power and ground pins. The fabric is sensitive to all the nasty stuff like ground bounce that is only made worse in through hole packages (not to mention, almost nobody would buy such a package).
Level translators are also all SMD.
There is really nothing to be afraid of with soldering SMD and once you spend an hour or two you will never bother with through hole stuff again.
Indeed it is doable, and I do SMD work all the time both by hand and with my reflow oven. I have done some BGAs with some success ( and some spectacular failures ). The reason for the interest in through-hole building is for use in 'build-it-yourself' projects for other vintage enthusiasts who don't have SMD skills.
I however should have been a bit more clear that I was referring not to an FPGA itself that is through-hole, but a PCB adapter to use a BGA FPGA in a through-hole application with high pin count. That distinction was not clear in my original comment.
Yes you should because your requirements are ridiculous. Why the hell would any FPGA manufacturer serve a market that doesn't exist anymore? Your soldering complaint is ridiculous because you can just order assembly services. Finally. You could literally just take any FPGA SoM and only put the high-speed connector onto your motherboard.
I was not suggesting that an FPGA manufacturer would ever make a part like this. I was suggesting it would be interesting to build an adapter PCB that takes a BGA part and combines it with level shifters and provides a 'through-hole' usable 'package' that could be used in some vintage applications.
The concept of using this in a more vintage hobbyist 'build-it-yourself' context is unique and not something I would expect widespread use, thus the concept that this would be an interesting project for some small group of people.
For example there have been many projects using the TinyFPGA boards in a manner that is similar to this use case, although with a lower pin count given the DIP sytle layout.
It was my mistake to not make that clear, especially when I mentioned the QFP package, and then implied a through-hole solution. I should have said a through-hole PCB based solution. Sorry!
It would be interesting to have a small FPGA board that exposes a significant number of pins (perhaps a PGA arrangement) as well as level translators to make it easier to integrate an FPGA into a hobbyist design.
There are a few FPGAs available in QFP packages (The TRION FPGA from Efinix for example) that could be reasonable easy for most people to use, but having a through-hole version with high pin count would be more awesome.
The TinyFPGA EX is close to this, but you still have a ton of pins you can't get to.
As an example - I'm working on a vintage TRS-80 model 1 replacement motherboard and the only option I have for through-hole complex logic that is both actually still produced and supports 5Vs is the Atmel ATF1504/8 CPLD. It would be fantastic to instead of a through-hole solderable FPGA that has 5V level converters to use in place of the CPLD.
I suppose I should stop complaining and start designing said FPGA PCB.