FPGA DVB-S Encoder for DigiLite-ZL

This codebase provides synthesizable RTL for encoding an MPEG transport
stream (TS) into a sequence of symbols suitable for generating a QPSK waveform.

Hardware:
This project targets the DigiLite-ZL modulator board and Terasic DE0-Nano FPGA
development board (Altera Cyclone IV-E).

Details can be found at the following URLs:
http://www.idesignz.org/DigiLiteZL/DigiLiteZL.htm
http://www.terasic.com.tw/

Much of the core-logic, however, is not really platform-specific and should
lend itself to re-use in other projects.

Synthesis:
Altera's Quartus II software is used for synthesis. At the time of writing,
the latest version is 11.0 SP1. The freely-available Web Edition of Quartus
(which supports a subset of Altera FPGA parts, including the Cyclone IV E
used on the DE0-Nano) may be downloaded from Altera's website at
http://www.altera.com.

Once installed, an FPGA image can be built by opening the zl_top.qpf file
located in the syn/de0_nano directory from within Quartus, and selecting
"Start Compilation" from the Processing menu.

The compiled FPGA image will be called zl_top.sof in the project directory.
The SOF file may be loaded into the FPGA over JTAG by using the Quartus
Programmer (found in the Tools menu).

Finally, a .jic file may be produced via File->Convert Programming Files. This
file can be loaded on the serial configuration ROM on the DE0 board to
automatically load the FPGA at power-up (to avoid needing JTAG programming each
time).

Simulation:
The sim/ directory contains a couple of quick and dirty test harnesses and a
sample TS file. They are pretty rough around the edges, but should allow basic
simulation and validation of the design against a golden reference
implementation (like GBDVB for example). The free version of ModelSim
supplied with Quartus will run the tests. Any other Verilog simulator should do
as well.

Questions? Contact ben@gelbnet.com.