Read data from FPGA via Android USB

Question

I´ve to develop an app in Android, that must be able to read data that comes from a FPGA board, now some questions come into my mind:

As far as I´ve read about usb connectivity and usb accessory and usb host, it looks lihe I need to attack this problem with USB Host, cause im pretty sure the fpga board is not designed to work with android. But I dont know if I need "aditional tools" to acomplish this job. For example, I have the micro usb cable that comes with android, obviously, the idea is to connect the usb extreme to the FPGA and the microusb extreme to the phone, then send data from the fpga and read it in the phone. Is this enough or I need another type of adapter? Also, do I need to install some software in my phone to do the job? And from the programming point of view... the API of the USB Host is all that I need?

Also, my knowledge in electronics is neraly zero, I dont know if I have to ask the person who is programming the FPGA some data about that board so I can develop this.

Finally, the person who is programming the FPGA is not finished yet, and I dont see him very often. Is there a way I can test my proyect with a PC software, which can be able to send data via usb?

Tanx for your time.

Answer 1

It all depends on what you want to send, and how fast you want to do this.

The easiest way to do this is to have a USB to serial interface connected to your Android phone (it must have a USB OTG port). Then data transfer to/from the FPGA will go over the serial interface. You do not need to install any drivers or write special code for that, it will act like a serial port on your android (you must find a device that supports android).

Here is a list of all the phones that have HOST/OTG support

If you want something more complicated, then you can look into parallel interfaces for FPGA or even have a USB device on the FPGA, but that it going to be both complicated and expensive.