FPGAs are taking over the world, or it just seems that way.
At least for readers of the Samtec blog. Samtec oftens gets questions as to whether we sell FPGAs or not. Of course we don’t, but we do sell VITA 57.1 FMC and VITA 57.4 FMC+ interconnects found on just about every FPGA dev kit in the world. Samtec even offers a wide portfolio of FMC, FMC+ and optical module evaluation kits for real-time development and testing in a lab setting.
So, the reader may ask, why does the Samtec blog feature so much information on FPGAs? In short, our High-Speed Board-to-Board Connectors, High-Speed Cables, and Mid-Board Optical Solutions feature heavily in end-market solutions based on FPGA technology.
That’s why we continue featuring solutions like the Arrow AXE5-Eagle FPGA Developers Kit for the Intel Agilex® 5 E-series of FPGAs. The Arrow AXE5-Eagle was announced earlier this year. As an update, Arrow has received engineering samples of the Agilex 5 FPGAs. Initial shipments of the Arrow AXE5-Eagle will soon start.
Arrow AXE5-Eagle Key Features
In summary, here are key features of the board itself:
- A5E 043B – 434 kLE (ES: A5E 065B – 656kLE) / BBGA 1596 (32×32)
- SoC: Dual Core A55 + Dual Core A76
- LPDDR4: 2x 8Gbit x32 / 1Gbit SPI Flash / MicroSD card
- HDMI / USB 3.x / 2x 1GBit Ethernet / EEPROM / PCIe 4.0 x4 edge connector
- FMC+ connector (8x TX/RX @17 Gbps) / 2x SFP+ connector for 10 Gbps
- CRUVI LS/HS for additional adapter & interface boards
- Power supply: 12V adapter
- Size: ~18x18cm²
- Arrow USB Programmer2 (debug, programming)
So what does the Arrow AXE5-Eagle look? See the block diagram below.
The new development kit includes several popular I/O expansion busses like VITA 57.4 FMC+ and CRUVI low-speed and high-speed interfaces. Various FMC+ or CRUVI mezzanine cards can be connected to the new development kit, allowing for rapid prototyping of almost any customer end-market product.
VITA 57.4 FMC+ Interface
VITA 57.4 FMC+ provided an update to VITA 57.1 FMC. Fully released in July 2018, VITA 57.4 FMC+ was designed to expand upon the already popular FMC standard while avoiding the hassle of implementation into existing systems.
FMC+ provides improved performance, faster data rates, and additional I/O, while utilizing the same footprint as FMC. Along with backwards compatibility with legacy FMC systems, FMC+ proves to be a stress-free improvement for any FPGA developer already using FMC. A new FMC+ HSPC connector offers 560 pins in a 14×40 array, 24 MGTs, and supports high-performance 28 Gbps FPGA transceivers.
Standard VITA 57.4 FMC+ HSPC Connectors from Samtec include:
- ASP-184329-01 – Carrier Side Connector
- ASP-218650-01 – 15.5 mm stack height Peripheral Side Connector
- ASP-184330-01 – 10 mm stack height Peripheral Side Connector
- ASP-188588-01 – 8.5 mm stack height Peripheral Side Connector
CRUVI Interface
While VITA 57.4 FMC+ can handle many FPGA/SoC I/O expansion needs, not all applications require the support of 32 Gbps transceivers. Some expansion cards just need GPIO and power. That is one of the reasons our friends at Trenz Electronic and their partners created a new FPGA expansion bus called CRUVI.
The purpise of CRUVI is to create an open ecosystem of functional FPGA I/O modules. The main focus is on support for new and emerging FPGA and SoC devices. CRUVI offers both low-speed and high-speed variants. Fortunately, both verisons use Samtec interconnects.
Standard CRUVI Connectors from Samtec include:
- SS4-30-3.50-L-D-K – CRUVI High-Speed/XCVR Carrier Side Connector
- ST4-30-1.50-L-D-P – CRUVI High-Speed/XCVR Peripheral Side Connector
- CLT-106-02-F-D-A-K – CRUVI Low-speed Carrier Side Connector
- TMMH-106-04-F-DV-A-M – CRUVI Low-speed Peripheral Side Connector
For More Information
Stay tuned to the Samtec blog for more information on this exciting new dev kit Arrow.
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