Summer is here. The kids are out of school. Families are taking well-deserved holidays and vacations or even enjoying local staycations. Even though it's summer, design engineers still need to move their new projects along. Additionally, designers need to keep their skills sharp and learn about the latest tools. Some upcoming webinars will no doubt help the engineering community stay updated on FPGA SoMs, expansion buses and associated interconnects, and the latest on PCI Express® … [Read more...]
AI, 5G and Automotive – Dispatches from XDF Silicon Valley
The FPGA (or ACAP) universe gathered at the San Jose Fairmount last week during the Xilinx Developer Forum. Engineers, data scientists, analysts, distributors, alliance partners and more came to learn about the latest hardware, software and system level solutions from Xilinx. Xilinx CEO Victor Peng set the theme of the event with his keynote. Xilinx (and thier partner's) business strategies revolve around three key growth drivers: Data Center, 5G and Automotive. The Samtec team … [Read more...]
Samtec Expands VITA 57.4 with FMC+ Extender Card
Developing with FPGAs requires patience. Why? They are so flexible and configurable. System designers are only limited by their imagination. Prototyping with FPGAs also poses many challenges. It seems like there are new FMC / FMC+ solutions appearing daily. Sometimes the FPGA carrier card or development board can get crowded. How can that be fixed? VITA 57.4 FMC+ Extender Card Engineers prototyping with industry-standard FPGA evaluation and development kits often leverage the FMC+ … [Read more...]
New Intel FPGA Platform Features Samtec Interconnect
Transceivers. SerDes. XCVRs. Tx/Rx. Yada, Yada, Yada. FPGA designers want more of them. FPGA designers want them to be faster. Thankfully, the leading FPGA suppliers are answering the call. The Samtec blog features many solutions from Xilinx, but what about Intel? What options are they promoting? Intel® Agilex™ FPGA and SoCs Intel recently released their latest FPGA/SoC platform called Intel® Agilex™. This family leverages Intel's 10nm process technology and advanced architectures. … [Read more...]
Don’t Forget Bulls Eye® and FPGAs on Vacation
Prime vacation (or holiday) season is in full gear. Travel spots range from the beach to cultural attractions in the latest "hot spots". Whether sunning in the Côte d'Azur or hiking in the Andes, everybody's focus is their . . . smart phone? Really? For (almost) everybody, the latest moment MUST be shared on social media. What happens when no connection is available? Panic! Fortunately, connectivity is almost everywhere. Just ask the closest teenager! What does this have to do with … [Read more...]
VITA 57.1 FMC and VITA 57.4 FMC+ are like ‘Avengers: Endgame’ . . . Kinda
What’s that? There’s a new movie out? What’s it called? Avengers? Who are they? What do they do? I highly doubt anyone – except someone’s grandmother – has said the above. 'Avengers: Endgame' has been taking the world by storm. For superhero fanboys like yours truly, 'Avengers: Endgame' is the dream movie worth waiting for. In a similar way, the VITA 57 FMC and FMC+ specifications are the dream interface between FPGAs carrier cards and mezzanine cards. Like 'Avengers: Endgame' … [Read more...]
New Optical FMC+ Module Supports Extended Temperature Ranges
Readers of the Samtec blog are familiar with the benefits of FMC and FMC+. These popular interfaces define a compact electro-mechanical expansion interface for a daughter card to an FPGA baseboard or other device with re-configurable I/O capability. VITA 57.1 has been around for some time. It supports 10 full-duplex transceivers running at 10 Gbps. The new VITA 57.4 standard defines two new connectors. Combined, they offer 32 full-duplex transceivers running at 28 Gbps. New … [Read more...]
New Zynq UltraScale+ Platform Offers 32 Gbps via FMC+ and FireFly™ Interfaces
One of the most popular interfaces in the FPGA world is FMC. This has recently been expanded to FMC+. The new VITA 57.4 standard defines two new connectors. Combined, they offer 32 full-duplex channels running at 28 Gbps. However, the current generation of FPGAs and MPSoCs have transceivers supporting data rates in excess of 32 Gbps. Why? Emerging protocols – including PCIe Gen 5 and JESD204C – will run at 32 Gbps. Engineers developing solutions using 32Gbps+ protocols need … [Read more...]
Evaluation and Development Kits Viewable Across Samtec.com
Over the past few years, Samtec has expanded its portfolio of Evaluation and Development Kits. Engineers and designers demand the best tools for system prototyping. From concept and prototype to development and production, Samtec-designed Evaluation and Development Kits featuring high-speed interconnect solutions to help simplify design. Helpfully, they reduce time to market for hobbyists, tinkerers, start-ups and OEMs alike. Easy Access via Landing Page Engineers want instant access … [Read more...]
Samtec Announces New VITA 57.4 FMC+ Development Kits with FireFly™ Optical Engines
System designers and engineers constantly face design challenges to achieve higher data-rates in dense, optical applications. A popular system-level design approach in many high-speed applications marries the configurability and high-speed performance of FPGAs with the advantages of fiber optics. Samtec’s new 25 Gbps and 28 Gbps FireFly™ VITA 57.4 FMC+ Development Kits provide an easy connection between FPGAs and fiber optics. This new solution offers an easy-to-use evaluation and … [Read more...]