FPGA modules add PCIe interface, high-speed memory

Acromag has unveiled its new XMC-VLX mezzanine modules, which combine Xilinx's Virtex-5 FPGA with multiple high-speed memory buffers and a high-throughput PCIe interface to create powerful and flexible range of I/O processor modules.

Designed for hardware simulation, military servers, in-circuit diagnostics, communications, signal intelligence and image processing applications, the modules feature field I/O interfaces to the FPGA via the rear J4/P4 connector and/or with optional front mezzanine plug-in I/O modules. The boards also feature several options for FPGA logic capacity and extended temperature operation.

Users can customize three models with either a Xilinx VLX85T, VLX110T, or VLX155T FPGA featuring up to 155,000 logic cells and 128 DSP48E slices. All models are encased in conduction-cooled systems that may be upgraded with extended temperature range parts suitable for temperatures between -40°C and 85°C.

The memory banks feature 32M x 32-bit DDR2 SDRAM buffers that capture data before processing in the FPGA. Processed data is then transferred to the 1M x 64-bit dual-ported SRAM for high-speed DMA transfer to the bus or CPU. The high-bandwidth PCIe 4-lane interface provides fast data transfer.