BittWare’s S4-3U-VPX (S43X) is a commercial or rugged 3U VPX card based on the high-density, low-power Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA.
The Stratix IV GX is designed specifically for serial I/O-based applications, creating a completely flexible, reconfigurable VPX board. The board provides a configurable 25-port SerDes interface supporting a variety of protocols, including Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, and 10 GigE. The board also features 10/100/1000 Ethernet, and up to 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM. Providing enhanced flexibility is the VITA 57-compliant FMC site, which supports 10 SerDes, 60 LVDS pairs, and 6 clocks.
VITA 57 FMC Site for Processing and I/O Expansion
The FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card) site provides 8 high-performance SerDes, 60 LVDS pairs, 6 clocks, I2C, JTAG, and reset to the Stratix IV GX. The connector is compliant with the VITA 57 mezzanine standard for FPGA I/O, enabling designers to customize the S43X to their individual needs with optional FMC I/O boards.
Altera Stratix IV GX FPGA
The Altera Stratix IV GX was specifically designed for serial I/O-based applications requiring high-density, reconfigurable logic. The Stratix IV GX provides 23 high-performance, full-duplex, multi-gigabit transceivers, supporting PCI Express (Rev 1.0/2.0), 10 GigE, GigE, Serial RapidIO (Rev 1.0/2.0), and SerialLite II standards. It contains up to 530k equivalent LEs, over 20 Mbits of embedded memory, and 1,024 embedded 18×18 multipliers.
I/O Interfaces
A debug utility header provides 10/100 Ethernet, RS-232, and a JTAG port for debug support. The rear panel VPX interface includes GigE to the FINe, and 15 SerDes channels and 32 LVDS pairs (16 in, 16 out) to the Stratix IV GX FPGA.
FINe™ III Host/Control Bridge
BittWare’s FINe III Host/Control Bridge (see Figure 2) implements a complete control plane interface for the S43X, facilitating separate control and data planes, and greatly simplifying the development of data plane I/O and processing. BittWare’s BittWorks software tools provide extensive software support and are tightly integrated with the FINe. The FINe provides GigE via the rear panel, along with 10/100 Ethernet and an RS-232 monitor port via a utility header, and it is connected to the FPGA via a local control bus.
FINe III Architecture Overview
Development Tools
BittWare offers complete software support for the S43X with its BittWorks II software tools. The BittWorks II Toolkit is a collection of libraries and applications for BittWare’s Stratix IV and V FPGA-based boards. Designed to make developing and debugging the applications for BittWare’s boards easy and efficient, the Toolkit provides the glue between the host application and the hardware. The Toolkit supports 32-bit, and 64-bit Windows and Linux platforms.
Specs
Board Architecture
VITA 57 FMC Site
- VITA 57-compliant
- 8x high-performance SerDes to FPGA
- 60 LVDS pairs to FPGA
- 6 clocks, I2C, JTAG, and reset to FPGA
FPGA
- Altera® Stratix® IV GX FPGA (4SGX230/530)
- 23 full-duplex, high-performance, multi-gigabit SerDes transceivers @ 6.25 GHz
- Over 530k equivalent LEs
- Over 20 Mbits of RAM
- Over 1,024 embedded multipliers
External Memory
- Four banks of up to 1 GByte DDR3 SDRAM configured as x32
- 128 MBytes of Flash memory for booting FPGA and FINe
BittWare FINe III Host/Control Bridge
- GigE to rear panel
- Supports host- and Flash-based booting of Stratix IV GX FPGA
- Runs BittWorks server for full remote access via the BittWare Toolkit
Rear Panel I/O
- GigE via BittWare’s FINe™ Host/Control Bridge to rear panel (VPX P1)
- 15 channels of high-speed SerDes transceivers from rear panel (VPX P1) to Stratix IV GX
- 32 LVDS pairs (16 Tx and 16 Rx) from rear panel (VPX P2) to Stratix IV GX
Debug Utility Header
- 10/100 Ethernet
- RS-232 port to FINe
- JTAG debug interface to the Stratix IV GX
Size
- VPX 3U single slot (160mm x 100mm)
Development Tools
System Development
- BittWorks II Toolkit – host, command, and debug tools for BittWare hardware
- BittWorks II Porting Kit – source code and prebuilt ports for porting the BittWorks II Toolkit to other operating systems
FPGA Development
- Altera Quartus® II software
Development Platforms
- VPX Rapid Development Platform
Accessory Boards
- BittWare S43X-BORT rear transition module for rear panel I/O breakout
- BittWare GXBO breakout board for front panel I/O access
- VITA 57 FMC site for processing and I/O expansion
- High density Altera Stratix IV GX
- BittWare FINe™ Host/Control Bridge provides control plane processing and interface
- Fully connected to VPX: GigE, 15 SerDes, 32 LVDS
- Additional I/O: 10/100 Ethernet, RS-232, JTAG
