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QUICK DOWNLOADS
FPGA
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a semiconductor device that can be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturing - hence the name "field-programmable". FPGAs are programmed using a logic circuit diagram or a source code in a hardware description language (HDL) to specify how the chip will work. They can be used to implement any logical function that an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) could perform, but the ability to update the functionality after shipping offers advantages for many applications.
Meeting the Demand for COTS Safe and Secure Certification Evidence
The demand for safety and security certification evidence for hardware and software in systems has increased dramatically in recent years. In the past, this evidence was developedRead More...
Measure It - Fix It: Go Green by Improving Inefficient Products and Processes
Over the past several years, the cause of all things “green” has gained incredible momentum. From celebrity endorsements to political campaigns to company slogans, reducingRead More...
Software Compatibility with the Flick of a Switch
Ahhh, software. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Or so it seems during some projects. In this new world order of limited development budgets, it’s certainly the 800-poundRead More...
Silicon Solutions Enable Migration to Next Generation Networks
A Universal Gateway is a logic solution that can truly provide any port, service, functionality and interworking/translation capability from any protocol to any other protocol in layerRead More...
Products & Technology
High-Density AC-DC Adapters for Medical Applications A series of wall mount switching adapters, designed specifically for medical and information technology equipment (ITE)Read More...
Newest Embedded Technology Used by Industry Leaders
Industrial USB to Four RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485 Serial Communication Ports A new serial communication adapter offers users the choice of four field selectable RS-232, RS-422, orRead More...
Recent Trends in FPGAs Drive Adoption in Mil Apps
The adoption of FPGAs into rugged applications continues to increase at a rapid pace thanks to a number of factors. These factors, which make FPGAs more attractive and easier toRead More...
New FPGAs Transform Real-Time Systems Architectures
FPGAs regularly steal headlines in current industry news for impressive feats of digital signal processing in radar and software radio applications. And, rightfully so! Many new FPGARead More...
Products & Technologies
NEMA 16-Channel Optically Isolated Input / Relay Output Modules Require No PC A pair of intelligent 16-channel wireless digital I/O units communicate directly with each other. EachRead More...
Industry Insider
Embedded COTS Vendors Issue Joint Statement on Open Standards Model and VSO Several leading COTS embedded board, subsystem and backplane and enclosure vendors, includingRead More...
Products & Technology
Extreme Rugged Methodology Comes to Mid-Range ETX As part of an initiative to extend its Extreme Rugged product lines, Adlink Technology has announced the first new Ampro byRead More...
6U VME/VXS Signal Generator Boasts Eight 14-bit Channels at 1.2 GSPS
A new FPGA-based multichannel signal generator offers eight 14-bit synchronized data streams at 1.2 Gsample/s analog outputs from an FPGA-based board utilizing three Xilinx Virtex 5Read More...
Hybrid Signal Processing 3U VPX Board Teams DSPs with FPGAs
A new signal processing board features a mix of FPGAs and DSPs in the form of a large Altera Stratix II GX FPGA and one cluster of four ADSP-TS201S TigerSHARC processors from AnalogRead More...
PMC/XMC Transceiver Module for Wideband Radar Countermeasures and MIL/COTS Apps
A new high-frequency PMC/XMC transceiver module is targeted for high-speed, wideband applications including remote radar countermeasures, tracking and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)Read More...
Embedded FPGA Processing Platforms: Customization Meets Performance
Embedded processing with field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) combines the ultimate in customization and scalable performance. Their ability to adapt and quickly respond to changingRead More...
Low-Cost PCI Express-Compliant FPGAs Enable a Plethora of Peripherals
FPGAs play an important role in embedded processing by enabling customized hardware for protocol bridging, signal processing acceleration and real-time embedded control. Now, twoRead More...
FPGA-Based Industrial Ethernet Module Integrates a High-Capacity Switch-IP
An industrial Ethernet module (IEM) implements a cost-efficient and flexible solution to adapt to various Industrial Ethernet technologies. The IEM from IXXAT is based on an AlteraRead More...
USM-based Dual Fast Ethernet PMC Offers FPGA Flexibility
USM-Based Dual Fast Ethernet PMC Offers FPGA Flexibility A new Dual Fast Ethernet PMC is based on the Universal Submodule (USM) concept that implements a board's desiredRead More...
Hardware Trumps Software in Medical Devices
Let’s start by looking at the facts. Medical device recalls reached an all-time high in 2008—up 43 percent from 2007. The experts at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) haveRead More...
LPC Bus-Legacy Lives On
Legacy buses and I/O appear to be on the chopping block. Large pin count parallel communications buses are being replaced by faster serial architectures. Examples include Serial ATARead More...
Virtex-6 FPGA Module for Radar and Telemetry Applications
Virtex-6 FPGA Module for Radar and Telemetry Applications A multichannel, high-speed data converter XMC module is designed for connection to HF or IF ports for communications,Read More...
CPU Architectures Bring C Programmability into Formerly Specialized Devices
Given all the hardware assists that are continually appearing to speed specialized parts of applications such as I/O, signal conditioning, graphics processing, signal processing, etc.,Read More...
Multi-Channel, Configurable PCI-Express Digitizer with Two Virtex-5 FPGAs
An advanced PCIe-based wideband A/D board captures four synchronized channels at sampling rates up to 1.5 GHz, or two synchronized channels up to 3 GHz when interleaving the ADCRead More...
10Gb Ethernet PCI Express FPGA Accelerator Card
10 Gbit Ethernet PCI Express FPGA Accelerator Card A low-profile PCI Express FPGA accelerator card features a 10 Gbit Ethernet interface directly coupled to a Xilinx FPGA. TheRead More...
3U CompactPCI Board Combines Intel Atom with Onboard FPGA
A 3U CompactPCI (cPCI) single board computer (SBC) now combines low-power Intel Atom XL processors with an onboard FPGA for user-defined functions to offer enhanced embeddedRead More...
High-Speed Digitizers Recapture Innovation as ADCs Yield to FPGAs
Prior to the new millennium, skilled hardware engineers pushed the technology envelope with inventive wideband digitizer designs leveraging an assortment of discrete logic integratedRead More...
The Application Services Platform: A New Class of Device for Embedded Development and Systems
There have been many attempts over the years to achieve a highly integrated system-level device on a single piece of silicon. There have been ASICs, ASSPs, SoCs and more. There haveRead More...
What Do We Call the Whatchamacallit?
How is it that very smart people seem to have similar ideas at around the same time? In our industry, when such a thing happens we tend to think of a trend, or in other cases of someRead More...
FMC ADC Card Delivers 550 MS/s Output
A high-performance FPGA ADC Mezzanine Card (FMC/VITA 57) module features two enhanced Texas Instruments ADC devices. The ADC510 from Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded ComputingRead More...
MMC Management Solution Using ACTEL SmartFusion
A new module management controller (MMC) board management reference (BMR) starter kit is based on Actel’s SmartFusion intelligent mixed signal programmable/configurable applicationRead More...
Quad-Channel Data Acquisition and Processing Board Hits 200 MSPS at 16 bits
A four-channel data acquisition module targets radar and communications applications requiring next-generation performance. The 71600 from Pentek has four 200 MSPS, 16-bit dataRead More...
Using Intelligent Mixed Signal FPGAs for Hardware Platform Management
Sophisticated systems that are designed to be highly dependable usually include some sort of platform management function that monitors and manages the health of the hardware,Read More...
Full Implementation of an OFDM Physical Layer on an FPGA, Reduces Time-to-Market
An FPGA IP core has been designed as a complete implementation of an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) physical layer, based on 802.11a/g/n. The core, code namedRead More...
System on Chip (or Two) Coming to a Design Near You?
Are developments in silicon going to play havoc with this explosion of small form factor modules that has been recently sprouting like mushrooms in a moist cellar? With this issue,Read More...
Goldilocks and FPGA Development – a Methodology That’s Just Right
While tools and support for the development of FPGA IP blocks have made tremendous advances in recent years, it still remains burdensome to integrate these blocks into a large, complexRead More...
Three Keys to Unleashing the Full Horsepower of the FPGA
Today’s FPGAs have high computational efficiency, high bandwidth concurrent memory access, rich on-chip interconnectivity and are uniquely hardware as well software programmable. As aRead More...
Beamforming Systems Moving Toward New VPX and FPGA Solutions
Beamforming is a signal processing technique that utilizes an array of sensors to achieve directionality, increase the strength of transmitted signals and improve the quality ofRead More...
Prototyping Autonomous Robots with FPGAs
It may sound like science fiction, but robots are becoming more and more integral parts of our lives—from modern applications like cleaning floors and performing surgeries to futureRead More...
XMC Module Mates Virtex-5 FPGA with PCIe Interface and Deep Memory
A set of new XMC-VLX mezzanine modules features a configurable Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA enhanced with multiple high-speed memory buffers and a high-throughput PCIe interface. Field I/ORead More...
AMC Card with FMC Module Slot and FPGA Flexibility
A standard AMC.1 module offers a user-programmable XC6SLX25T-2 or XC6SLX75T-2 Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA. Designed for industrial, COTS and transportation applications, where specializedRead More...
Busless PMC Carrier Card Allows Use of FPGA Modules in Stand-alone Mode
A busless PMC module carrier card allows use of a PMC module in an independent stand-alone mode. The APMC4110 carrier card from Acromag delivers power to a PMC module and regulates theRead More...
FPGAs – The Logical Choice
The ability to customize logic has underpinned the electronics industry since the early days of the 74xx glue logic family. Whether for simple chip selects, shift registers, registers,Read More...
Quest Continues for the “Sweet Spot” in Configurable ASIC/SoC Design
For some time now, there has been a quest underway among a number of semiconductor vendors. The “Holy Grail” of this particular quest is to devise the ideal piece of silicon thatRead More...
COM Express FPGA Starter Kit for Quick Evaluation with Flexible I/O
A new COM Express starter kit featuring the Altera Cyclone IV GX FPGA provides all the required components to evaluate board designs with open-definable I/Os. With this COM ExpressRead More...
L-Band RF Tuner Integrated with Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA for Satellite TV, Wireless Comm
An L-Band RF tuner and dual digitizer module incorporates an onboard Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA. The instrument targets reception and processing of digitally modulated RF signals such asRead More...
Ruggedized VPX Boards Offer Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs
A family of ruggedized boards for high-performance military and avionics applications utilizes Xilinx’s Virtex-6 FPGAs for onboard signal processing, delivering digital sampling ratesRead More...
Intel’s Atom Platform Integrated with Altera FPGA Already in OEM SBC Product
The trend we have been witnessing over roughly the past nine months of integrating FPGAs with embedded processors for custom I/O functionality, just got another validation with theRead More...
MPUs team with FPGAs to Solve Real-Time System Requirements
When choosing the heart of a processing system, many embedded designers have the impression that they must pick either an FPGA or a microprocessor. In reality, design teams can oftenRead More...
Microprocessors or FPGAs?: Making the Right Choice
There has been stunning growth in the size and performance of FPGAs in recent years thanks to a number of factors, including the aggressive adoption of finer chip geometries down toRead More...
Next-Generation SoC Platform for Terrestrial and Space Applications
Microsemi’s SoC Product Group (formerly Actel) has completed a two-year technology development effort to produce a platform for its next-generation systems on chips (SoCs). With theRead More...
Programming ASP-Type Devices: New Approaches for a New Paradigm
An application services platform or ASP, a name coined by RTC editor-in-chief Tom Williams, is a new class of IC that combines a CPU, a standard set of configurable peripherals and aRead More...
28 nm FPGA Device Portfolio Addresses Continuum of Design Requirements
In these pages we have written quite a bit lately about the quest for the perfect ASIC. It is some mystical combination of programmability, hardware configurability, performance, cost,Read More...
The Dance of Optimization: Waltzing Down to the Silicon
There appears to be a transition taking place that will significantly influence the way embedded systems are designed. For some time we have been witnessing developments in small formRead More...
Device Family Integrates Dual ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore with Programmable Logic
A new family of devices tightly integrates a complete ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based system with 28 nm, low-power programmable logic for system architects and embedded softwareRead More...
Portable and Reusable FPGA Frameworks Let Engineers to do what They do Best - Design
The definition of a design engineer, per Wikipedia, is one who “works with a team of engineers and designers to develop the preliminary design and the most critical parts.” In today’sRead More...
XMC Module with Configurable FPGA Targets Cost-Sensitive Embedded Tasks
To address the need for low-cost configurable FPGA computing solutions, a series of new XMC-SLX mezzanine modules features an economical Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA. The Spartan-6 FPGA’sRead More...
Configurable and Programmable: The Sweet Spot for the SoC
The February issue of RTC included the article titled, “MPUs Team with FPGAs to Solve Real-Time System Requirements,” a brief history of how FPGAs have evolved and how the programmableRead More...
Utilizing A Flexible Interconnect Architecture for System Design
FPGAs are becoming larger and larger, and mounting pressures are being placed on design teams to implement more complex systems with increasing performance requirements in less time.Read More...
VPX Boards Pair Virtex-5 FPGA with PCIe Interface
A new series of 3U VPX FPGA boards features a configurable Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA enhanced with multiple high-speed memory buffers and a high-throughput PCIe interface. Field I/O signalsRead More...
Software Defined Radio: The Key to Public Safety Radios
During the decade bridging the tragic events of 9/11 and the recent devastation in Japan, the world has experienced numerous disasters claiming thousands of lives and destroyingRead More...
MIPS-Based, FPGA-Optimized Soft Core CPU Supported by VxWorks
Altera, MIPS Technologies and System Level Solutions (SLS) have introduced a MIPS-based, FPGA-optimized soft processor for use on Altera’s FPGA and ASIC devices. The MP32 processor isRead More...
Customizing a Microcontroller for Hardware Platform Management
When the subsystem CPU is a microcontroller and its job includes hardware platform management for a larger board or module, it is highly desirable for the controller to integrateRead More...
A Floating Point Co-Processor for FPGAs
There was a time when if an application had some special functions that needed to be executed very fast and often, one alternative was to use an FPGA as a special-purpose co-processorRead More...
Virtex-6 Signal Processing Board Family Moves to CompactPCI System Designs
Pentek has announced that its popular Cobalt board family is now available for use in CompactPCI (cPCI) systems. The migration to cPCI gives system designers full access to Pentek’sRead More...
VPX Cards Employ Spartan-6 FPGA for Higher Performance/Price Requirements
A new series of 3U VPX FPGA boards provides powerful, but economical solutions for high-speed processing of algorithms in embedded computing applications. The VPX-SLX boards fromRead More...
High-Speed Data Acquisition Module with Multi-Board Synchronization
A high-speed data acquisition module is capable of digitizing one 12-bit channel at 3.6 GHz, or two channels at 1.8 GHz. The Model 71640 from Pentek has provisions for theRead More...
High Performance ADC/DAC Module—Compact, Flexible and Cost-Effective
Designed to act as a powerful link between the analog world of sensors and the digital world of computing, a new XMC module can be deployed in demanding radar, signals intelligence,Read More...
Virtex-5 AMC with FMC Module Slot
A standard single mid-size or full-size AMC module comes with the choice of a user-programmable LX50T, LX85T, or SX50T Virtex-5 FPGA. The TAMC640 from Tews Technologies provides aRead More...
Quad Channel 500 MSPS FMC with 14-Bit Analog Input
A new rugged FPGA Mezzanine Card module is a quad-channel 500 MSPS 14-bit analog input card. The FMC-518 from Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing features Intersil’s newRead More...
Embedded FPGA Development Environment Based on AXI4 Interface Protocol
A Xilinx Virtex-6 based XMC module supports pluggable daughter cards for customizable I/O. In conjunction with the XPedite2300, introduced by Extreme Engineering solutions, is anRead More...
From ASIC to ASP to What’s Next? The Quest for the Ideal Embedded Device
In the process of system optimization, “all roads lead to silicon.” However, there are many roads and they take many and varied routes. Taking the road to silicon actually meansRead More...
Simplifying Robot Software Design Layer by Layer
Robot software architectures are typically a hierarchi¬cal set of control loops, representing high-level mission planning on high-end computing platforms, all the way down toRead More...
Two-in-One Development Platform for Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA on SBC
A turnkey single board computer development environment for the Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA is aimed at accelerating development of FPGA-based applications for low-power embedded systems. Read More...
PMC Modules Use Economical FPGA to Reduce Cost of Complex Embedded Tasks
A set of new PMC mezzanine modules features the cost-optimized Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA. The PMC-SLX reconfigurable FPGA modules from Acromag can save thousands of dollars, yet stillRead More...
Power Estimator App for the iPhone Targets Xilinx’s 28nm 7 Series FPGAs
Designers who rely on their iPhones as much as their PCs now have a quick and easy way to determine the power consumption of Xilinx’s 28nm 7 series FPGAs. The new Pocket PowerRead More...
CompactPCI Serial Board Provides Flexible Configuration
A universal CompactPCI Serial peripheral board provides flexible serial communication via an individual mix of UART and fieldbus interfaces and is targeted at mission-criticalRead More...
SoC FPGAs Integrate ARM Processor and FPGA into 28nm Single-Chip Solution
Altera has introduced a family of what in these pages have been dubbed application services platforms (ASPs) and what it is calling SoC FPGAs. These are devices that integrate aRead More...
Virtual Platforms from Xilinx and Altera Support Development on ASPs
Everybody has a different name for them: Programmable SoC (PSoC) from Cypress, SmartFusion from Microsemi, Extensible Processing Platform (EPP) from Xilinx and, most recently, SoCRead More...
High-Speed Data Acquisition XMC Module with Two 1 GSPS 12-bit A/Ds, Four 1 GSPS 16-bit DACs
A new XMC module integrates high-speed digitizing and signal generation with signal processing on a PMC/XMC I/O module for demanding DSP applications. The tight coupling of analogRead More...
I/O Extension Module Adds Analog and Digital I/O to FPGA Boards
A multi-function I/O extension module adds A/D, D/A and digital I/O signal processing functions to a FPGA processor board. The AXM-A75extension I/O module from Acromag plugs directlyRead More...
The Changing Nature of the ASIC
Is the ASIC dead? Not if you consider that ASICs comprised a $20 billion market in 2010. And industry analyst company Semico Research projects that total ASIC design starts willRead More...
Changing Demands Are Changing the Role and Applicability of SoCs and ASICs
Companies building embedded systems that depend on SoCs and ASICs have reached a tipping point. They cannot continue to meet their customers’ increasingly aggressive product-featureRead More...
GigE Vision Interfaces Deliver Higher Performance for Machine Vision Systems
As price pressures increase due to global competitiveness and economic retraction, productivity remains an evergreen focus for the manufacturing industry. Machine vision, with itsRead More...
Flexible FPGA and I/O Complement SBCs in VITA 57 offering
With VITA 57 FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC)-based designs, OEMs can minimize latency for high data throughput in their COTS designs and still maintain flexible I/O configuration. The FMCRead More...
Four-Channel, 1.25 GHz D/A Module for Beamforming and Multichannel Waveform Generation
A high-performing D/A converter module for RF and IF waveform playback delivers four independent analog outputs, each through its own digital upconverter. It also offers 16-bit D/ARead More...
First in a Family of Virtex-7 FPGA SDR Modules for UAV, Radar and Communications
The first member of a new high-performance software defined radio module—the Onyx family from Pentek—is a 4-channel, 200 MHz A/D XMC module based on the Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA family.Read More...
Ethernet AVB Development Kit Enables Automotive Driver Assistance and Infotainment Development
An FPGA-based Ethernet Audio/Video Bridging (EAVB) network implementation is optimized for carrying high-speed data traffic within the automobile. As consumer expectations for higherRead More...
Spartan-6 AMC Meets Enhancements for Rear I/O and Precision Timing
A standard single Mid-Size or Full-Size AMC.1 module conforms to MicroTCA Enhancements for Rear I/O and Precision Timing (MTCA.4) with a user-programmable XC6SLX45T-2 or XC6SLX100T-2Read More...
Designing ASP-Type Devices: What Does it Take?
An Application Services Platform, or ASP, a name coined by RTC Editor-in-Chief Tom Williams, is a new class of IC that combines a CPU, a standard set of configurable peripherals and aRead More...
Xilinx Design Platforms for Accelerating 7 Series FPGA Design and Integration
Xilinx has launched a set of Targeted Design Platforms for accelerating systems development and integration with its 28nm 7 series FPGAs. The Targeted Design Platform approach is aimedRead More...
Tool Suite Extension Offers Certification Validation for Altera Nios II Soft Core Processors
The LDRA tool suite offers independent verification support across the full development lifecycle from certification objectives of standards to requirements, code and target testing.Read More...
FPGAs Mix It Up with CPUs – The Era of the SoC FPGA
Semiconductor devices that integrate FPGA fabric, hardened CPU subsystems and other hardened IP—SoC FPGAs—have launched a new era that will lead to their broad proliferation in theRead More...
Linux OS-Based AMP Solution Supports Xilinx Zynq-7000 EPP
An open-source Linux OS with Asymmetric Multi-Processing (AMP) support for the Xilinx extensible processing platform (EPP), enables developers to put Zynq-7000 devices to work onRead More...
3U OpenVPX Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA Board with FMC Site
A 3U OpenVPX front-end processing board boasts a flexible Virtex-6 FPGA and a FMC site (VITA 57.1). The IC-FEP-VPX3b from Interface Concept is suitable for applications such as radar,Read More...