Powering theVPX sector
Xilinx’ UltraScale devices are helping VPX board
developers to push the performance envelope.
By Graham Pitcher.

FPGA technology has seen asignificant change in the last twodecades. From relatively simple
devices used mainly as glue logic andfor last minute board fixes, FPGAs
have evolved into highly complex
parts.
The two leading developers – Xilinx
and what was Altera – have recently
taken advantage of leading edge
process technology to create devices
with serious levels of performance.
While Altera – now part of Intel – hasdeveloped the Stratix 10 family ofSoC FPGAs, Xilinx has created theUltraScale range of MPSoCs.
Each approach has its benefits
to product developers, but Xilinx’

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UltraScale+ parts
seem to have caught thecollective eye of those developing
VPX and similar format boards, with aflurry of announcements over the last
few months.
Claiming to be first to market
with a VPX format board featuring
an UltraScale+ device is Swissbased start-up Panateq. CTO Panou
Pabouctsidis says, although thecompany is less than a year old, itfeatures ‘passionate people withexperience of designing hardware
platforms in many form factors,including VPX. “We started working
on VPX format boards to see what
we could do. While it’s not easy toTop: Abaco
4DSP’s VP880
board features
twin FPGAs andan UltraScale
MPSoC
Middle: Panateq’s
VPX3-ZU1 is said
to be the first
board featuring
an UltraScale+device to come tomarket

break into that particular market, wesaw an ‘open window’ to implement
UltraScale parts.
“We are proud to be the first to
bring the power of UltraScale to the3U VPX format,” he said.
He sees the plug in board market
as being competitive. “But mostcompanies are providing
single board computers(SBCs), while there arealso a lot of FPGA based
products. Our board – theVPX3-ZU1 – is a mix of thetwo; and this is interesting for
those companies looking to accessthe two technologies on one board.”
With a similar outlook is Haydn
Nelson, director of marketing for
4DSP, recently acquired by Abaco
Systems. “Traditionally,” he said,“users would have an SBC running anIntel processor, plus an FPGA board.
With the benefit of integration, some
applications can run on one board,
reducing size, weight, power andcost.”
4DSP has been designing boards
based on VITA standards for a while;
starting initially with PMC and AMC
cards, then FMC. “We brought thatexpertise into VPX,” Nelson explained.
One of 4DSP’s more recent
developments is the VP880. “It has
dual FPGAs,” Nelson said. “There’sa Zynq UltraScale MPSoC, with the28 March 2017www.newelectronics.co.uk

SYSTEM DESIGN

hardened processor cluster, and aKintex UltraScale, a more traditional
FPGA with some hardened
blocks.”
VPX format boards have
proven to be more popular for
military and defence related
applications. “Board cost isn’t
that important in these applications,because the end product will
be expensive. However, it’s notalways so good for cost sensitive
applications,” Pabouctsidis noted.
Nelson agreed, adding: “Someindustrial apps don’t always need
the performance that VPX boards canbring to bear.”
Nelson also sees VPX boards
as being a ‘good match’ for mil/aero applications. “So, while we’reseeing uptake in that sector,
we also see some interest fromindustrial researchers and we’regetting into National Labs in the US.
One application there is for proton
accelerator beam alignment, butcommercial applications include
aircraft, where the low size, weightand power plays well.”
VPX, of course, can be seen as asuccessor to VME. Pabouctsidis said:“Those who were using VME needed
more speed, but also a rugged solution
which was reliable in terms of vibration.
VPX was developed to meet those
application needs, unlike xTCA, whichcame from the commercial world.”

Pabouctsidis believes UltraScale+represents a major improvementin terms of architecture. “It has amore powerful core – four Cortex-A53
processors – and it integrates a GPU.
So it also offers graphics capability,
which is good when you need a video
output to drive a screen. There’s
also more I/O, a large amount ofprogrammable logic and a high speed
SERDES.”
Nelson pointed to a couple ofareas where UltraScale provided thenecessary features. “If you look atradar and software defined radio,”he said, “applications are beginningto need things like multichanneltransmitters and receivers. These
allow you to use multiple channels
simultaneously and, because you
have more precise control, it opens
up features like digital beam steering.
This is becoming more popular thanomnidirectional broadcast.”
He also pointed to commercial
wireless. “With 5G, you could needan instantaneous bandwidth of
1GHz. From a digital architecture
perspective, that means faster data
rates and faster data sampling. But,
along with multiple data streams,
there’s the need for more signal
processing in the FPGA.
“UltraScale+ is good for a coupleof reasons. While it brings closer
real time control of signal processing
architecture on the FPGA, someZynq for PXIe applications
Innovative Integration has launched COPious-PXIe; an 8HP board featuring
the Xilinx Z7045 SoC processor and offering a VITA 57.1 compliant FMC
module site.
“This powerful SBC/adaptor adds a rich portfolio of cutting edge DAQ
FMC modules and tools into the PXIe eco-system,” said Jim Henderson,
the company’s president. “Customers can implement custom control,
communications and analytical algorithms within the Zynq’s on-chip FPGA
fabric to perform real-time signal processing of signals with up to 500MHz ofinstantaneous bandwidth.”
Osinski noted. “And, in one of our tests, a user could not only discern anorange and its size, but also the fact that it had a blue label. It’s evenpossible to identify stairs as parallel lines of different colours.”

www.newelectronics.co.uk

28 March 2017

“With the beneﬁtof integration,some applications
can run on one
board, reducing
size, weight,power and cost.”
Haydn Nelson

BACKPLANES & BOARDS

algorithms better suited to running on
a general purpose architecture.”
Pabouctsidis added that three
UltraScale variants can be housedin the same board footprint, bringing
flexibility. “If you use the 15EG
variant, for example, you get accessto 3500 DSP slices – and that’s goingto very interesting for those who needa lot of DSP functionality. It is likehaving a Virtex-7 available.”
Nelson picked up on some otheraspects. “Zynq is good because it
has an FPGA element, plus the quadcore processor. And the processor
cluster can be set up to operate
independently or in lock step modefor safety critical applications. The
presence of a GPU makes the device
attractive to those developing robotics
applications, while TrustZone isimportant for data protection.”
Yet, despite the advanced
functionality available from UltraScaleparts, developers such as Panateq
and 4DSP still need to design in FMCconnectivity. “It adds flexibility for thecustomer,” Pabouctsidis explained.
“You never know what the customer
want to do with a board and anFMC slot increases the number ofapplications they can do using thesame platform.”
Nelson noted: “The VP880
is flexible because of the FMC
interface. A modular approach means
customers can buy the card, but canswap out the mezzanine card in thefuture without having to redesign theirsystem or software.”Having a powerful board is one
thing, but developing it isanother. “You can’t use allthis technology if software
isn’t available,” Pabouctsidis
concluded.
“The architecture is supported
by Xilinx’ SDSoC tools, which
help with partitioning algorithms.
Developers can see almost inreal time which is the best way
to implement their software – in
the SoC or in the programmablefabric.”

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