Connectivity
Xilinx Connectivity Design Platform
Featuring Spartan®-6 and Virtex®-6 Connectivity Kits
- Comprehensive solution enables swift deployment of your serial/parallel protocol implementations
- Broad IP portfolio targeting many market segments enables ease of design with leading industry standards and protocols
Key Documentation
Videos and Webcasts
Xilinx connectivity solutions enable the fastest deployment of customer end-product systems across the serial spectrum – mainstream through ultra-high end – and provide valuable benefits for architecting your application. Xilinx is committed to providing connectivity development tools, methodologies, IP and support through its Targeted Design Platforms. The Targeted Design Platform for connectivity brings these elements together into productized solutions that accelerate development for experienced users and simplifies the adoption of FPGAs for new users.
Connectivity Solution Benefits
- Spartan®-6 FPGAs with up to 8 GTP 3.125Gbps transceivers satisfy the cost, ease-of-use, and low power needs of high-volume electronics, such as automotive infotainment systems, high-resolution consumer displays
- Virtex®-6 LXT and SXT FPGAs with up to 36 GTX 6.5Gbps transceivers and performance margins that exceed the demands of high-speed protocols (e.g., Interlaken and PCIe® 2.0) are ideal for multi-protocol systems, such as wireless base stations, switches and routers, and professional video equipment
- Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs with up to 72 serial IO channels (48 GTX and 24 11Gbps GTH) transceivers save over 80 percent in transceiver power compared to solutions with external physical layer (PHY) for 40G/100G applications
- These include transponders/muxponders, traffic managers, and packet processors for wired communications; high-performance data encryption engines; advanced medical imaging; and digital video production, editing and broadcast equipment
- State-of-the-art serial connectivity tools integrated in the ISE® Design Suite software
- Implement both established as well as cutting edge protocols still being defined
- Comprehensive IP portfolio including industry leading serial protocols
- Focus on innovation by leveraging the infrastructure building blocks provided by Xilinx in the targeted design platforms optimized for connectivity
- Accelerate evaluation, prototyping, design, and debug using Xilinx scalable board strategy including FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) connectors
- Get started, begin evaluation, and modify Xilinx targeted reference designs delivered with every kit and supported, maintained and updated with every ISE Design Suite release
Connectivity Solution Elements
| Elements |
| FPGA silicon: Transceiver design and I/O architecture |
| Design flows tailored for connectivity methodologies |
| Intellectual Property (IP) cores |
| Connectivity development kits |
FPGA silicon: Transceiver design and I/O architecture
- Virtex-6 HXT FPGA with up to 72 serial I/O channels (24 GTH transceivers and 48 GTX transceivers) provide over 0.5Tb/s serial I/O bandwidth to design 40G and 100G applications in a single FPGA
- When combined, the select IO bandwidth the aggregate IO bandwidth is over 1Tbps
- Virtex-6 LXT and SXT FPGAs deliver GTX transceivers
- Most flexible transceiver in any FPGA
- Enables designing with a multitude of serial protocols
- Industry’s best hardware PCS features that simplify usage
- Aids faster debug and accelerates adoption of complex serial protocols for all applications
- Spartan-6 LXT FPGAs are the lowest cost FPGAs with GTP serial transceivers
- Optimized to fully support the most common serial standards: PCI Express®, Gigabit Ethernet, Display Port and more
- Highly efficient and dedicated clocking sources enables each GTP transceiver to be configured to support a different serial protocol
- All Xilinx Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGAs also include configurable SelectIO™ technology to support multi-voltage, multi-standard parallel connectivity technologies – HSTL, LVDS (SDR and DDR) and more
Design flows tailored for connectivity methodologies
The ISE Design Suite: Logic Edition delivers a complete solution for connectivity design providing the front-to-back methodology and IP required to enable designers to achieve greater designer productivity, focus on design differentiation, shrink time to production, attain breakthrough performance, power and cost benefits.
The Logic Edition includes Xilinx exclusive tools and technologies for design entry, synthesis, implementation, and verification to help achieve optimal design results in the shortest time.
Complete high-speed serial design methodology and tool flow
- Design Tools: ISE Design Suite Logic Edition
- Architecture Wizards – Transceiver, Clocking, CRC Wizards
- Design analysis and synthesis – PlanAhead (FloorPlanning and PinLayout), XST
- Implementation tools – MAP, Timing driven P&R, SmartXplorer
- Debug tools – ChipScope Pro, SerialI/O ToolKit, FPGA Editor, IBERT LogiCORE™
- Guidelines and reports
- Signal integrity considerations
- Transceiver characterization general and protocol specific reports
- Documentation
- Datasheets and user guides
- Whitepapers
- Application notes
- Reference designs
Intellectual Property (IP) cores
Xilinx provides end-to-end connectivity solutions supporting serial and parallel protocols. The support for many of these protocols is provided through Xilinx IP LogiCOREs that enable you to maximize design flexibility and reduce risk. In addition they are pre-verified for serial I/O standards and are certified through industry-wide IP interoperability and certification programs. All Xilinx IP is delivered through the CORE Generator™ system to help streamline your design process and improve design quality.
Xilinx support for protocols and technology
| By Use Model | ||
|---|---|---|
| Backplane | Box-to-Box | Chip-to-Chip |
| Ethernet | Ethernet | Aurora |
| OBSAI/ CPRI | Fibre Channel | CAN |
| PCI Express | HD-SDI | FlexRay |
| Serial Rapid IO | SONET/ SDH OC-3 to OC-768 | HiGig |
| Interlaken | ||
| MOST | ||
| PCI Express | ||
| Serial Rapid IO | ||
| SFI-5 | ||
| SPAUI | ||
| SPI3 | ||
| SPI4.2 | ||
| By Market Segment | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace and Defense | Audio Video Broadcast | Automotive |
| Aurora | Aurora | CAN |
| PCI Express | DisplayPort | FlexRay |
| Serial Rapid IO | Ethernet | MOST |
| SPI4.2 | HD-SDI | |
| PCI Express | ||
| Compute | Industrial/Medical | Wired Communications |
| PCI Express | Ethernet | Aurora |
| Serial Rapid IO | PCI Express | Ethernet |
| Serial Rapid IO | HiGig | |
| Interlaken | ||
| PCI Express | ||
| SFI-5 | ||
| SPAUI | ||
| SPI3 | ||
| SPI4.2 | ||
Certification
- Xilinx provides a UNH tested Ethernet IP cores with integrated serial interface to ensure first time success
- SPI-4.2 core interoperability testing completed with leading framers (e.g. PMC, Vitesse) and NPUs (e.g. Netronome IXP2800)
- Passes all PCI-SIG specified compliance tests for PCI Express and listed on PCI-SIG integrators list
Additional IP is available through the Xilinx IP Center.
Connectivity development kits
Xilinx provides a complete connectivity design environment through evaluation kits to accelerate design development by integrating critical components required for creating an application targeted towards Xilinx FPGAs.
Development kits to prototype, evaluate and debug your FPGA design implementations
- Evaluation kits
- All Xilinx Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGA boards include a FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) connector on the board
- FMC daughter cards
Reference designs to accelerate your design development
- Delivered with connectivity kits
- Supported in ISE Design Suite
Additional connectivity boards and kits
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Related Products
Need a jump start on your FPGA Design? Take a look at the wide array of development boards and kits on the Xilinx Online Store!Information, products, and services related to the Connectivity Solution
Documentation
ISE® Design Suite Software Manuals
These software documents support all editions of the ISE Design Suite.
Virtex®-6 FPGA GTH Transceiver User Guide
This guide describes the GTH transceiver available in Virtex-6 devices.
Virtex-6 FPGA GTX Transceivers User Guide
This document shows how to use the GTX transceivers in Virtex-6 FPGAs.
Spartan®-6 FPGA GTP Transceivers User Guide
This document shows how to use the GTP transceivers in Spartan-6 FPGAs.
Virtex-6 FPGA SelectIO Resources User Guide
This document describes Virtex-6 FPGA SelectIO™ technology.
Spartan-6 FPGA SelectIO Resources User Guide
Input/output characteristics and SelectIO logic resources available in Spartan-6 FPGAs are detailed in this user guide.
I/O Design Flexibility with the FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) White Paper
The FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) standard, developed by a consortium of companies ranging from FPGA vendors to end users, specifically targets FPGAs, increasing I/O flexibility and lowering costs in a broad range of applications.
This document provides an overview of PCI Express technology.
Ethernet Solutions Product Brief
This document provides and overview of Ethernet technology.
Access all the available documentation for IP.
Boards
Virtex-6 FPGA ML605 Evaluation Kit
The ML605 is a full-featured, highly-scalable platform ideal for developing Virtex-6 applications using the Virtex-6 LX240T FF1156.
Virtex-5 LXT ML555 FPGA Development Kit for PCI Express, PCI-X™, and PCI™ Interfaces
The Virtex-5 LXT FPGA Development kit for PCI-Express supports PCIe/PCI-X/PCI. This complete development kit passed PCI-SIG compliance for PCI Express v1.1 and enables you to rapidly create and evaluate designs using PCI Express, PCI-X and PCI interfaces.
Virtex-6 FPGA ML605 Evaluation Kit
The Virtex-5 LXT FPGA Gigabit Ethernet Development kit supports 10/100Mbps and 1Gbps speeds. This complete development kit enables you to rapidly create and evaluate designs for Ethernet applications.
Tools and IP Reference Guides
Complete high speed serial design methodology and tool flow delivered through ISE Design Suite
- Architecture Wizards – Transceiver, Clocking, Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
- Design analysis and synthesis tools – PlanAhead™, Xilinx Synthesis Tool (XST)
- Implementation tools – Timing driven Place and Route, SmartXplorer for significantly faster simulation runtimes
- Debug tools – ChipScope™ Pro and the SerialIO toolkit
Technology Solutions: Power Solutions
Information and tools for power challenges.
Signal Integrity Considerations
Design methodology and guidelines for PCB design, clocking, power supply guidelines.
Videos and Webcasts
Addressing the Performance Bottleneck in Modern SOC Design - Serial IO Connectivity
This web seminar will cover Xilinx's comprehensive serial IO portfolio which addresses challenging System-on-Chip requirements across the serial performance spectrum.
Choosing and Using the Right Transceiver for Serial interfaces at 3Gbps, 6Gbps, 10Gbps, and Beyond
Serial I/O provides high bandwidth for connecting chips, boards, and boxes while consuming less power and PCB real estate than traditional parallel interface technologies.
ISE Design Suite 11 - The Design Methodology for Targeted Design Platforms
The release of ISE Design Suite 11 is a major milestone in the delivery of targeted design platforms, enabling simpler and smarter design methodologies for creating FPGA-based system-on-chip solutions targeting a wide variety of markets and applications.
Creating Power-Optimized Designs with Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGAs
The latest generation of FPGAs offer increases in performance, capacity, and built-in capabilities that make them suitable for implementing a greater portion of critical system-level functionality.
View these product demonstrations videos to help you get started and make the most of your ISE Design Suite experience.
Training
Connectivity Design Curriculum Path
Xilinx has created a Connectivity Education Curriculum to bring new and experienced FPGA designers up to speed on understanding the methodology in designing with Serial technologies and also assist in using the most prevalent serial protocols – PCI Express and Ethernet targeted to Xilinx FPGAs.
Access all the available Xilinx training.
Services and Support
Xilinx offers a range of Engineering Services, including Titanium, a short-term, highly focused, task oriented on-site service, Xilinx Design Services (XDS), which does full turn-key, full-custom, high-complexity FPGA designs, and QuickStart!, a combination of customized training and consulting services.
Contact Xilinx technical support.
Xilinx User Community Forum – Connectivity
A unique discussion and solution forum for all Connectivity aspects related to Xilinx FPGAs. Post our queries and discuss your challenges. Benefit from answers provided by Xilinx Connectivity experts
From documentation to tools and IP, Xilinx has the support you need for for embedded design.
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