XMC and 3U VPX modules for RF signal acquisition

16th December 2013

X-ES

Nat Bowers

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Utilising the Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs, Extreme Engineering Solutions' XPedite2470 3U VPX and XPedite2400 XMC modules combine high throughput, configurable I/O, DSP-level processing, and exceptional thermal efficiency. The industry-standard XMC and 3U VPX form factors, along with the combination of high-end signal processing and DAC or ADC, make the COTS modules suitable for demanding RF signal acquisition, SDR, and DSP requirements.

Making use of the VITA 49 VITA Radio Transport (VRT) protocol to provide an industry-standard framework for formatting the data of a digitized IF stream, the XPedite2470 3 and XPedite2400 enable interoperability and simplify system integration. VRT data can also be carried over commonly used industry-standard protocols, such as Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express, Aurora, Serial RapidIO, and Serial Front Panel Data Port.

A configurable, 3U VPX-REDI, FGPA-processing module, the XPedite2470 provides eleven high-speed GTX lanes to the backplane and eight high-speed GTX lanes to an on-card FMC site. With numerous I/O expansion capabilities, the FMC site enables access to single-ended or differential I/O, configurable GTX transceivers, and high-frequency DAC or ADC. This VPX module also includes a Freescale P1010 QorIQ processor for additional signal-processing or general-purpose capabilities.

An FPGA-based XMC module, the compact XPedite2400 includes a high-speed DAC, 2 GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a Gen3 PCI Express interface, and up to ten high-throughput GTX lanes. The module’s integrated DAC supports a 14-bit resolution and a sample rate of up to a 2.5 giga-samples-per-second, while the analog interface can be accessed via MMCX connectors from the front panel. This module also supports 32 LVDS signals through its P14 connector for additional connectivity.

X-ES has also released an FPGA Development Kit (FDK) to help simplify the development of an XPedite2470 or XPedite2400 FPGA-based platform. The FDKs use an industry-standard AXI4 interface protocol and include IP blocks, example designs, and software to control and communicate with the FPGAs. A Software Development Kit (SDK) is also provided and includes interface drivers, support utilities, and user APIs. The SDK is supported for Linux and VxWorks, running on either an Intel or Freescale host.

The configurable XPedite2470 and XPedite2400 modules can be built to support the 330T, 415T, 485T, or 690T Virtex-7 FPGAs.