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Home > FMC Central > Flexor FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card) Products
Flexor FMC

FMC Overview



The Flexor Family

The Flexor® line of FMC carriers and FMC modules combines the high performance of the Virtex-7 with the flexibility of the FMC data converter creating a complete radar and software radio solution.

Carrier Boards

As stand-alone processors, carrier boards provide an ideal development and deployment platform for demanding signal-processing applications.

The carrier board architecture includes an optional built-in gigabit serial optical interface. Up to 12 high-speed duplex optical lanes are available on an MTP connector. With the installation of a serial protocol in the FPGA, this interface enables a high-bandwidth connection between boards mounted in the same chassis or even over extended distances between them.

FlexorSet

As a FlexorSet™ integrated solution, the analog I/O FMC is factory-installed on the FMC carrier. The required FPGA IP is installed and the board set is delivered ready for immediate use.

The delivered FlexorSet is a multichannel, high-speed data converter and is suitable for connection to the HF or IF ports of a communications or radar system. The built-in data capture and playback features and Gen. 3 x8 PCIe interface make them turnkey solutions.


High-Speed Switched Serial Fabrics Improve System Design Handbook
Written by Rodger Hosking, Vice President and Co-founder of Pentek

Switched serial fabric systems connect devices together to support multiple simultaneous data transfers. The raw speed of serial fabrics is governed by three factors: the serial bit clock frequency; the channel coding efficiency; and the number of lanes or parallel bit streams ganged together in the interface. This handbook helps system designers compare and contrast different types of serial fabrics to narrow down the best available links and protocols for their high-speed embedded system application.

High-Speed Switched Serial Fabrics Improve System Design Handbook
Serial Fabrics
Handbook

FMC News


Development Tools and Software Support

Navigator Design Suite

Navigator® Design Suite takes a new approach to solving FPGA IP and control software connectivity. Most modern FPGA-processing applications require development of specialized FPGA IP to run on the hardware, and software to control the FPGA hardware from a host computer. Even when "turnkey" solutions are delivered with complete FPGA IP and software libraries, as developers add their own custom-processing IP, new software needs to be created to control the custom IP functions.

Navigator FPGA Design Kit

Navigator® FDK (FPGA Design Kit) provides the complete IP for a specific RFSoC data acquisition and processing board. When the design is opened in Vivado’s IP Integrator, the developer can access every component of the Pentek design, replacing or modifying blocks as needed for the application. All blocks use industry standard AXI4 interfaces providing a well-defined format for custom IP to connect to the rest of the design. Each Navigator/RFSoC design includes User Blocks in the data-flow path, ideal for inserting custom processing IP.

Navigator Board Support Package

Navigator® BSP (Board Support Package) allows software developers to work at a higher level, abstracting many of the details of the hardware through an intuitive API. The API allows developers to focus on the task of creating the application by letting the API, the hardware and IP-control libraries below it to handle many of the board-specific functions. Developers who want full access to the entire BSP library, enjoy complete C-language source code as well as full documentation.

GateFlow FPGA Design Resources

While many applications can be satisfied with the board's built-in functions, the FMC carrier boards are an ideal development and deployment platform for custom IP. Supported by GateFlow® FPGA Design Resources, users have access to the complete factory-installed IP at the source level, allowing them to extend or even replace the built in functions.

ReadyFlow Board Support Package

The Pentek ReadyFlow® Board Support Package is available for Windows and Linux operating systems. To accelerate application development, ReadyFlow is provided as a C-callable library, the complete suite of initialization, control and status functions, as well as a rich set of precompiled, ready-to-run-examples.

GateXpress PCIe Configuration Manager

The Pentek GateXpress® PCIe Configuration Manager supports dynamic FPGA reconfiguration through software commands as part of the runtime application. This provides an efficient way to quickly reload the FPGA, which occurs many times during development. For deployed environments, GateXpress enables reloading the FPGA without the need to reset the host system, ideal for applications that require dynamic access to multiple processing IP algorithms.

SPARK Development Systems

SPARK Development Systems

The SPARK® Development Systems were created to save engineers and system integrators the time and expense associated with building and testing a development system. Each SPARK system is delivered with the Pentek board(s) and required software installed and equipped with sufficient cooling and power to ensure optimum performance.

The SPARK systems are fully-integrated platforms for Pentek's board(s) in product families:

  • Quartz® (Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC)
  • Jade® (Xilinx UltraScale+ / UltraScale)
  • Flexor® (FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card))
  • JadeFX® (Xilinx Kintex UltraScale with FMC)
  • Onyx® (Xilinx Virtex-7)
  • OnyxFX™ (Xilinx Virtex-7 with FMC)
  • Cobalt® (Xilinx Virtex-7)

Xilinx's Alliance Program

Certified Partner in the Xilinx Alliance Program

As a Certified Member of Xilinx's Alliance Program, Pentek has passed a comprehensive 320-point review of our technical, business, quality, and support processes and have committed engineers who completed the same rigorous training used by Xilinx Field Application Engineers worldwide. Pentek continues to demonstrate years of expertise with Xilinx devices and implementation techniques and consistently delivers high-quality products and services utilizing Xilinx programmable platforms.

FMC Interface

Analog modules comply with the VITA 57 FMC specification. The interface provides all data, clocking, synchronization, control, and status signals between the module and the FMC carrier.

Ruggedization

Except for the PCIe Carrier board, all other boards are available in various ruggedized formats up to and including conduction cooling.




VPX Board Utilizes VITA 66.4 Optical Backplane
William Wong, Electronic Design

The VITA's VITA 66.4 standard defines optical backplane interfaces for VPX cards. Pentek's Flexor® Model 5973 3U VPX FMC carrier card is designed to link FMC boards like Pentek's own Flexor FMC line to the backplane through the on-board, Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA using its VITA 66.4 optical connections. The system was announced at VITA's 2014 Embedded Tech Trends.

Pentek's Flexor Model 5973 3U VPX FMC carrier board supports an optional VITA 66.4 fiber connection with 12 optical duplex lanes. The half size MT optical interconnect is designed to mate with a matching connector on the backplane. The optical transceivers plug into sockets on the Flexor Model 5973 3U VPX FMC carrier board. The cables connect the transceivers to the optical connectors on the rear of the board.

VITA 66.4 Optical Connector
VITA 66.4 Optical Connector
  Plug-in Optical Transceivers
Plug-in Optical Transceivers

This is just another view of the cabling connecting the optical transceivers (left) with the rear connector (right). The P0 and P1 connectors provide VPX backplane support while the optical connector resides in the P2 area. The Flexor® Model 5973 3U VPX FMC carrier board is designed for conduction cooled systems with the addition of the headsink cover shown here. There would be an additional cover after the FMC card was installed.

Optical Transceivers Cabling
Optical Transceivers Cabling
  Flexor Model 5973 - 3U VPX FMC Carrier
Flexor Model 5973 - 3U VPX FMC Carrier

The Flexor® Model 5973 3U VPX FMC carrier board is based around Xilinx's Virtex-7 FPGA. It provides a x8 PCI Express Gen 3 interface via the VPX P1 connector as well as gigabit serial I/O and LVDS support. There is 4 Gbytes of SDRAM and, of course, the optional VITA 66.4 optical interface. The carrier board supports Pentek's GateXpress for FPGA configuration via PCI Express.




FlexorSet

FMC

As a FlexorSet™ integrated solution, the analog I/O FMC is factory-installed on the FMC carrier. The required FPGA IP is installed and the board set is delivered ready for immediate use.

The delivered FlexorSet is a multichannel, high-speed data converter and is suitable for connection to the HF or IF ports of a communications or radar system. The built-in data capture and playback features and Gen. 3 x8 PCIe interface make them turnkey solutions.

Product Overview
Flexor Product
Overview

FlexorSet: Carrier+FMC   -   ( top )
Model
Description
JadeFX: Xilinx Kintex UltraScale
Model 5983-324 JadeFX FlexorSet 4-Ch 16-bit: 500 MHz A/D & 2 GHz D/A - 3U VPX
Model 5983-320 JadeFX FlexorSet 2-Ch. 3.0 GHz A/D, 2-Ch. 2.8 GHz D/A - 3U VPX
Model 5983-317 JadeFX FlexorSet 8-Channel 250 MHz A/D with DDCs - 3U VPX
Model 5983-313 JadeFX FlexorSet 4-Ch. 250 MHz A/D w/DDCs, 2-Ch. 800 MHz D/A w/DUC, Int - 3U VPX
Model
Description
OnyxFX: Xilinx Virtex-7
Model 7070-324 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch 16-bit: 500 MHz A/D & 2 GHz D/A - PCIe
Model 7070-320 OnyxFX FlexorSet 2-Ch. 3.0 GHz A/D, 2-Ch. 2.8 GHz D/A - PCIe
Model 7070-317 OnyxFX FlexorSet 8-Channel 250 MHz A/D with DDCs - PCIe
Model 7070-316 OnyxFX FlexorSet 8-Channel 250 MHz A/D - PCIe
Model 7070-313 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch. 250 MHz A/D w/DDCs, 2-Ch. 800 MHz D/A w/DUC, Int - PCIe
Model 7070-312 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch. 250 MHz A/D, 2-Ch. 800 MHz D/A - PCIe
Model 5973-324 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch 16-bit: 500 MHz A/D & 2 GHz D/A - 3U VPX
Model 5973-320 OnyxFX FlexorSet 2-Ch. 3.0 GHz A/D, 2-Ch. 2.8 GHz D/A - 3U VPX
Model 5973-317 OnyxFX FlexorSet 8-Channel 250 MHz A/D with DDCs - 3U VPX
Model 5973-316 OnyxFX FlexorSet 8-Channel 250 MHz A/D - 3U VPX
Model 5973-313 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch. 250 MHz A/D w/DDCs, 2-Ch. 800 MHz D/A w/DUC, Int - 3U VPX
Model 5973-312 OnyxFX FlexorSet 4-Ch. 250 MHz A/D, 2-Ch. 800 MHz D/A - 3U VPX


Search for FlexorSet: Carrier+FMC
Data Acquisition and Software Radio Product Select Tool

FlexorSet: Carrier+FMC

New generations of FPGAs provide a level of processing performance and I/O bandwidth that generally surpasses conventional CPU designs. However, the I/O interfaces have become closely tied to the FPGAs, limiting reuse of FPGA designs because boards are designed with a specific type of I/O. Therefore, it has been challenging to design FPGA boards with an I/O suitable for a wide range of customers.

A modular design solves this problem, and the VITA 57 standard for an FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) was created for this purpose. The VITA 57 standard separates the FPGA from the I/O by defining two separate components: a mezzanine card that provides the I/O, and an FPGA-based carrier card. If a different I/O design is needed, the mezzanine card can be changed, and the FPGA-based carrier can be adapted to the new I/O requirements: the FPGA design can be reconfigured and used with the new I/O module.

In this way, the VITA 57 FMC specification solves a major quandary with FPGA-based I/O: how to get optimum I/O bandwidth, and yet be able to change the I/O functionality.

Although VITA 57 makes it possible to use FMCs and carriers from different manufacturers, it is not a simple matter. The 38-question compatibility checklist in the VITA 57 specification is an indication of this. If an FMC from one vendor and a carrier from another prove to be compatible based on the checklist and additional investigation, FPGA IP and control software still must be developed. So it is possible to make an FMC and a carrier from different vendors work together, but it takes some time and effort.

For this reason, Pentek developed FMC+carrier sets called FlexorSets™ as part of Pentek's Flexor® family of FMC products.

Bundling for Seamless Integration

All FlexorSets come pre-configured with a suite of built-in functions for data capture, synchronization, time tagging and formatting, all tailored and optimized for the FMC and carrier. This IP enables high-performance capture and delivery of data to provide an ideal signal interface for radar, communications, or general data acquisition applications, eliminating the integration effort typically left for the user when integrating the FMC and carrier.

Development Tools and Software Support

FlexorSet presents system integrators with an ideal development and deployment platform for custom IP. The GateFlow® FPGA Design Resources give users access to the complete factory installed IP at the source level, allowing them to extend or even replace the built-in functions.

The Pentek GateXpress® PCIe Configuration Manager supports dynamic FPGA reconfiguration though software commands as part of the runtime application. This provides an efficient way to quickly reload the FPGA, which reduces development time during testing. For deployed environments, GateXpress enables reloading the FPGA without the need to reset the host system, ideal for applications that require dynamic access to multiple processing IP algorithms.

The Pentek ReadyFlow® Board Support Package is available for Windows and Linux. The ReadyFlow C-callable library contains a complete suite of initialization, control and status functions, as well as a rich set of precompiled examples, which help accelerate application development.

FlexorSet Advantages




Flexor FMC

FMC

The Flexor® line of FMC carriers and FMC modules combines the high performance of the Virtex-7 with the flexibility of the FMC data converter creating a complete radar and software radio solution. As stand-alone processors, carrier boards provide an ideal development and deployment platform for demanding signal-processing applications.

The carrier board architecture includes an optional built-in gigabit serial optical interface. Up to 12 high-speed duplex optical lanes are available on an MTP connector. With the installation of a serial protocol in the FPGA, this interface enables a high-bandwidth connection between boards mounted in the same chassis or even over extended distances between them.

Product Overview
Flexor Product
Overview


FMC+ Carriers   -   ( top ) FMC+ product updates
FMC Subscribe
Model
Description
JadeFX: Xilinx Kintex UltraScale
Model 5983 JadeFX Kintex UltraScale Processor and FMC Carrier - 3U VPX



FMC Carriers   -   ( top ) FMC product updates
FMC Subscribe
Model
Description
OnyxFX: Xilinx Virtex-7
Model 7070 OnyxFX Virtex-7 Processor and FMC Carrier - PCIe
Model 5973 OnyxFX Virtex-7 Processor and FMC Carrier - 3U VPX
Model
Description
JadeFX: Xilinx Kintex UltraScale
Model 5983 JadeFX Kintex UltraScale Processor and FMC Carrier - 3U VPX


Search for FMC Carriers
Processors and Baseboards Product Select Tool


FMC Modules   -   ( top ) FMC product updates
FMC Subscribe
Model
Description
Model 3324 Flexor 4-Ch 500 MHz, 16-bit A/D, 4-Ch 2 GHz, 16-bit D/A - FMC
Model 3320 Flexor 2-Ch. 3.0 GHz A/D, 2-Ch. 2.8 GHz D/A - FMC
Model 3316 Flexor 8-Channel 250 MHz, 16-bit A/D - FMC
Model 3312 Flexor 4-Ch. 250 MHz, 16-bit A/D, 2-Ch. 800 MHz, 16-bit D/A - FMC


Search for FMC Modules
Data Acquisition and Software Radio Product Select Tool

Pentek Product Segment Catalogs

Pentek's segment catalogs highlight products by function. These downloadable catalogs are available for Analog & Digital I/O, Clock & Synchronization Generators, Radar & Software Defined Radio (SDR) I/O, Software & Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Tools and High-Speed Real-Time Recording Systems.

Analog and Digital I/O Catalog
Analog & Digital
I/O Catalog
Clock and Sync Generators Catalog
Clock & Sync
Generators Catalog
Radar & SDR I/O Catalog
Radar & SDR
I/O Catalog
Software and FPGA Tools Catalog
Software & FPGA
Tools Catalog
High-Speed Recorders Catalog
High-Speed
Recorders

Pricing and Availability

For the latest pricing, delivery and available options, please fill out this form and your request will be delivered to the appropriate department. To learn more about our products or to discuss your specific application please contact our sales department at SDL-sales@mrcy.com, 201-818-5900 or contact your local representative.





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