Interoperability of 3U VPX FPGA and SBC modules provides a high performance, rugged platform for FPGA applications
Leesburg, VA – May 11, 2009 — Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) VME, VPX, VXS, and CompactPCI products for the aerospace and defense (A&D) market has announced a flexible, multi-card 3U VPX solution for rugged deployed embedded FPGA processing applications. With the interoperability of its 3U VPX FPE320 FPGA processor card, 3U VPX VPX3-450 FPGA processor and 3U VPX VPX3-127 single board computer (SBC) running Wind River’s VxWorks, Curtiss-Wright Controls delivers an unmatched level of flexibility for addressing high-performance 3U VPX systems applications.
“Space, weight and power (SWaP) requirements are driving customers to use the largest FPGAs in their systems, while still needing general purpose processing and I/O. The FPE320/VPX3-450/VPX3-127 platform provides both in a rugged 3U form factor,” said Lynn Patterson, vice president and general manager of Modular Solutions, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing.
Using this solution, system integrators can now utilize the largest Xilinx Virtex™-5 FPGAs currently available in a small form factor embedded system powered with a high performance Power Architecture general purpose processor. The FPE320 supports Virtex-5 LXT, SXT, or FXT devices. With its onboard FMC expansion site (FPGA Mezzanine Card: ANSI/VITA 57) the FPE320 supports optimized FPGA I/O using Curtiss-Wright’s broad range of FMC ADC51x series cards to bring in high speed I/O such as analog to digital converters (ADCs). The VPX3-450 FPGA processor combines the computing power of a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA with the high-performance floating-point capabilities of the Freescale 8640D dual-core Power Architecture processor. The VPX3-127 features a Freescale MPD8640D processor and can be expanded via its onboard PMC/XMC expansion site. The VPX3-127 uses PCI Express to connect to the FPE320 and/or to the VX. All three boards are available in a combined development chassis that includes FPE320 and/or VPX3-450 cards and a VPX3-127 card.
Systems designers can use the platform for prototyping before addressing extended temperature convection and conduction-cooled systems.
About the FPE320 VPX Virtex-5 FPGA Card
The FPE320 is a 3U VPX FPGA processor board that incorporates the largest Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs available with an FMC mezzanine site. Providing a large amount of resources in a small, rugged form factor, the FPE320 is the ideal FPGA platform for 3U systems that need to acquire analog and other high-speed I/O or need a large FPGA processor.
FPE320 Features:
• Xilinx Virtex-5 3U VPX processor card with FMC Site
• Supports Xilinx Virtex-5 SX240T, LX220T/LX330T, and FX200T FPGAs
• FMC (VITA 57) mezzanine site for I/O
• DDR2 SDRAM and QDRII SRAM memory resources
• Four x4 high-speed serial interconnects to the backplane for PCI Express, Aurora or Serial RapidIO
• Additional low-speed I/Os to the backplane
• FusionXF Development Kit for HDL development
• VxWorks 6.x and Linux Support
• 3U VPX with .8″ Pitch
• Air and conduction cooled options
About the VPX3-450 FPGA Processor Card
The VPX3-450 is a 3U VPX FPGA processor board that incorporates the largest Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs available with an on-board PMC/XMC mezzanine site. With large DDR2 SDRAM and fast QDR-II+ SRAM blocks, and several on-board and off-board high-speed serial links, the VXP3-450 FPGA node provide a balanced mix of processing capabilities with memory, inter-FPGA, and off-board bandwidths.
VPX3-450 Features:
• 3U VPX-REDI
• One Xilinx Virtex-5 Platform FPGA (LX155T, or SX95T)
• 512 Mbytes DDR2 SDRAM attached to the FPGA, 2.2 GBytes/sec peak bandwidth
• 18 Mbytes QDR-II+ SRAM attached to the FPGA in two banks, 4.4 Gbytes/sec peak bandwidth per FPGA
• 1 GHz 8640D dual-core processor with 1 Gbytes of DDR2 SDRAM in two banks
• XMC mezzanine site
• On-board PCI Express switch with 4-lane connectivity to the PowerPC, the FPGA, the mezzanine site, and a 4-lane port to the backplane
• One additional 4-lane backplane fabric port to the PowerPC. May be either PCI Express or Serial RapidIO
• Two 4-lane MGT ports to the backplane
• 256 Mbytes Flash for PowerPC or FPGA code or user files
• Support for ChipScope Pro and JTAG processor debug interfaces
• Continuum FXtools developer’s kit offers Continuum Firmware and BSP, 450-specific software libraries, BIT, highly-optimized IP blocks, reference designs, and a scriptable simulation testbench
• Low and high temperature-qualified IP blocks
• Air-cooled and conduction-cooled versions
About the VPX3-127
The 3U VPX VPX3-127 single board computer combines the performance and the advanced I/O capabilities of Freescale’s MPD8640D Power Architecture processor with an extensive I/O complement to provide a highly capable processing platform for a wide range of embedded military/aerospace applications. Designed for space, weight and power-constrained applications, the VPX3-127 represents the latest step in the evolution of rugged high-performance, highly integrated small form factor single board computers.
VPX3-127 Features:
• Powerful general-purpose single board computer with Freescale MPD8640D
• Dual Freescale Power Architecture cores up to 1.0 GHz
• Up to 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM controlled by dual 64-bit controllers
• Full complement of I/O capability (Ethernet, serial, USB 2.0, PCI Express, TTL and differential discretes.)
• VPX format with two 4-lane PCI Express fabric ports or one 4-lane PCI Express port and one 4-lane SRIO port
• VxWorks 6.x BSP, Driver Suite supporting Workbench 2.x IDE, and Curtiss-Wright Wind River Linux GPP LE
• Continuum Software Architecture (CSA) firmware providing a comprehensive suite of system debug, exerciser, and update functions, BIT, and non-volatile memory sanitization function
• Designed for military harsh-environment applications, both air- and conduction-cooled
The FPE320, VPX3-450, and VPX3-127 are available for development systems in 8 weeks ARO. All of these boards are available in both commercial and rugged versions.
Pricing for the FPE320 starts at $19,950. Pricing for the VPX3-450 starts at $12,500. Pricing for the VPX3-127 starts at $6,744.
For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing Multi Computing products or services, contact John Wranovics, Director of Media Relations, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. [email protected]. Web site: www.cwcembedded.com.
Inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: [email protected].
About Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing
Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single source for embedded solutions, ranging from Processing, Subsystems, Data Communication, DSP, and Video & Graphics to the most advanced board level components and fully integrated custom systems. The Embedded Computing group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing visit www.cwcembedded.com.
About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the motion control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW). With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit www.cwcontrols.com.