Arria 10 PCIe is a PCI Express (PCIe) standard, upon which Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) boards are built. This article explains everything you need to know about this standard.
What is Arria 10 PCIe?
It is a PCIe standard that provides higher memory storage and logic options for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) that are based on the Intel Arria 10 FPGA.
Putting the Intel Stratix 10 FPGAs in Perspective
The Arria 10 PCIe is dedicated to the Intel Arria Stratix (SX) 10 FPGA family. This dedication goes a long way to helping improve the performance and speed of the devices under the family via the speed and efficiency of the Arria 10 PCIe.
Worthy of mention is that the Arria 10 PCIe plays an important role also for the System-on-Chips (SoCs) manufactured by Xilinx. To improve on the previous designs that used signal strength as the core deliverable, the new design offers something better.
By leveraging the Arria 10 PCIe, Intel is now able to combine the ease of programming and flexibility of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) with the parallel processing power and configurability of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
To that end, consumers of the Intel Arria Stratix (SX) 10 FPGA will enjoy flexible device optimization, excellent configurations and all-around improved performance.
Targeted Applications
Although the Intel Arria Stratix 10 FPGA is at the core of the Arria 10 PCIe, it isn’t the only beneficiary-FPGA. The Intel Arria GX FPGA also benefits from the same improvements.
The applications or devices that make do with the Arria 10 PCIe are those that require both improved fabric or logic performance and a higher transceiver bandwidth.
Advantages of the Arria 10 PCIe
If you are intent on using the dedicated Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface for your Intel Arria FPGAs; you might as well be interested in knowing the benefits of doing so.
Here are some of the benefits or advantages of working with the Arria 10 PCIe:
1. Floating DSPs
The Arria 10 PCIe comes with the “industry-only” hard floating-point Digital Signal Processing (DSP) logic blocks or slices. These enable the real-time transmission of signals on the board.
2. Multiple Application Usages
You can use the Intel Arria FPGAs and System-on-Chips (SoCs) across multiple applications and industries. Examples of the supported applications are:
- Automotive
- Data center
- Broadcast
- Military
- Communications
The Intel Arria SoCs and FPGAs can also be used for other high-end markets, especially those requiring higher signal transmission capabilities.
3. Reduced Time-to-Market
Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)’s configurability doesn’t necessarily mean that the process doesn’t take time. In some cases, it may take up a lot of time before the devices can be properly configured. Thus, the time-to-market or how long it will take to be readied increases.
The Arria 10 PCIe helps to cut down on that, thanks to the robust integrations of software, hardware and firmware codes/architectures. These combinations help to facilitate the devices’ productions.
Examples of the hardware architecture are:
- Kitting
- Board and starter board
The test designs of the targeted FPGAs are the primary components of the firmware architecture.
Final Words
The Arria 10 PCIe helps you get started with the production of flexible, scalable and well-optimized FPGAs and SoCs. RayPCB is an Intel Arria FPGA and SoC digital designer. Let us help you get the best optimizations from your board.
