The bottlenecks with working with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) include the longer development timeframes and complicated design process.
These can go a long in hampering the success of the FPGA design process. The Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA series resolve some of these bottlenecks. In this article, you will learn more about the Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board and how it can help you with FPGA design.
What is the Xilinx Kintex-7 Evaluation board?
It is a dedicated circuit board for making prototypes of FPGAs, ahead of the final release. Prototypes are commonly manufactured to help address some design issues that may have been overlooked in the course of designing the board.
Also, the Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board contains a wide range of components and tools that aid the design process. These range from hardware components, pre-verified FPGA designs and design tools. You can also be sure of finding IP and reference designs that serve as inspiration for making your next board designs.
Working with the Xilinx Kintex-7 Evaluation Board
The Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board can be a worthy tool for simplifying FPGA designs, provided that you maximize it to the fullest.
One of the advantages of working with the board is that it helps you make less-complicated circuit boards, which are targeted to a specific application.
You can also use the Xilinx Kintex-7 development board to enable advanced memory interfacing and high-performance serial connectivity in circuit boards.
Xilinx Kintex-7 Development Board’s Base Family
The Xilinx Kintex-7 development board has a base family dedicated to the Xilinx KC705 Evaluation Board. From here, the development board features the XC7K325T-2FFG900C FPGA.
Here are some of the features of the Xilinx Kintex-7 development board’s base FPGA:
1. Networking Peripherals
It features a wide range of networking peripherals, ranging from PCI Express x8 Edge Connector, Gigabit Ethernet GMII, RGMII and SGMII.
The networking components also include:
- UART to USB Bridge
- SFP/SPF+ Cage
- GTX Port (TX, RX) with four (4) additional SMA Connectors.
2. Clocking Peripherals
The Xilinx Kintex-7 development board has a wide range of clocking peripherals, such as the Fixed Oscillator with differential 200MHz output.
The clocking peripherals also include differential SMA clock input, a default output derived via the Programmable Oscillator with 156.250 MHz
3. Configuration Options
The Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board works with a wide range of configuration peripherals. Examples are the JTAG Header used for configuring the Xilinx download cables.
It also features the Onboard JTAG configuration circuitry used for configuring the board via Universal Serial Bus (USB).
Advantages of Working with the Xilinx Kintex-7 Evaluation Board
Here are some of the advantages or benefits of configuring circuit boards with the Xilinx Kintex-7.
I/O Expansion
The number of Input and Output (I/O) pins supported in the circuit board are expandable with the FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) interface.
Quick Prototyping
Working with the Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board gives you access to faster FPGA prototyping. The board offers this via the optimization for high-performance serial transceiver applications.
Conclusion
In summary, the Xilinx Kintex-7 evaluation board is that “framework” you need to make excellent FPGA prototypes. Contact RayPCB to guide you through the process.
