Pentek Announces Kintex UltraScale Co-processor Jade XMC for Signal Processing Applications

Pentek Announces Kintex UltraScale Co-processor Jade XMC for Signal Processing Applications

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ─March 26, 2018─ Pentek, Inc., today introduced the newest member of the Jade^™ family of high-performance data converter XMC modules based on the Xilinx Kintex Ultrascale FPGA. The Model 71800 is a co-processor module with an XMC PCI Express Gen 3 interface and general purpose I/O using parallel LVDS and gigabit serial ports.

The Jade Architecture embodies a streamlined approach to FPGA based boards, simplifying the design to reduce power and cost, while still providing some of the highest performance FPGA resources available today. Designed to work with Pentek’s Navigator^™ Design Suite of tools, the combination of Jade and Navigator offers users an efficient path to developing and deploying FPGA IP for data and signal processing.

The Model 71800 is pre-loaded with IP modules for DMA engines, a DDR4 memory controller, test signal and metadata generators, data packing and flow control to speed up the development process. The 71800 is available with the Kintex UltraScale KU035, KU060 and KU115, supporting a range of processing power. The majority of the Kintex UltraScale FPGA resources are available for customer installed IP for processing and management of I/O.

Performance IP Cores

"Designers who need to boost DSP processing for an existing system, or wish to develop their own new IP application, can take good advantage of the Model 71800. Not only does it offer up to 5520 DSP slices for plenty of processing horsepower, it also provides well-defined connections to PCIe, DDR4 memory, LVDS I/O and gigabit serial links to support high-performance interfaces," said Bob Sgandurra, director of Product Management of Pentek. "Advancements in our Navigator tools now make it much easier to integrate custom IP with modules from the Pentek library to develop solutions for very specific needs. A designer’s imagination is the only limitation to the capabilities of this module.”

The Jade Architecture

The Pentek Jade Architecture is based on the Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA, which raises the digital signal processing (DSP) performance by over 50% when compared the previous FPGA family with equally impressive reductions in cost, power dissipation and weight. As the central feature of the Jade Architecture, the FPGA has access to all data and control paths, allowing direct access to all board resources. A large 5 GB bank of DDR4 SDRAM is available to the FPGA for custom applications. The x8 PCIe Gen 3 link can sustain 6.4 GB/s data transfers to system memory. Eight additional gigabit serial lanes and 38 LVDS general purpose I/O pairs are available for specialized interfaces.

Navigator Design Suite for Streamlined IP Development

Pentek's Navigator Design Suite consists of two components: Navigator FDK (FPGA Design Kit) for integrating custom IP into Pentek designs and Navigator BSP (Board Support Package) for creating host software applications.

The Navigator FDK includes the board’s entire FPGA design as a block diagram that can be edited in Xilinx's Vivado tool suite. In addition to the block diagrams, all source code and complete IP core documentation is included. Developers can integrate their own IP along with the Pentek factory-installed functions or use the Navigator kit to completely replace the Pentek IP with their own. The Navigator FDK Library is AXI-4 compliant, providing a well defined interface for developing custom IP or integrating IP from other sources.

The Navigator BSP contains high-level libraries and drivers for Windows and Linux operating systems. Users can work efficiently using high-level API functions, or gain full access to the underlying libraries including source code. Numerous examples speed development of new applications.

Pre-Configured SPARK System Ready for Immediate Use

With a Pentek 8266 SPARK® PC, 8264 SPARK 6U VPX, or 8267 SPARK 3U VPX development system, work can begin immediately on applications. A SPARK system saves engineers time and expense associated with building and testing a development system and ensures optimum performance of Pentek boards. SPARK development systems are ready for immediate operation with software and hardware installed. In many applications, the SPARK development system can become the final deployed application platform.

Form Factors

The Model 71800 XMC module is designed to operate with a wide range of carrier boards in PCIe, 3U and 6U VPX, AMC, and 3U and 6U CompactPCI form factors, with versions for both commercial and rugged environments.

Pricing and Availability

Designed for air-cooled, conduction-cooled and rugged operating environments, the Model 71800 XMC module with 5 GB of DDR4 SDRAM starts at $8,500 USD. Additional FPGA options are available. Delivery is 10 to 12 weeks ARO.

The Navigator Design Suite consists of two packages. The Navigator BSP is $2,500 USD and the Navigator FDK is $3,500 USD.

About Pentek

Pentek, an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, designs, manufactures and markets innovative COTS and rugged DSP boards and real-time recorders for commercial, government and military systems, including radar, communications, medical and industrial control applications. Pentek offers powerful VPX, PCIe, XMC, FMC, cPCI, and AMC boards for data acquisition, software radio and digital signal processing featuring Xilinx FPGAs. Pentek’s high-speed real-time recording systems are pre-configured and can be used in the lab or deployed in the field. Pentek equips all boards and recorder products with high-performance I/O including gigabit serial interfaces, powerful software development tools and offers strong DSP software support.