August 2003
    1
    © 2003 Actel Corporation
    Product Brief
    Axcelerator Evaluation Platform
    The Axcelerator evaluation platform has been designed to
    demonstrate the unique capabilities of Actel’s new
    Axcelerator family of FPGAs. It provides the designers an
    easy to use hardware platform to evaluate and test various
    Axcelerator features such as the PLL, LVDS I/Os, Block
    RAMs, etc. The modularity of the platform allows the designer
    to build systems to their own special requirements, providing
    them with a vehicle to test their FPGA design.
    Figure 1 •
    Demo Board Block Diagram
    2 MEGABYTE
    DDR HSTL MEMORY
    V
    H
    D
    M
    C
    O
    N
    N
    E
    C
    T
    O
    R
    GIGABIT
    ETHERNET
    TRANSCEIVER
    (RJ­45)
    SILICON
    EXPLORER II
    LVPECL, GTL+,
    LVCMOS,
    LVTTL &
    LVDS LOOP BACK VIA
    EXT COMPONENTS
    LOOP BACK SIGNALS
    25 LVDS PAIRS
    25 LVDS PAIRS
    8 LVTTL SIGNALS
    PowerQUICC II LOCAL BUS
    10/100
    ETHERNET
    TRANSCEIVER
    (RJ­45)
    155Mb/s
    ATM
    (RJ­45)
    HEX 10/100
    ETHERNET
    TRANSCEIVER
    (2x3 RJ­45)
    Processor Interface
    RS­232
    (2 x DB­9)
    MII
    GMII
    AX
    FG896
    FPGA
    EXTERNAL
    USER
    INTERFACE
    SIGNALS
    PowerQUICC II SUBSYSTEM
    Power
    QUICC
    II
    32 MBYTES
    FLASH
    128 MBYTES
    SDRAM
    DIMM
    VOLTAGE
    REGULATORS
    3.3V 2.5V
    1.5V 1.25V
    1.0V 0.8V
    0.75V
    1.5V (CORE)
    DIFFERENTIAL
    CLOCK
    DRIVER
    OSC CLOCK
    SOURCE
    (19.44 MHz)
    EXT CLOCK
    SOURCE
    (SMB)
    ALT OSC
    CLOCK
    SOURCE
    MULTIPLEXED
    CLOCK
    DRIVER
    POWER
    ON RESET
    POWER
    SEQUENCING
    FLEXIBLE I/O BANK
    I/O AND
    REFERENCE
    VOLTAGE SELECT
    PowerQUICC II DAUGHTER BOARD

    Axcelerator Evaluation Platform
    2 Product Brief
    Features
    Mother Board
    • LXT9763 Hex Ethernet Transceiver
    • LXT1000 Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver
    • VHDM High Speed Connector
    • HSTL DDR Memory
    • FG896 FPGA Socket
    Daughter Board
    • PowerQUICC II Microprocessor
    • 32 MB Flash Memory
    • 128 MB SDRAM
    • LXT971 Ethernet Transceiver
    • PM5350 155 MB/S ATM
    • RS232
    Basic Building Blocks
    The evaluation platform is separated into two pieces: a
    mother board and a daughter board. The mother board
    contains the Axcelerator FPGA (socketed), clocks, voltage
    selector for I/O bank V
    REF
    s, daughter board connectors, and a
    Silicon Explorer II connector.
    The daughter board contains a PowerQUICC II
    Microprocessor, 32MB of Flash Memory, 128MB of SDRAM,
    and is connected to the mother board through the mezzanine
    connectors.
    Communication System Development
    The Axcelerator demo board provides a complete hardware
    environment for developing and testing communication
    system FPGA design. The Hex Ethernet and the Gigabit
    Ethernet transceivers allow the FPGA to communicate with
    other Ethernet devices, giving a designer the ability to
    monitor traffic between the FPGA and other devices in the
    system.
    Loop­Back Board
    A loop­back board is provided with each Axcelerator demo
    board. This loop­back board connects to the VHDM connector
    of the Axcelerator demo board. It allows outputs from the
    Axcelerator device to be brought back to inputs of the
    Axcelerator device (Figure 2).
    Mini Backplane
    An optional mini backplane, which allows two Axcelerator
    demo board to be connected together, is also available from
    Actel. This mini backplane allows the two Axcelerator devices
    to communicate with each other, giving the designer the
    ability to simulate/test two communication systems and their
    communication with each other (Figure 3).
    Silicon Explorer II Header
    A Silicon Explorer II header is used to further enhance the
    development process by allowing the designer to use the
    Silicon Explorer II to perform real time probing without
    having to recompile and reprogram.
      
    Figure 2 •
    System Block Diagram (1 Card)
    AX
    FG896
    FPGA
    V
    H
    D
    M
    C
    O
    N
    N
    E
    C
    T
    O
    R
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals
    Axcelerator Demo/Eval Board
    Loop­Back Card

    Product Brief 3
    Axcelerator Evaluation Platform
    Demonstration Application
    One of the key features of this board is to demonstrate the
    wide range of I/O standards that the Axcelerator FPGA
    supports. The Axcelerator FPGA is configured to transmit
    and/or receive using the following I/O standards: LVTTL­3.3V,
    LVCMOS­2.5V/1.8V/1.5V, GTL+, HSTL Class I, LVDS, LVPECL,
    SSTL2 Class I, SSTL2 Class II.
    Application Software
    The application software consists of two parts: a PC
    Window­based client application and an embedded server
    running on the PowerQUICC II processor. The application
    software allows the user to control the PowerQUICC II
    10/100 Ethernet and ATM interface, the Hex 10/100
    Ethernet interface on the main board, and other Gigabit
    Ethernet devices via MDIO. The application also allows the
    user to run diagnostic tests, Double Data Rate (DDR)
    memory test, LVDS loop­back, Ethernet Interfacing, as well
    as read and modify memory mapped FPGA status and user
    registers.
    All of these functions are selected and controlled through
    the Graphical User Interface and all results are displayed
    for easy debugging. Communication from the PC to the
    Axcelerator demo board is done via the 10/100 Ethernet
    Interface.
    Kit Contains
    • Mother Board
    • PowerQuicc II Daughter Board
    • Loop­back Board
    • Power Supply
    • RS232 Cable
    • CD – User Guide, Demo Design Files, Board Schematic,
    Application Software
    • CAT­5 Cable(s)
    Figure 3 •
    System Block Diagram (2 Card)
    Axcelerator Demo/Eval Board #1
    Axcelerator Demo/Eval Board #2
    AX
    FG896
    FPGA
    V
    H
    D
    M
    C
    O
    N
    N
    E
    C
    T
    O
    R
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals
    AX
    FG896
    FPGA
    V
    H
    D
    M
    C
    O
    N
    N
    E
    C
    T
    O
    R
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals
    25 LVDS Pairs
    4 LVTTL Signals

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    http://www.actel.com
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    Fax:
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