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
Actel and the Actel logo are registered trademarks of Actel Corporation.
All other trademarks are the property of their owners.
http://www.actel.com
Actel Corporation
955 East Arques Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94086
USA
Tel:
(408) 7391010
Fax:
(408) 7391540
Actel Europe Ltd.
Dunlop House, Riverside Way
Camberley, Surrey GU15 3YL
United Kingdom
Tel:
+44 (0)1276 401450
Fax:
+44 (0)1276 401490
Actel Japan
EXOS Ebisu Bldg. 4F
12414 Ebisu Shibuyaku
Tokyo 150 Japan
Tel:
+81 0334457671
Fax:
+81 0334457668
Actel Hong Kong
39th Floor
One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty, Hong Kong
Tel:
85222735712
51721671/8.03
Back to top