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The page mentions an FMC connector for future expansion, a standard FPGA expansion interface supplying 34 to 160 10Gb/s signals.† I don't know about varieties a

by jws 9y ago

The page mentions an FMC connector for future expansion, a standard FPGA expansion interface supplying 34 to 160 10Gb/s signals.† I don't know about varieties and compatibility, but Hitec makes a great number of interface cards for it, including an 8 lane PCI Express.‡ ␄ † https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPGA_Mezzanine_Card https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPGA_Mezzanine_Card ‡ http://www.hitechglobal.com/Accessories/FMC_Modules.htm http://www.hitechglobal.com/Accessories/FMC_Modules.htm

gabesk 9y ago
I wonder what signals they actually route out the FMC card. The website doesn't give a lot of information, but it seems like probably just ChipLink which they claim is their serialized TileLink bus protocol. So, you probably wouldn't be able to just plug a low-cost FMC module into the board. But with something like https://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/ek-s6-sp605-g.html https://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/ek-s6-sp605-... for another $500, you could theoretically use the DVI connector to provide a framebuffer, the PCI connector to interface to an NVME drive, and the FPGA to implement the logic of a TileLink endpoint as well as a minimal framebuffer and PCIe root complex.
- jackckang 9y ago
  ChipLink is indeed routed out to the FMC. The demo during FOSDEM was done with a FPGA card attached to the FMC which then drove additional peripherals. Jack, SiFive
justinclift 9y ago
The instructions for some of the previous dev kits point to "known good" FMC compatible adapters. The one that caught my interest right away is the PCIe module: http://www.hitechglobal.com/FMCModules/FMC_PCIExpress.htm http://www.hitechglobal.com/FMCModules/FMC_PCIExpress.htm There's also a PCIe expansion that works with it, so increase the number of slots to five: https://www.onestopsystems.com/product/%C2%B5cube3-expansion-enclosure-5-pcie-x4-slots https://www.onestopsystems.com/product/%C2%B5cube3-expansion... With those, it seems like enough to test out development for storage applications. eg NAS, etc.

by jws 9y ago

gabesk 9y ago

I wonder what signals they actually route out the FMC card. The website doesn't give a lot of information, but it seems like probably just ChipLink which they claim is their serialized TileLink bus protocol. So, you probably wouldn't be able to just plug a low-cost FMC module into the board. But with something like https://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/ek-s6-sp605-g.html https://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/ek-s6-sp605-... for another $500, you could theoretically use the DVI connector to provide a framebuffer, the PCI connector to interface to an NVME drive, and the FPGA to implement the logic of a TileLink endpoint as well as a minimal framebuffer and PCIe root complex.

jackckang 9y ago
ChipLink is indeed routed out to the FMC. The demo during FOSDEM was done with a FPGA card attached to the FMC which then drove additional peripherals. Jack, SiFive

justinclift 9y ago

The instructions for some of the previous dev kits point to "known good" FMC compatible adapters. The one that caught my interest right away is the PCIe module: http://www.hitechglobal.com/FMCModules/FMC_PCIExpress.htm http://www.hitechglobal.com/FMCModules/FMC_PCIExpress.htm There's also a PCIe expansion that works with it, so increase the number of slots to five: https://www.onestopsystems.com/product/%C2%B5cube3-expansion-enclosure-5-pcie-x4-slots https://www.onestopsystems.com/product/%C2%B5cube3-expansion... With those, it seems like enough to test out development for storage applications. eg NAS, etc.