System on Modules - FPGAs, SoCs and Development Kits

 
System-on-Modules (SoMs) are compact, embedded computers designed for integration into a range of different applications. SoM is an extension of the concept of System on Chip (SoC) and sits somewhere on the scale between a single board computer and a microcontroller in nature. SoMs are small and offer very flexible configuration options with all the I/O already on board.

Some devices also incorporate FPGA components. We work with REFLEX CES, who use their extensive FPGA experience and combine it with their embedded knowledge to create a range of SoMs based on the leading programmable System-on-Chip (SoC) processors, perfectly suited to a wide range of requirements.

These SoMs are form factor agnostic, which is ideal when you are looking to offer different carrier board or performance grade options to your customer as part of your strategy. These devices are well suited for demanding embedded applications like instrumentation and healthcare/biosciences.

The Achilles SoM from REFLEX CES features the Intel® Arria® 10 SX FGPA.

• 226 SE IOs total (113 LVDS)
• 24 transceivers @ 10Gbps
• 2x DDR4 banks up to 2400MT/s
• Industrial Temp

To really maximise the time spent on your initial design phase, REFLEX CES offers development kits specifically for their programmable SoC based SoM modules. The Achilles Instant Devkits and modules have been delivered to companies located in 20 different countries around the world, thanks to the support of its distributor partners.

The Achilles Dev Kit includes:

• Arria 10 SoM Module
• PCIe carrier board with I/Os
• VHDL test designs
• Cabling and other accessories for an ‘out of the box’ experience
• Technical documents including reference manual, mechanical drawings, 3D Step and assembly files 
• Kernel Linux & Linaro optimised distribution, 
• U-boot bootloader, Test scripts

There are many benefits to using SoM products instead of ground-up development, from increasing speed to market, reduction of risk, cost savings and the choice of a variety of CPUs, to reduced requirements and time for customer design, and the ability to conduct both hardware and software development at once.

Give us a call or send us a quick email outlining your requirements and we’ll give you a call back.

• Life Sciences • Embedded Industrial • Instrumentation • Medical • Industrial Printing Machines • Radar Systems • Artificial Intelligence • Scientific & Chemistry Instrumentation • ASIC & IP Prototyping

In Review: Xilinx SDSoC and Levels of Abstraction

The SDSoC development environment from Xilinx provides engineers and developers using Zynq SoC and MPSoC with a familiar C/C++ design environment, including a straightforward Eclipse IDE, expanded library, board, and design services ecosystem support.

In a recent article posted on the Xilinx blog, Part 196 of Adam Taylor's MicroZed Chronicles takes a good look at what SDSoC is, how it works and the benefits gained from using it.

Adam Taylor’s MicroZed Chronicles, Part 196: SDSoC and Levels of Abstraction

Originally posted by Xilinx Employee sleibso ‎05-22-2017 09:40 AM - edited ‎05-22-2017 10:28 AM 
Re-posted with permission.

We have looked at SDSoC several times throughout this series, however I recently organized and presented at the NMI FPGA Machine Vision event and during the coffee breaks and lunch, attendees showed considerable interest in SDSoC - not only for its use in the Xilinx reVISION acceleration stack but also its use in a range of over developments. As such, I thought it would be worth some time looking at what SDSoC is and the benefits we have previously gained using it. I also want to discuss a new use case.

SDSoC Development Environment

SDSoC is an Eclipse-based, system-optimizing compiler that allows us to develop our Zynq SoC or Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC design in its entirety using C or C++. We can then profile the application to find aspects that cause performance bottlenecks and move then into the Zynq device’s Programmable Logic (PL). SDSoC does this using HLS (High Level Synthesis) and a connectivity framework that’s transparent to the user. What this means is that we are able develop at a higher level of abstraction and hence reduce the time to market of the product or demonstration.

To do this, SDSoC needs a hardware platform, which can be pre-defined or custom. Typically, these platforms within the PL provide the basics: I/O interfaces and DMA transfers to and from Zynq device’s PS’ (Processing System’s) DDR SDRAM. This frees up most the PL resources and PL/PS interconnects to be used by SDSoC when it accelerates functions.

This ability to develop at a higher level and accelerate performance by moving functions into the PL enables us to produce very flexible and responsive systems. This blog has previously looked at acceleration examples including AES encryption, matrix multiplication, and FIR Filters. The reduction in execution time has been significant in these cases. Here’s a table of these previously discussed examples:

For more information on Xilinx Zynq MPSoC based hardware, the SDSoC environment or embedded computing in general please get in touch with the knowledgeable team at Sarsen Technology - info@sarsen.net

FPGA Event: Implementing Machine Vision with FPGA and SoC Platforms

Date: May 18, 2017
Time: 9am - 4.30pm
Location: MBDA, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, SG1 2DA

About
Machine Vision (MV) systems are ubiquitous, encompassing a wide range of applications from smart phones to ADAS and drones. Increasingly, these applications require intelligence at the edge or in the cloud, with FPGA and SoC based solutions forming the core of many MV systems.

Join NMI at MBDA facilities for the upcoming meeting of the FPGA Network to explore not only MV systems but also how FPGA and SoC can implement intensive applications including Machine Learning and Neural Networks.

Key themes will include:
OpenCV with FPGA / SoC, ADAS, Robotic Guided Vision / Drones, Industry 4.0, Defence, Machine Learning and much more.

**Non-member Early Bird Tickets are now on sale. Offer expires on 30th March**

Confirmed Speakers include:
MBDA Systems, Roke Manor Research, Dyson Robotics Lab (Imperial College), APTcore and Myrtle.


Register your interest here.

About NMI

Intel Developer Forum - 16th-18th August 2016

The Intel Developer Forum offers everything you could possibly need to make sure you're at the forefront when it comes to the latest technology.

As well as a world class forum schedule, including a keynote address from Brian Krzanich, the Technology Showcase offers you unprecedented access to the world’s most exciting products. You'll have the opportunity to ask your toughest questions, or find an ingenious solution to your design challenges.

Ready to meet you at the IDF will be the team from Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES). You will find them on stand #730, where you'll be among the first to see the latest and greatest embedded boards and solutions, based on Intel's Xeon D, Atom E3800 and Core i7 processors.

Click the button to find out more about the rugged Intel-based boards from X-ES.

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With the acquisition of Altera by Intel, the Altera SoC Developer Forum (ASDF) is now the Intel SoC FPGA Developer Forum (ISDF). ISDF is dedicated to the technology and application of SoC FPGAs across a wide range of design areas, including networking and communications, data centre and cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The theme of this year's event is Acceleration:

• Accelerate your design - with hardware acceleration in SoC FPGAs
• Accelerate your development process - with leading edge design tools and ecosystem support
• Accelerate your learning - by attending ISDF 2016

The ISDF16 event is taking place on day 3 of the Intel Developer Forum, and our friends at BittWare will be there showcasing the new Altera Arria 10 PCIe board platforms alongside their OpenCL solutions, including the popular OpenCL Bundle . The bundle includes a BittWare Arria 10 or Stratix V FPGA-based PCIe board, board support package, BittWorks II Toolkit-Lite system development software, Altera Quartus II software, and the Altera SDK for OpenCL.

For more information about the IDF, ISDF or any of the products from BittWare or X-ES please get in touch with the Sarsen Technology engineering team on +1672 511166 or send us an email - info@sarsen.net

DAVE Embedded Systems is a Certified Member of Xilinx Alliance Program

Xilinx Alliance Program Members are qualified companies worldwide that have a proven track record of delivering products and services on Xilinx programmable platforms. Members have to demonstrate qualified expertise on the latest Xilinx devices and implementation techniques and consistently deliver high quality products and services on Xilinx programmable platforms.

DAVE Embedded Systems has been certified as a member of the Xilinx Alliance Program, following their success with the new Xilinx Zynq-based BORA and BORA Express modules.

Certified Members have invested in passing a comprehensive 320-point review of their technical, business, quality, and support processes and have committed engineers to passing the same rigorous training used by Xilinx Field Application Engineers worldwide. Certified Member engineers annually refresh Certification training to ensure they have updated expertise on the latest products and technologies from Xilinx.

For more information about DAVE Embedded Systems and the Xilinx Member Alliance Program please contact the Sarsen Team on 01672 511166, or email us with your question.

Altera Ships 20nm Arria 10 SoCs

Author - Laura

Altera has confirmed its leadership position in SoC FPGA products by shipping its second-generation SoC family. Arria® 10 SoCs are the industry’s only programmable devices that combine ARM® processors with a 20 nm FPGA fabric.

Embedded developers have a clear migration path with Altera for enhancing their next-generation systems. Arria 10 SoCs are fully software compatible with Altera’s previous 28 nm SoC product family allowing seamless software migration between generations. Arria 10 SoCs provide up to 50% higher performance and up to 4% lower power than the previous generation.

Altera SoC FPGAs enable smarter embedded systems by enabling single-chip product differentiation in both hardware and software. Combining ARM processors with FPGA fabric provides greater system value through reductions in power, costs and board space.

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Jeff Milrod, President and CEO of BittWare, says, "Altera’s Arria 10 is a true game changer. Native floating-point engines on these devices give system designers access to massive floating-point resources with tremendous ease-of-use and power efficiency in an FPGA. Classic signal processing applications can now interface analog signals directly to Arria 10 and process them there in floating point. For HPC and acceleration applications, FPGA algorithms no longer need to be ported to fixed point, nor do they need to be inefficiently implemented in fixed-point emulation of floating point. The Arria 10's native floating point provides more than 40 GFLOPS/W with a higher Fmax, while using only one-third of the logic resources. It is easier to use, lower power, faster, and less resource-intensive than any other alternative previously available.”

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For more information please contact Sarsen Technology - CONTACT US

Less Than 1 Week To Go... Have You Registered?

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

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This time next week it will all be coming to an end. But don't panic - you still have 5 days in which to register for your FREE Visitor badge for the Embedded Design Show 2014. 

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Sarsen Technology will be on Stand G32, where you can see the complete range of System-on-Module (SoM) and CPUs from DAVE Embedded Systems, which are based on the latest technologies, including the Freescale i.MX6 and Texas Instruments ‘Da Vinci’ DM814x and ‘Sitara’ AM387x processor families, and the brand new Xilinx ‘Zynq’ XC7Z010 / XC7Z020 SoC.

Laura, Manuele, Alberto and Nigel will be at the show so please stop by and say hello, and take a look at the exciting demo featuring the BORA module.

To be our guest at the exhibition, register for your free entry badge by clicking here, and if you'd like to attend any of the Conference sessions as our guest you can sign up for free by simply entering entering this discount code ENG14C.

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We look forward to seeing you there! 

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Intel® Atom™ E3800 Solutions from Extreme Engineering Solutions

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

So here is something rather exciting for you....

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) has introduced the XPedite8101 XMC/PMC and XPedite8150 Rugged COM Express® modules based on the Intel® Atom™ E3800 (formerly Bay Trail-I) processor family.

With Built-In Test (BIT) support, true configuration and obsolescence management, class III PCB fabrication and assembly, environmental qualification per MIL-STD-810, as well as many other features, X-ES E3800-based modules are designed and tested for maximum reliability in the most demanding environments and applications that require long life cycles. Also, instead of using a legacy BIOS-based bootloader, X-ES’s E3800-based modules support industry-leading boot times and drastically simplify system security by employing Intel’s Firmware Support Package (FSP) to power their open source coreboot bootloaders.

Full Press Release
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   Left to right

   XPedite8150 - Rugged COM Express Mini Module
   XPedite8101 - Conduction-or-Air-Cooled XMC/PMC Module
   XPedite8152 - Rugged COM Express Mini Module with NAND    Flash



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Wind River VxWorks and Linux Board Support Packages, as well as Microsoft Windows drivers, are available for the XPedite8101, XPedite8150, and XPedite8152. These products support the E3827, E3826, E3815, E3845, and E3825 processors from the E3800 series.

The E3800 series is the 4th generation Atom processor from Intel and was formerly known as the Bay Trail-I platform and Valleyview processor.

X-ES will be displaying the Intel® Atom™ E3800-based modules at the 2014 Intel Developer Forum (IDF14) in San Francisco, September 9th through the 11th. Stop by and visit the team at IDF in booth 661 of the Intelligent Systems Community, or contact Sarsen Technology today to find out more about using the Intel® Atom™ for your application.

Sarsen Technology and DAVE Embedded Systems Team Up for the Embedded Design Show 2014

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

Here at Sarsen we really like doing things with our principals. Which is why we are very excited about taking part in the Embedded Design Show 2014 with our friends at DAVE Embedded Systems.

Launched to fill a gap in the growing embedded electronics market, the Embedded Design Show will offer a focused event for the industry.

This year the Embedded Design Show will be co-located with the Electronics Design Show and Engineering Design Show which will also incorporate Engineering Materials Live. These award-winning exhibitions were created to champion British engineering and are entirely targeted at electronic and design engineers, making this a must attend event for anyone working in these industry sectors.


 
The Embedded Design Show will feature two workshop theatres and a conference area. Attendance to the workshop theatres is completely free.

Registration is now open! To be our guest at the exhibition, register for your free entry badge by clicking here, and if you'd like to attend any of the Conference sessions as our guest you can sign up for free by simply entering entering this discount code ENG14C.

You can find us on Stand G32, where we will be showcasing the complete range of SoMs from DAVE, based on ARM Cortex-A architecture, Freescale and Texas Instruments processors and Xilinx SoC.  

www.embedded-design-show.co.uk

 About DAVE Embedded Systems 
DAVE Embedded Systems is a well-established and constantly growing Italian company, focused on the design, manufacture and sale of miniaturized embedded systems solutions. Since its foundation, back in 1998, DAVE Embedded Systems has developed its business, increasing its know-how and activities. Support and assistance provided to many Italian and foreign companies is based on the design of microprocessor platforms around Linux, Windows or Android OS.

BittWare Introduces Brand New Arria 10 Family of FPGA Boards

Author - Laura Biddiscombe

Arria® FPGAs and SoCs from Altera deliver optimal performance, power, and cost efficiency in the midrange.

Built on 20 nm process technology, the Arria 10 FPGAs feature industry-leading programmable logic that integrates a rich feature set of embedded peripherals, embedded high-speed transceivers, hard memory controllers, and protocol IP controllers. In addition, Arria 10 FPGAs and SoCs are the industry’s first FPGA to integrate hardened floating-point (IEEE 754-compliant) DSP blocks that deliver breakthrough floating-point performance of up to 1.5 TFLOPS. Arria 10 SoCs are also the industry’s only 20nm FPGA to integrate a dual-core ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ hard processor system (HPS).

The brand new A10 board family from BittWare leverages the Arria 10 FPGAs exciting capabilities to build solid platforms in a variety of formats that support a wide range of challenging applications, such as network processing & security, compute & storage, instrumentation, test & measurement, broadcast, medical imaging, wireless infrastructure, and signals intelligence.

The A10 board family features flexible memory configurations, sophisticated clocking and timing options, QSFP28 cages that support 100Gbps (including 100GigE) optical transceivers, FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC), and support for the network-enabled Altera® SDK for OpenCL™.

BittWare’s Arria 10 GX-based boards will begin shipping in Q4 2014. Arria 10 GT and SoC versions will be available in Q1 2015. Contact Sarsen Technology for pricing and details.