So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really available yet) from Xilinx and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo family ?). Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e x1. Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. Is there anything else worth looking at ? I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so...
Cheapest FPGA with decent PCI- e interface ?
Started by ●July 1, 2009
Reply by ●July 1, 20092009-07-01
On Jul 1, 3:04=A0pm, Brane2 <bran...@avtomatika.com> wrote:> So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really > available yet) from Xilinx =A0and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo > family ?). > > Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e > x1. > Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > > Is there anything else worth looking at ? > > I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 > lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so...No Actel Igloo that I know of supports PCI-e in any shape or form. If act, I'm not sure what Actel FPGA supports any form of multigigabit serialization. Consider looking at Altera Arria GX, which is in production, or Arria II GX, which will be in production in the near future. Your statement that Spartan-6 has only two lanes is incorrect; although the integrated endpoint only supports one lane, there's nothing stopping you from using all 8 transceivers in the design for an 8 lane link. It just means you need to do a bit more work. - Nathan
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
On Jul 2, 1:30=A0am, Nathan Bialke <nat...@bialke.com> wrote:> On Jul 1, 3:04=A0pm, Brane2 <bran...@avtomatika.com> wrote: > > > So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really > > available yet) from Xilinx =A0and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo > > family ?). > > > Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e > > x1. > > Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > > > Is there anything else worth looking at ? > > > I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 > > lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so... > > No Actel Igloo that I know of supports PCI-e in any shape or form. If > act, I'm not sure what Actel FPGA supports any form of multigigabit > serialization. > > Consider looking at Altera Arria GX, which is in production, or Arria > II GX, which will be in production in the near future. > > Your statement that Spartan-6 has only two lanes is incorrect; > although the integrated endpoint only supports one lane, there's > nothing stopping you from using all 8 transceivers in the design for > an 8 lane link. It just means you need to do a bit more work. > > - NathanHi cheap PCIe is still a problem, a 2 chip solution in price range $20 is possible but one chip one is harder lattice promises 1K$LUT so ECP3-17 should be around 17$ altera has promised arria iiggx as low as 10$ but that the real life is still a little different, yesterday it looked that cheapes FPGA with PCIe cost 240$ ? (arria) hm maybe some virtex is cheaper than arria maybe s-6 changes this, and becomes first available AND cheap FPGA with PCIe but it assumed still a year til that Antti
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
Brane2 schrieb:> So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really > available yet) from Xilinx and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo > family ?). > > Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e > x1. > Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > > Is there anything else worth looking at ? > > I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 > lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so...$10 - $20 is probably not that easy. Lattice ECP2M / ECP3M comes close though. I have done three customer designs in the last year or so. Two using ECP2M20 and one with ECP2M35. The Lattice web-shop lists a price of about $50 for the ECP2M20 but you can probably do much better through a distributor. I don't know exactly what price my customers are paying but I have the sound impression that it's around or below �30. Lattice, at least here in central Europe, give you very flexible IP licencing rates. I also do local training for the Lattice PCIe core. I would estimate at least a dozen of the course participants in the last two years have or are in the process of using Lattice for their PCIe design. (x1 or x4 configurations) The core isn't all that difficult to integrate. You just have to understand how to build and decode PCIexpress packets. If you are looking for direct attachment to Wishbone for instance or are in need of a device driver, drop me a mail.
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
Antti.Lukats@googlemail.com wrote:> cheap PCIe is still a problem, a 2 chip solution in price range $20 is > possible > but one chip one is harderGetting to $20 range without external phy with pipe interface is almost impossible currently I would say, even with big volumes. And x4 softcore and user transaction logic takes considerable space from the FPGA.> but that the real life is still a little different, yesterday it > looked > that cheapes FPGA with PCIe cost 240$ ? (arria) > hm maybe some virtex is cheaper than arriaEverything depends on volumes... I would say that small V5LXT might be the best match, using the PCIe hardcore to save space. Another option depending on the schedule might be ArriaIIGX, it has also integrated PCIe endpoint. S6 might not be that good match, because it has only x1 hard PCIe EP. In the original message there is some kind of mixup, it speaks about 4x PCIe, but 8 lanes, or did he want 2*4x PCIe. 4xPCIe with lowcost FPGAs might also be quite challenging design. --Kim
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:04:26 -0700 (PDT), Brane2 <brankob@avtomatika.com> wrote:>So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really >available yet) from Xilinx and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo >family ?). > >Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e >x1. >Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > >Is there anything else worth looking at ? > >I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 >lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so...What about buying a PCIe interface chip (say from PLX) and connecting that chip to your FGPA? Using the chip is one less thing to design and debug. -Dave Pollum
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
On Jul 2, 1:29=A0pm, Dave P <vze24...@verizon.net> wrote:> On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:04:26 -0700 (PDT), Brane2 <bran...@avtomatika.com> > wrote: > > >So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really > >available yet) from Xilinx =A0and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo > >family ?). > > >Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e > >x1. > >Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > > >Is there anything else worth looking at ? > > >I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 > >lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so... > > What about buying a PCIe interface chip (say from PLX) and connecting tha=t> chip to your FGPA? =A0Using the chip is one less thing to design and debu=g.> -Dave PollumGennum also makes x1 and x4 interface chips. The PLX chip is actually a MCM with a PCIE/PCI bridge and a PCI/local bridge. You could also go with an IP core in a Spartan3, with an external PHY chip. Dave
Reply by ●July 2, 20092009-07-02
On Jul 2, 1:29=A0pm, Dave P <vze24...@verizon.net> wrote:> On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:04:26 -0700 (PDT), Brane2 <bran...@avtomatika.com> > wrote: > > >So far, I have only been able to find Spartan6 ( which isn't really > >available yet) from Xilinx =A0and some small FPGA from Actel ( Igloo > >family ?). > > >Trouble is, Spartan has only two lanes, which is enough only for PCI-e > >x1. > >Actel had more lanes- AFAIK enough for PCI-e x4, but was very small. > > >Is there anything else worth looking at ? > > >I'm looking for chip with decent PCI-e interface ( say at least 8 > >lanes for PCI-e x4 ) in the cost range $10-20 or so... > > What about buying a PCIe interface chip (say from PLX) and connecting tha=t> chip to your FGPA? =A0Using the chip is one less thing to design and debu=g.> -Dave PollumLast time I checked, the PLX chips were not under $20 either...
Reply by ●July 3, 20092009-07-03
On Jul 2, 9:08=A0am, Kim Enkovaara <kim.enkova...@iki.fi> wrote:> In the original message there is some kind of mixup, it speaks about 4x > PCIe, but 8 lanes, or did he want 2*4x PCIe. 4xPCIe with lowcost FPGAs > might also be quite challenging design.Sorry. My asumptions: PCI-e x 1 =3D2 differential pairs ( 2x Rx + 2* Tx ) PCI-e x 4 =3D 8 differential pairs ( 4x Rx + 4* Tx ) 1 lane =3D one differential pair It seems from your question that i should count 1 PCI-e lane as 2 diff. pairs ( 1Rx + 1 Tx ) ?
Reply by ●July 3, 20092009-07-03
On Jul 2, 12:30=A0am, Nathan Bialke <nat...@bialke.com> wrote:> Your statement that Spartan-6 has only two lanes is incorrect; > although the integrated endpoint only supports one lane, there's > nothing stopping you from using all 8 transceivers in the design for > an 8 lane link. It just means you need to do a bit more work.I was under the impression that there are only enough fast serial I/O pins on the chip for PCI-e x1 ...
