Virtex® Family FPGAs

[grieto]

I would like to increase the PPC440 clock from 400 MHz to the maximum advertized rate of 550MHz.  My evaluation is being done on the ml507 board.  Is this documented or can someone please provide the steps needed to achieve this.  Also, are there any tradeoffs when increasing the PPC440 clock? 

Thanks!

[mcgett]

You can't do this.  The ML507 board has a -1 speed grade device which is limited to 400 MHz operation for the PPC440.

[grieto]

I realize the ml507 eval board configuration may not support this.  However, I was wondering what, if anything, I can do to modify the eval board (i.e. replace the Virtex5 with a higher speed grade device, etc...) such that the PPC440 can be clocked at 550MHz?   Is there even a Virtex5 w/embedded PPC440 currently available that will support the advertized maximum rate of 550MHz?  Do any of the available eval boards with the Virtex5 PPC440 support 550MHz?  Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

[mcgett · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can go out an buy a Virtex-5 FXT -3 speed grade device and run the PowerPC440 at 550 MHz.  Yes, you could get an good assembly house to remove the device on your current ML507 and replace it with a -3 part.   IMHO, this is a lot of effort and expense for a performance improvement that is at most 37.5%.

I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf development boards that are built with a -3 part.  The ML510 has a -2 part (up to 475 Mhz)..