Xilinx Boards and Kits

[lechrisitano]

Hello,

I want to get the Eval board "Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA VC707 Evaluation Kit" but I have some questions:

- do we have to connect that board to a PC through the interface near the LCD so that it works or not? if we don't, what do we need that for? what is its fonction?

- the VC707 Evaluation Kit includes a second board with BNC port, what it that BNC port used for? i want namely to generate a signal and to get it out though a BNC output. Can i do that with that BNC port?

thank you.

Christian

[mcgett]

> do we have to connect that board to a PC through the interface near the LCD so that it works or not?

No, it will work outside of a PC.

> if we don't, what do we need that for? what is its fonction?

It is for PCIe interfaces

> the VC707 Evaluation Kit includes a second board with BNC port, what it that BNC port used for?

This is an old picture and the board has been replaced with another (working on getting the picture updated).  This is for analog inputs.

> i want namely to generate a signal and to get it out though a BNC output. Can i do that with that BNC port?

No you cannot use it in this manner.

[lechrisitano]

Thank you for your answer, i have some other questions:

first, the Virtex-7 FPGA VC707 Evaluation Kit has two "User SMA GPIO". I want to generate a sinus fonction, convert it with the 16 bit DAC in the "Agile Mixed Signal Evaluation Card" and to get it through that GPIO. is that possible?

second, I attached an Image, could you please tell me what that connector is used for (see the image) ? (that connector is between the number 6 and 10 in the "VC707 Board Component Locations" image). I want it namely as an input for my keypad. is that possible?

thirth, can we change the 2 lines LCD with a 4 lines LCD?

thank you for your answer.

Christian

[joelby]

The SMA connectors are connected directly to the FPGA and can only be used as reference clocks or with GTX transceivers. The Agile Mixed Signal Evaluation Card will have its own output port.

If you're not sure what all of the connectors are for, you should read the manual:

A 2-mm JTAG header (J4) is also provided in parallel for access by Xilinx download cables such as the Platform Cable USB II and the Parallel Cable IV.

This can't be used for general purpose IO. It seems like your options are removing the LCD, which will give you seven I/O lines (but no LCD), or using an FMC card that breaks out some of the I/O pins for general purposes.

As long as your four line LCD has the same pin configuration as the existing one, you should be able to swap it over. If not, you'll have to arrange for the wiring to be re-routed somehow. If you need more I/Os to drive it than are available, you could use the same FMC breakout board.

Here's the Xilinx XM105: http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/HW-FMC-XM105-G.htm

[lechrisitano]

thank you for your answer.
> in the picture of the "Agile Mixed Signal Evaluation Card", I don't see any output port for analog signal. but you say that it has its own output port. could you please explain it? where is that port?

i want to buy that board but i want to be sure that i will get my analog signal through a SMA port (or another port which allow me to see my signal through an oscilloscope).

> in the manual of the "Virtex-7 FPGA VC707 Evaluation Kit" there are SMAs for clock and two "User SMA GPIO" (number 26). you said that also the "User SMA GPIO" can only be used as reference clocks or with GTX transceivers and not to get my signal. do you confirm that?

thank you
Christian

[joelby]

There doesn't seem to be any documentation on the Agile Mixed Signal Evaluation Card, but it looks like it's really just designed to interact with the FPGA's ADC. You should be able to probe the output of the DAC with an oscilloscope (maybe from J3 or J5, but without the schematics it's hard to be sure) but there's certainly no visible SMA connector.

If you need a high performance DAC, I would see if there's something available with the FMC card form factor. What were you planning to do with it?

The "User SMA GPIO" (26) connectors are connected to two pads on the FPGA - Y23 and Y24. You could use these for differential or single ended digital I/O, but not for analog signals.

Without additional hardware, you can't produce anything other than digital signals directly from the FPGA. Depending on your sample rate requirements, you could easily implement a 1-bit DAC with only a few extra components. There's an example on how to do this here: http://www.fpga4fun.com/PWM_DAC.html