Pick your FPGA, RISC processor optional

At first glance, the Pentek 7158 PMC/XMC module using Virtex-5 FPGAs for signal-processing looked like one more example of the migration of FPGAs into DSP-intensive military/aerospace applications. It was certainly interesting, but I’ve written about this trend several times before, and I worried about becoming repetitive.

Then I took a second look at the product release, and realized that Pentek is giving users a choice of the LXT, SXT, or FXT versions of the Virtex-5, with the latter even sporting a PowerPC for added oomph in the real-time data acquisition category. Pentek had configured the dual FPGAs in a decidedly asymmetric fashion, with one dedicated to DSP algorithms and one functioning as a control-plane and status engine. Pentek’s customers could use the company’s own GateFlow software to optimize signal-processing algorithms for the class of Virtex chosen.

Then I took a third look and realized that Pentek may have been emphasizing PMC and XMC form factors for the coolness factor, but the same architecture could also be ordered in PCI, PCI Express (half- or full-length), or Compact PCI (3U or 6U). We are finally seeing a full instantiation of board-level “a la carte” product configuration that is not possible when using an ASIC or standard DSP.

Pentek’s strategy may be one of the most cost-effective ways to manage inventory while giving customers maximum choice of processing power and board form factors. The team designed one system-level architecture based on asymmetric FPGAs, then kept design parameters flexible enough to allow a choice in FPGA. It then ported the design to a variety of bus architectures. This isn’t just a revolution in mil-aero COTS or DSP-based design. This may be the way many commercial and consumer FPGA-based products are configured in the future.