Forum Discussion

TSchu3's avatar
TSchu3
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
8 months ago

Output raw high speed signal to SMA

Hello all, I have a test design with a simple ring oscillator. I want to measure its freq. externally with an oscilloscope. I want to export this signal to an SMA connector (single or differential).
I currently have an Arria 10 GX board and a Terasic HSMC daughter board with several SMA outputs.

My problem is that when I try to route the output signal through the HSMC connector I get fitment errors since the pins are not compatible with GPIO only high speed differential. Is there a way around this? Does it require using a transceiver PHY? This would not be ideal as I do not want to sample the signal. I want to observe a raw signal on the scope.

Is there another way to export my signal without using a transceiver? Or the High Speed Differential pins? My understanding is that GPIO pins are limited to 300Mhz.

Looking for any suggestions.

Thanks!

Generic Io

1 Reply

  • WZ2's avatar
    WZ2
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    8 months ago

    Hi there,

    Thanks for sharing the context.

    Just to better understand your setup—how did you implement the ring oscillator in your design?

    Also, what is the expected output frequency range of the oscillator? This might help determine whether GPIO is sufficient or if another solution is needed for reliable observation.

    Looking forward to your input.

    Best regards,

    WZ