Hi all, I am looking at buying the Stratix IV dev kit. It comes with 8 transceivers routed to SMA connectors, but I need 16. Is it feasible to (with a decent performance) synchronize two of this boards by using the clock input/output? Any other thoughts on what to use to get this 16 transmitters working? Thanks in advance!

--- Quote Start --- I am looking at buying the Stratix IV dev kit. It comes with 8 transceivers routed to SMA connectors, but I need 16. Is it feasible to (with a decent performance) synchronize two of this boards by using the clock input/output? Any other thoughts on what to use to get this 16 transmitters working? --- Quote End --- You mean the Stratix IV SI kit? You can also use the Stratix IV GX development kit. It has two HSMC connectors with 8 + 6 transceivers, and then the PCIe edge connector with another 8 transceivers. Samtec sells cables for HSMC-to-SMA breakout and for PCIe-to-SMA breakout. The DE4 kit could also be used. Cheers, Dave

Thanks for your quick answer Dave! Regarding Stratix IV GX dev kit, problem is that the reference manual quotes 12 channels with 8.5 Gbps + 6 with 3.5 Gpbs (I don't know why). That is in page 2-5. I would like all of them to have the same performance. I am also not sure about the PCI: can I just use that physical interface but custom configure the transceivers? The DE4 is a little bit of the same: it quotes only 12 transceivers available. http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=138&no=501&partno=2 So I still don't know what to do. Am I reading any of this availability in a wrong way?

can you give more information about what you're trying to do? not only are there physical restrictions on how many transceivers are accessible through HSMC or SMA, but there are clocking resources and other place and route issues to consider. these sorts of questions can only be answered by doing a feasibility study in the Quartus

and though its still early and ES, have you looked at the SV SI kit?

--- Quote Start --- Regarding Stratix IV GX dev kit, problem is that the reference manual quotes 12 channels with 8.5 Gbps + 6 with 3.5 Gpbs (I don't know why). --- Quote End --- Let me look at the schematic ... p8 has the transceiver connections on the FPGA. The transceivers are all connected to true transceiver channels, not the 6.5Gbps CMU channels, so they are all capable of 8.5Gbps. Its possible that they don't want to 'quote' that due to the layout. I've been using the HSMC connections at 5Gbps without issues. --- Quote Start --- I am also not sure about the PCI: can I just use that physical interface but custom configure the transceivers? --- Quote End --- Yep, you can configure it to do what you like. The only caveat is that the transmitters have AC-coupling caps on them. If you needed a DC connection, you could replace them easily enough. --- Quote Start --- The DE4 is a little bit of the same: it quotes only 12 transceivers available. --- Quote End --- I don't have one of these, so you'd just have to look at the schematic and see what they've routed. Chances are they are not quoting the PCIe interface transceivers in that list, since they assume you'll want to use the board in a PCIe slot. However, both boards work fine standalone on the bench. Cheers, Dave

Stratix IV GX dev kit | Altera Community

14 Replies

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
14 years ago
and though its still early and ES, have you looked at the SV SI kit?
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
14 years ago
can you give more information about what you're trying to do? not only are there physical restrictions on how many transceivers are accessible through HSMC or SMA, but there are clocking resources and other place and route issues to consider. these sorts of questions can only be answered by doing a feasibility study in the Quartus
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
14 years ago
Thanks for your quick answer Dave!

Regarding Stratix IV GX dev kit, problem is that the reference manual quotes 12 channels with 8.5 Gbps + 6 with 3.5 Gpbs (I don't know why). That is in page 2-5. I would like all of them to have the same performance. I am also not sure about the PCI: can I just use that physical interface but custom configure the transceivers?

The DE4 is a little bit of the same: it quotes only 12 transceivers available.

http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=138&no=501&partno=2

So I still don't know what to do. Am I reading any of this availability in a wrong way?
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
14 years ago
--- Quote Start ---

I am looking at buying the Stratix IV dev kit. It comes with 8 transceivers routed to SMA connectors, but I need 16. Is it feasible to (with a decent performance) synchronize two of this boards by using the clock input/output?

Any other thoughts on what to use to get this 16 transmitters working?

--- Quote End ---

You mean the Stratix IV SI kit?

You can also use the Stratix IV GX development kit. It has two HSMC connectors with 8 + 6 transceivers, and then the PCIe edge connector with another 8 transceivers. Samtec sells cables for HSMC-to-SMA breakout and for PCIe-to-SMA breakout.

The DE4 kit could also be used.

Cheers,
Dave

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Stratix IV GX dev kit

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