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Abder90's avatar
Abder90
Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
6 days ago

Teransceiver & FPGA

Hello,

We would like to transmit digital logic signals between multiple FPGA boards over optical fiber.

Is it possible to use the FPGA transceivers with SFP or SFP+ modules for this type of application?

In addition, would it be feasible to transmit these signals across multiple FPGA boards in a daisy-chain configuration, where each FPGA receives the data and then forwards it to the next FPGA through its transceivers?

If so:

Which FPGA families or devices would you recommend for this type of architecture?

Which communication protocol would you recommend?

Is it possible to implement our own custom protocol, or would you advise using a standard protocol instead?

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Best regards,

Transceiver

1 Reply

  • Ash_R_Altera's avatar
    Ash_R_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 hour ago

    Hi,

    The Cyclone 10 GX family devices seems to be a good fit  they can support upto 12.5 Gbps, enough for SFP or SFP+ interface. You may implement an Ethernet protocol, a light weight Seriallite III or even a custom protocol with 8b/10b  or a 64b/66b for your application.

    If I were you, decision will consider factors like 

    1) Whether I need FPGA in my system for other processing as well or rather it is already present so why not use it!

    2) If simple data forwarding is required (no processing), then I would go with a simple retimer or PHY device in the path.

     

     

    Regards

    Altera Support