Evaluation Boards - Embedded - Complex Logic (FPGA, CPLD)

Part Number	Description / PDF	Quantity
P0581 Terasic	TERASIC SOC SYSTEM ON MODULE EVA	17
BELK-L-S DAVE Embedded Systems	EVAL KIT ZC7Z010/020 BORA	0
DK-DEV-4SGX530N Intel	KIT DEVELOPMENT STRATIX IV	0
EK-S6-SP605-G Xilinx	KIT EVAL SPARTAN 6 SP605	36
HM01B0-UPD-EVN Lattice Semiconductor	BOARD UPDUINOSHIELD HIMAX HM01B0	39
LPTM-ASC-B-EVN Lattice Semiconductor	BOARD BREAKOUT ASC	0
6015-410-001 Digilent, Inc.	NETFPGA 1G CML	7
P0059 Terasic	DE2-115 EVAL BOARD	42
LIFCL-40-EVNG Lattice Semiconductor	BOARD EVAL CROSSLINK-NX	15
P0107 Terasic	TR4-230 EVAL BOARD FOR STRATIX	2
CK-V7-VC7215-G Xilinx	KIT V7 VC7215 CHARACTERIZATION	0
EK-U1-ZCU104-G Xilinx	XILINX ZYNQ ULTRASCALE+ ZCU104 P	27
P0633 Terasic	T-CORE PLATFORM KIT	7
ICE40UP5K-MDP-EVN Lattice Semiconductor	ICE40 ULTRAPLUS MOBILE DEV BOARD	14
DEV-16526 SparkFun	ALCHITRY CU FPGA DEVELOPMENT BRD	0
410-352 Digilent, Inc.	ARTY S7-50 SPARTAN-7	27
LFE5UM-45F-VERSA-EVNG Lattice Semiconductor	DEV KIT FOR ECP5 VERSA	23
ME-PE1-200-C-R4.6 Enclustra	CARRIER MERCURY PCIE X4 FMC-LPC	0
102991314 Seeed	SIPEED TANG NANO FPGA BOARD POWE	56
M100PFEVP-1ACI ARIES Embedded	EVK POLARFIRE FPGA MPF100T	12

Evaluation Boards - Embedded - Complex Logic (FPGA, CPLD)

1. Overview

Evaluation boards for Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) are hardware platforms designed to test and develop embedded systems using reconfigurable logic. These boards enable engineers to prototype custom digital circuits without permanent integrated circuit fabrication. As key tools in modern electronics development, they support rapid iteration for applications ranging from aerospace systems to consumer electronics.

2. Main Types and Functional Classification

Type	Functional Features	Application Examples
FPGA Evaluation Board	High logic density, reconfigurable fabric, DSP blocks, high-speed transceivers	5G baseband processing, AI accelerators
CPLD Development Kit	Lower power consumption, non-volatile configuration, simpler architecture	Industrial motor control, protocol bridging
SoC Embedded Board	Combines FPGA fabric with hard processor cores (ARM, RISC-V)	Smart sensors, autonomous vehicle perception systems
Prototype Verification Platform	Multi-FPGA systems with clock/data synchronization	ASIC pre-validation, high-energy physics experiments

3. Structure and Components

Typical evaluation boards include: - FPGA/CPLD chip with BGA packaging - On-board memory (DDR4 SDRAM, QDR SRAM) - Communication interfaces (PCIe Gen4, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.2) - Power management circuits with multiple voltage rails - Debug interfaces (JTAG, UART, FTDI chips) - Expansion headers (FMC, PMOD) - Oscillators and clock distribution networks

4. Key Technical Specifications

Parameter	Description
Logic Elements Count	Defines design complexity capacity (e.g., 500K-2M LUTs for high-end FPGAs)
Max Clock Frequency	Determines processing speed (up to 1.6GHz for networking applications)
I/O Count & Standards	Supports LVDS, SSTL, HSTL (e.g., 1024 differential pairs)
Power Consumption	Thermal design power (TDP) range 5W-35W
Memory Bandwidth	Up to 256-bit AXI interfaces with 1866MT/s DDR4
Transceiver Speed	28Gbps/58Gbps serial links for optical communication

5. Application Areas

Major industries include: - Telecommunications (5G NR base stations, optical transport) - Industrial Automation (real-time motion control, machine vision) - Automotive (ADAS sensor fusion, autonomous driving) - Medical Imaging (ultrasound beamforming, MRI reconstruction) - Consumer Electronics (AR/VR video processing) - Scientific Research (particle detector data acquisition)

6. Leading Manufacturers and Products

Manufacturer	Representative Product
Xilinx (AMD)	Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC ZCU106
Intel (Altera)	Stratix 10 GX 10M Evaluation Board
Lattice Semiconductor	iCE40 UltraPlus Breakout Board
Microchip (Microsemi)	SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA Development Kit
Allwinner (China)	Tang Nano 9K FPGA Module

7. Selection Guidelines

Key considerations: - Match logic density to design complexity with 20% margin - Verify interface compatibility (e.g., PCIe Gen5 vs Gen4) - Assess power delivery capability for worst-case scenarios - Check toolchain support (Vivado, Quartus, Lattice Diamond) - Consider thermal management requirements - Evaluate available IP core ecosystem - Compare cost/performance ratio for production scalability

8. Industry Trends

Emerging trends include: - AI/ML acceleration with quantized neural networks - Heterogeneous integration (photonics, RF components) - Open-source toolchain development (e.g., Yosys, SymbiFlow) - Energy-efficient architectures for edge computing - Increased adoption in safety-critical systems (ISO 26262 compliance) - Growth of RISC-V based FPGA SoCs - China's domestic substitution initiatives (Huawei HiSilicon, Phytium)