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

Part Number	Description / PDF	Quantity
ICE40HX8K-B-EVN Lattice Semiconductor	ICE40-HX8K BREAKOUT BOARD	11
P0037 Terasic	BOARD DEV/EDUCATION ALTERA DE0	87
410-292 Digilent, Inc.	NEXYS A7 ECE FPGA TRAINER BOARD	106
EK-Z7-ZC706-G Xilinx	EVALUATION KIT ZYNQ-7000 ZC706	0
EK-V7-VC707-G-J Xilinx	KIT EVAL VIRTEX7 VC707 JAPAN	0
410-346-20 Digilent, Inc.	BOARD DEV ARTY Z7-20 ZYNQ 7020	80
471-014 Digilent, Inc.	ZYBO Z7-10 BRD W/ SDSOC VOUCHER	6
M1AGL1000-DEV-KIT Roving Networks / Microchip Technology	KIT DEV IGLOO M1AGL	6
P0162 Terasic	DEV BOARD INTEL ATOM N2600	12
DK-DEV-1SMX-H-A Intel	KIT DEV STRATIX 10 MX 8GB	3
EK-U1-VCU108-G Xilinx	KIT EVAL VIRTEX FPGA VCU108	20
410-282 Digilent, Inc.	BOARD CMOD S6 FPGA 48DIP	0
410-319-1 Digilent, Inc.	ARTY A7-100T: DEV BOARD ARTIX-7	56
SNOMAKRKIT Alorium Technology	SNO + SNOMAKR FPGA DEVELOPMENT K	20
P0082 Terasic	DE0-NANO EVAL BOARD	1071
P0629 Terasic	DE10-PRO SX 2800KLE DEVELOPMENT	0
471-036-2 Digilent, Inc.	ECLYPSE Z7 BUNDLE ZMOD DAC X2	4
DK-DEV-5SGXEA7N Intel	KIT DEV STRATIX V FPGA 5SGXEA7	0
LIF-MD6000-ML-EVN Lattice Semiconductor	CROSSLINK LIF-MD6000 MASTER LINK	19
EVOTRAY Alorium Technology	EVO M51 BREAKOUT BOARD	47

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)