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

Image	Part Number	Description / PDF	Quantity	Rfq
	DK-DEV-3SL150N Intel	KIT DEVELOPMENT STRATIX III	0
	DK-SI-4SGX230N Intel	KIT DEV STRATIX IV 4SGX230N/C2	0
	DK-VIDEO-2C70N Intel	VIDEO KIT W/CYCLONE II EP2C70N	0
	UP2-DEVKIT/UNIV Intel	KIT DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY UP2	0
	DK-START-5AGXB3N Intel	ARRIA V STARTER KIT	0
	DK-DEV-5AGTD7N Intel	ARRIA V DEVELOPMENT KIT	0
	DK-PCI-2C35N Intel	PCI KIT W/CYCLONE II EP2C35N	0
	DK-DEV-4SGX230N Intel	KIT DEVELOPMENT STRATIX IV	0
	DK-DEV-2AGX125N Intel	KIT DEV ARRIA II GX FPGA 2AGX125	0
	DK-NIOS-2C35N Intel	NIOS II KIT W/CYCLONE II EP2C35N	0
	DK-DEV-1AGX60N Intel	KIT DEV ARRIA GX 1AGX60N	0
	DK-START-4CGX15N Intel	KIT STARTER CYCLONE IV GX	0
	DK-SOC-1SSX-H-A Intel	KIT DEV STRATIX 10 SX SOC H-TILE	0
	DK-START-3C25N Intel	KIT STARTER CYCLONE III EP3C25	0
	DK-DEV-3CLS200N Intel	KIT DEV CYCLONE III LS EP3CLS200	0
	DK-EMB-3C120N Intel	KIT DEV EMB CYCLONE III EDITION	0
	DK-VIDEO-4SGX230N Intel	VIDEO KIT STRATIX IV EP4SGX230	0
	DK-SI-5SGXEA7N Intel	KIT DEV STRATIX V FPGA 5SGXEA7	0
	DK-SOC-1SSX-L-0ES Intel	STRATIX 10 DEVELOPMENT KIT	0
	DK-DEV-5CEA7N/P Intel	KIT DEVELOPMENT CYCLONE V E	0

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)