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Nallatech Ships World's First Xilinx Virtex-II Pro DIME-II Module
17 September 2002
Nallatech, technology leaders in reconfigurable computers, have launched BenPRO, the world's first Virtex-II Pro DIME-II module offering maximum scalability and maximum communications bandwidth for telecoms, data networks, DSP and embedded processing applications.
The Virtex-II Pro family includes the world's highest capacity, performance, and capability of any programmable logic device. Nallatech's BenPRO module is available with a XC2VP7 or XC2VP20 Virtex-II PRO device and a roadmap to support the full range of Virtex-II Pro devices. As Virtex-II PRO FPGAs have embedded PowerPC processors, a single DIME-II module can now offer up to 2 hard processors and up to 20 thousand logic cells for computational and interfacing tasks. This can be coupled with I/O bandwidth in the order of 25Gbit/s by utilizing up to 4 Rocket I/O transceivers, which allows physical connections to Serial RapidIO, Infiniband and Serial ATA devices, in addition to the standard I/O provided by DIME-II. To support on board data and program storage, 2 banks of high-speed ZBT SRAM are included. This enables a suitable memory architecture to be chosen for whichever algorithm or platform architecture is required.
According to Ken Chapman, Applications Specialist, Xilinx Europe, "With the BenPRO, Nallatech has managed the complexity of the new Xilinx technology to provide working hardware that allows designers to develop complex systems with the minimum of risk."
According to Dr Malachy Devlin, CTO, Nallatech, "With the addition of two PowerPC processors and 3.125 gigabit serial I/Os in the Virtex-II Pro, FPGAs are now a powerful programmable solution for high-performance DSP system applications. Although the Virtex-II Pro device on the BenPRO has up to two processors, Nallatech's DIME-II modular systems platform can scale systems way beyond this. For example, DIME-II will enable users to tightly couple 3 BenPRO modules on a single PCI card such as the BenNUEY, which provides 6 PowerPC processors on a single card. Then using our FUSE(tm) software this can be expanded to multiple cards, leading to an unlimited number of processors within the overall system."
About DIME-II ....Building upon the global success of the award-winning
DIME standard, the DIME-II modular systems platform with TeraOPS performance
enables users to harness the full capability of advanced FPGAs. DIME-II
brings together unparalleled off-module I/O, flexible FPGA device support
and exceptional bandwidth capabilities for next-generation systems design.
The scaleable DIME-II family of products includes DIME-II motherboards,
modules, firmware and software, providing a complete systems solution.
The firmware and software associated with the DIME-II hardware products
are designed to make FPGA and Software application design easy and integration
into existing systems straightforward - reducing risk, costs and time
to market.
About FUSE Software
The BenPRO is fully compatible with Nallatech FUSE (Field Upgradeable Systems Environment) Software, supplied with Nallatech motherboards. The plug'n'play FUSE Software facilitates flexible and scaleable functionality for the control and configuration of FPGAs on modules and motherboards and allows data to be transferred between the motherboard and Host PC, hence allowing data transfer to and from designs running in on-board FPGAs. FUSE provides a number of interfaces, including the scripting language DIMEscript, a GUI application and the FUSE development APIs for C/C++, with optional APIs also available for Java and Matlab.
About Nallatech...
Nallatech is a technology leader in reconfigurable computers. Founded in 1993, Nallatech has a worldwide reputation for its DIME(tm) modular technology, which is used to develop high-performance, FPGA-centric 'software-defined systems' for a wide range of applications. Their latest DIME-II technology has been developed to support all the Xilinx Virtex-II family to provide TeraOPS speed for ultra-high performance applications. Nallatech is headquartered in Scotland's Silicon Glen with offices in Bristol, England and Nallatech Inc based in Orlando, Florida.
Nallatech
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