Alibaba cloud FPGA: the $200 Kintex UltraScale+
15 hours ago
- #OpenOCD
- #JTAG
- #FPGA
- The author sought an FPGA for upcoming projects, considering Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGAs but settled on Kintex series due to cost constraints.
- Options for development boards included designing one, purchasing from Alinx, or finding second-hand, with the latter chosen for its affordability.
- A second-hand board was purchased from eBay for $200, featuring a XCKU3P-FFVB676 FPGA, 2 SFP+ connectors, and a PCIe x8 interface, despite lacking documentation.
- The board was confirmed functional through PCIe enumeration on a Raspberry Pi 5, identifying it as an Ethernet controller with a custom vendor ID.
- JTAG interface was successfully connected using a Segger JLink and OpenOCD, allowing for FPGA configuration and debugging without official Xilinx tools.
- The FPGA's SYSMON registers were accessed to monitor temperature and voltage, demonstrating the board's operational status.
- A pinout for the board was discovered, enabling the creation of constraint files for design implementation.
- A test design was implemented, showcasing the ability to use the board's global clock and LEDs, with the bitstream successfully written via JTAG.
- The project demonstrated a cost-effective entry into high-performance FPGA development, with significant savings over commercial alternatives.