Programmable Devices
CPLDs, FPGAs, SoC FPGAs, Configuration, and Transceivers
20641 Discussions

Affordable İNTEL ALTERA board for communication

Abdush
Beginner
791 Views

Hi INTEL teams,
I am electrical electronics engineering student my advisor asked me to design a communication module based in FPGA from INTEL,
According to my advisor the Communication module that i have to develop should connect to Ethernet based communication systems via the RJ-45 connector (100Base-TX) and the fibre optic LC connector (100Base-FX). The protocols that I will implement will be only DNP3 , GOOSE and MODBU.

I have no any experience with developing FPGA before , Which FPGA development board should I use?( I need an affordable board because I'm an student )
And to design an communication module using intel’s FPGA which programing language should I learn ?
"My sir said he has used
İNTEL ALTERA 5CGXFC7C6F23I7NQS before and he said that I can use it or any alternative with same specifications like this FPGA"
Is there is any İNTEL ALTERA 5CGXFC7C6F23I7NQS development board available?
Please guide me

0 Kudos
8 Replies
skbeh
Employee
722 Views

Link below listed the available FPGA development kits for all FPGA families.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/fpga/find-fpga-boards.html#sort=%40title%20ascending

The Arria V GX FPGA Starter Kit has RJ-45 connector and support Ethernet based communication.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/fpga/development-kits/arria/v-gx.html

Application Note AN647 below showcase the Triple-Speed Ethernet example design.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683344/current/single-port-triple-speed-ethernet-and.html

Abdush
Beginner
660 Views

Thank you for your replying,

I checked up The Arria GX FPGA starter kit and unfortunately it is not available on any market and also its very expensive, I need only and FPGA like this one

https://www.mouser.com.tr/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/5CGXFC7C6F23I7NQS?qs=ds50AKTGxA%2FpC44mOmd6%252BA%3D%3D

 

and also I see in this FPGA on Mouser that is saying 

Number of Transceivers: 6 Transceiver

 

is the FPGA limits with limited transceivers ports? isn’t all FPGA IO port can be programed to do anything like ethernet or ....etc. 

0 Kudos
skbeh
Employee
641 Views

Based on the link given in my previous note, you can further branch out to search for the development kit that meet your budget.
For stock availablity kindly check with the Distributors in your region.

For Cyclone V dev kit, you can refer to below link.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/fpga/find-fpga-boards.html#sort=%40title%20ascending&f:facet2=[Cyclone%C2%AE%20V%20FPGAs%20and%20SoC%20FPGAs]&f:@psgcategoriesoffering_en=[Development%20Kits]

Regarding the Number of Transceivers, it depends on the Ethernet speed you want to achieve, i.e. 10M, 100M, 1G, 10G...
For a design that using triple-speed ethernet (10M/100M/1G), user can choose to use either the on-chip transceiver channels or LVDS I/Os.
However if the ethernet speed is 10G or above, need to use the high speed dedicated transceiver channels.

Triple-Speed Ethernet User Guide for your reference:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683402/21-3-19-5-0/about-this-ip.html

0 Kudos
Abdush
Beginner
611 Views
Thank you for your kindly detailed answer,
0 Kudos
Abdush
Beginner
608 Views
Thank you for your kindly detailed answer, I actually want to use the FPGA to implement
- 2  RJ-45 connector (100Base-TX)
and
- 2 fibre optic LC connector (100Base-FX).
"My project does not need gigabit ethernet"

For that what should be the best solution to do that?

Also how can I also implement the following protocol into the FPGA ;
DNP3 , GOOSE and MODBU.?

Iam looking forward for your reply.
0 Kudos
skbeh
Employee
561 Views

Q1) I actually want to use the FPGA to implement
- 2 RJ-45 connector (100Base-TX) and
- 2 fibre optic LC connector (100Base-FX).
Reply: It doesn't appear that any of our development kits have 2 RJ-45 connector + 2 fibre optic LC connector.

Q2) How can I also implement the following protocol into the FPGA;
DNP3, GOOSE and MODBU?
Reply: Modbus is an application layer protocol using RS-232 & RS-485, DNP3 consists of Application and Data Link Layers. It is a very old protocol (>40 years). We do not have these kind of example design in FPGA.

0 Kudos
Abdush
Beginner
600 Views
Also, according to the number of Input and outputs ports of the FPGA chip we have, can we add (implement) any number of ethernet (100base) RJ45 and fibre LC connector to the FPGA ?
What is the way to do that ?
0 Kudos
skbeh
Employee
560 Views

Q3) According to the number of Input and outputs ports of the FPGA chip we have, can we add (implement) any number of ethernet (100base) RJ45 and fibre LC connector to the FPGA?
Reply: In the case of triple-speed-ethernet IP core, maximum ethernet port is 24.

0 Kudos
Reply