Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) recently introduced the U5340A FPGA development kit,
powered by a custom Mentor Graphics design engine, for high-speed digitizers.
The U5340A enables customers to deploy advanced real-time signal
processing into the FPGAs on board Agilent high-speed digitizers. The
development kit leverages the full density and speed of the FPGA while ensuring
the digitizer's outstanding multi-gigasample-per-second performance.
The FPGA development kit enables original equipment manufacturers and
researchers to easily design in high-speed signal acquisition and analysis. This
software tool can help companies and research institutions protect their
intellectual property and shorten time-to-market as they develop technologies
for high-end applications such as medical imaging, environmental monitoring,
time-of-flight spectroscopy and radar.
The custom Mentor Graphics design
engine-including HDL Author, ModelSim PE and Precision Synthesis-is embedded in
the development kit to support the design, synthesis, simulation and validation
of signal-processing algorithms. Place-and-route and a bitfile-generation
engines are included, also providing debugging capabilities.
To help users focus on creating solutions, the FPGA development kit also
includes the following elements: a library of building blocks, from basic gates
to dual-port RAM memories; a set of IP cores; and ready-to-use scripts that
handle all aspects of the automated build flow. A full-speed design example and
companion software ensure efficient system integration.
All cores are based on the AMBA AXI4
standard for easy integration and efficient use of their
high-performance capabilities. Pre-synthesized and area-constrained IP cores
accelerate the build and ensure repeatable results. The FPGA development kit
also embeds complete calibration capabilities to ensure the unmatched analog
performance of Agilent
digitizers when used with end-user firmware.
"Agilent has been a long-time Mentor Graphics customer and has
helped shape our FPGA development tools over the years," said Valerie
Rachko, marketing director for Mentor HDL and ESL design creation tools.
"It was a natural choice for Agilent to select our creation, simulation
and synthesis solutions for their customers in their new FPGA development
kit."
"Our close partnership with Mentor Graphics enabled us to create
today's most powerful FPGA development kit for high-speed digitizers,"
said Didier Lavanchy, operation manager for Agilent's high-speed digitizers
group. "We have used the kit to design firmware options currently
available in our products, and beta customers have successfully implemented a
variety of algorithms. For them and us, the U5340A has significantly reduced
development time and, for the first time, made possible
multi-gigasample-per-second real-time processing."
U.S. Pricing and Availability
The first release of the U5340A FPGA development kit is available now
for the recently announced Agilent U5303A
PCIe 12-bit high-speed digitizer with on-board processing, and
will be available for future products. Interested users can contact Agilent to
discuss their application needs, evaluation possibilities and custom quotes at digitizers@agilent.com.
More information on the U5340A is available at www.agilent.com/find/u5340a.
Screen shots of the FPGA development kit are available at www.agilent.com/find/u5340a_images.
About Agilent High-Speed Digitizers
Agilent
high-speed digitizers are the result of 300-plus years of
cumulative research and development. This ensures the ability to achieve the
most effective and reliable analog-to-digital conversion at high resolution and
fast sampling rates. Information on ADC technology and applications is
available at high-speed-digitizer.tm.agilent.com.
About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics is a leader in electronic design automation software,
enabling companies to develop better electronic products faster and more
cost-effectively. Mentor Graphics' innovative products and solutions help
engineers conquer design challenges in the increasingly complex worlds of board
and chip design. Information about Mentor Graphics is available at www.mentor.com.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world's premier measurement
company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences,
diagnostics, electronics and communications. The company's 20,500 employees
serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had revenues of $6.9
billion in fiscal 2012. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.