Digilent FMC implementations

[zygot]

This got lost through the cracks of another thread but I think that it is worth pursuing. I believe that I already know the answer but since the topic comes up on a regular basis and the FMC connector is frequently offered as a solution, an answer from some else would be helpful

I have the Nexys Video, Genesys2 and Zedboard FPGA development boards sold by Digilent, but let's say that I'm contemplating a purchase of one of them in order to do a high speed ADC or DAC conversion project. Has Digilent tested any such mezzanine cards with any of the aforementioned Digilent boards and can certify that they are compatible?

[elodg]

The short answer is no, Digilent is neither testing nor certifying 3rd party mezzanine cards.

The long answer is that the role of the VITA.57 standard is to guarantee compatibility to a certain extent between carrier and mezzanine cards. Mechanical and power-wise the spec has ways to ensure this. In other matters, it is deliberately left open-ended. We are working on ways to better document those areas for our carrier cards.

BTW, ADI has example projects for the Zedboard and their own ADC/DAC mezzanine cards.

[zygot]

1 hour ago, elodg said:

The long answer is that the role of the VITA.57 standard is to guarantee compatibility to a certain extent between carrier and mezzanine cards.

The key words in this sentence is "to a certain extent". I know because I've gone to the trouble of tracing through schematics for compatibility between quite a few mezzanine cards and both Digilent and Xilinx boards with FMC connectors. Very few of the one's that I was interested worked out for one reason or another.

1 hour ago, elodg said:

ADI has example projects for the Zedboard and their own ADC/DAC mezzanine cards.

A more accurate statement is that ADI has supporting code for a few of their FMC cards and the Zedboard. Again, I'm familiar with ADI's products and support.

1 hour ago, elodg said:

The short answer is no, Digilent is neither testing nor certifying 3rd party mezzanine cards.

Fine. Then Digilent should be making it clear that it's up to the user to work out compatibility before buying hardware. Even though that's always true regardless of the board or intended application I've read enough posts from people who obviously confuse VITA.57 as synonymous with "plug and Play". It isn't. I also read posts from Digilent staff suggesting that it is.

 

1 hour ago, elodg said:

We are working on ways to better document those areas for our carrier cards.

Thanks. A start would be making some tutorials available on your product pages helping customers select boards for intended uses.  

Oh, and thanks to whoever decided to make this question visible again.

[zygot]

Opinion

Digilent has a customer base with a high range in terms of technical knowledge and ability. Customers have a wide range of intended uses for the FPGA development boards. Anyone reading posts to the forums on a regular basis can see that Digilent doesn't wish to support all of these uses. Digilent makes FGPA boards with PMODs and they make PMODs to offer functionality for certain applications. Pretending that the FMC is a catch-all solution for any problem without supporting it with mezzanine card functionality is not in the best interest of Digilent or its customers. I for one hope to see improvement in this area.

[zygot]

To anyone trying to figure out this thread and the "Using a Digilent FPGA Board for data conversion applications" thread. I posted both on the same day and someone merged one into the other.. and subsequently un-merged them. The end result is that the questions posed in each thread were switched... so the topic doesn't match the content in either one. If you can get over that both threads are useful reading.

Just yesterday Digilent announced a board with Syzygy ports as well as a few interesting Syzygy pods. This is an encouraging sign of interest in supporting a broader realm of customers' needs.