1. UCT Software-Defined Radio Research Group

2. UCT Software-Defined Radio Research Group
UCT SDRRG Team
UCT Faculty:
Alan Langman
Mike Inggs
Simon Winberg
PhD Students:
Brandon Hamilton
MSc Students:
Bruce Raw
Gordon Inggs
Simon Scott
Joseph Wamicha
UCT Software-Defined Radio Research Group

3. Current CASPER Hardware
BEE2
ROACH
ROACH 2
*Disclaimer: Alan made me include this slide

4. Current Software =

5. Need for low-cost solution
Great boards and (relatively) easy-to-use toolchain
But expensive, so not accessible to smaller research groups
Lack of HPC skills in South Africa
Low-cost h/w and s/w solution needed
Enlarge CASPER community

6. Requirements Low cost hardware Open-source software
Simple design rather than low performance
Open-source software
Easy to learn and use
Compatible with existing h/w and s/w
Target software-defined radio apps

7. Proposed Solution
Similar to existing CASPER hardware (FPGA + processor)
Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA
Sufficient performance for most apps, but lower cost
TI ARM Cortex-A8 processor
Large support community
FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) connector
Python-based toolchain

8. Throw them all in a pot…

9. Mix them up…

10. And you get a Rhino!

11. Rhino Architecture 2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

12. Xilinx Spartan-6 Xilinx XC6SLX150T 676-pin package 150 000 logic cells
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
Xilinx XC6SLX150T
676-pin package
logic cells
180 DSP48A1 slices (up to 300MHz)
8 GTP transceivers
4 integrated DDR3 Memory Controller Blocks
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

13. DDR2 SDRAM Micron DDR3-1066 512MB capacity 25.6Gbps total bandwidth
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

14. FMC ADC/DAC Connectors
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
FMC connectors for ADC and DAC cards
Support 2 cards
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

15. CX4 10Gbps Ethernet 2 CX4 10Gbps ethernet connectors
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
2 CX4 10Gbps ethernet connectors
Supports copper-to-fibre adaptors
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

16. TI AM3517 ARM Cortex-A8 Texas Instruments AM3517ZCN 491-pin package
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
Texas Instruments AM3517ZCN
491-pin package
600 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 core
Many integrated peripherals (e.g. USB, Ethernet, HD video port)
OS and drivers available
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

17. DDR2 SDRAM Winbond DDR2-800 256MB capacity 10.6 Gbps
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
Winbond DDR2-800
256MB capacity
10.6 Gbps
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

18. NAND Flash Memory 256MB NAND flash memory Mainly for OS
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND flash memory
Mainly for OS
Can store bitstreams too
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

19. USB and SD Card ARM can boot off USB drive or SD card 2 USB host ports
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
ARM can boot off USB drive or SD card
2 USB host ports
JTAG over USB
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

20. 100Mbps Ethernet 100Mbps ethernet for control
2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
100Mbps ethernet for control
Supports IEEE1588 PrecisionTime Protocol
Sync boards within 10ns
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

21. FPGA-Processor Bus 16-bit data bus 1.3Gbps 2x 256MB DDR3 SDRAM
USB, SD Card, 100Mbps Ethernet, audio and video
2x 128MB DDR2 SDRAM
16-bit data bus
1.3Gbps
256MB NAND Flash
2x FMC Connectors
2x CX4 (10Gbps ethernet)

22. FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC)
ANSI/VITA 57.1 standard
Low-pin count:
160 pin
34 differential data pairs, 2 high-speed serial pairs
2 (+4) clocks, I2C, JTAG
High-pin count:
400 pin
80 differential data pairs, 20 high-speed serial pairs
4 (+9) clocks, I2C, JTAG

23. Why we chose FMC Well-specified standard
electrical interfaces, mechanical and thermal requirements
Dedicated I2C lines for control
Lots of commercial off-the-shelf ADC/DAC cards
FMC-to-ZDOK+ adaptor for CASPER cards

24. 4DSP FMC103
4 channel ADC
210MSPS
12-bit

25. Curtis Wright ADC512
Dual channel ADC
3 GSPS
8 bit

26. CERN FmcAdc100M14b4chb
4 channel ADC
105 MSPS
14 bit
Open-hardware

27. Optimise cost+performance
Spartan-6 rather than Virtex-6
512MB DDR3, rather than QDR
2x 10Gbps links
Total cost under $1500
Training/research platform

28. The PCB Spartan-6 and DDR3 SDRAM FMC Connectors ARM and DDR2 SDRAM
Back-panel Connectors
Power Supplies

29. The Rhino Hide *Also build desktop enclosure FMC to ZDOK+ adaptor
FMC ADC/DAC Card
katADC
*Also build desktop enclosure

30. The Toolchain Design system in Python (MyHDL)
Python script
MyHDL compiler
Python script
Synchronous dataflow model
Verilog/VHDL
GNURadio block
Mathematical validation
IP cores, VHDL blocks
Xilinx synthesis tools
Bitstream (bof file)

31. The Runtime Environment
Spartan-6 FPGA
BOF file
Data over high-speed network
GNURadio block
GNURadio frontend
AM3517 ARM processor
Control commands over 100mbps ethernet
Rhino

32. Other Applications
Bioinformatics
Financial predictions

33. The Rhino Vision
squish!
squish!

34. Thank you