Amirix has ported TimeSys's Linux RTOS software development kit (SDK) to its AP100 Virtex-II Pro PCI Platform FPGA development doards. The TimeSys Linux RTOS SDK is the first Linux OS available for the AP100, and targets networking, communications, DSP, image processing, industrial controls, and instrumentation.

(Click for larger view of PCI FPGA dev board)

The AP100 is a family of PCI development boards for the Xilinx Virtex-II, a field programmable gate array with up to two PowerPC 405 hard cores. AP100 boards contain SDRAM, Flash, support for 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet, SystemACE/CompactFlash interface, Multi-Gigabit Transceiver (MGT, a.k.a. Rocket I/O) support, and expansion I/O. The AP100 supports an XC2VP7, XC2VP20, or XC2VP30 Virtex-II Pro, in an FF896 package. Versions supporting the XC2VP50 and XC2VP70 are currently under development, according to Amirix.

AP100 boards come with the Baseline Platform preloaded in flash. The Baseline Platform is an FPGA configuration containing an SDRAM controller, UART, interrupt controller, OPB-External Bridge, and a stage one bootloader (based on PPCBoot) in block RAM. Also preloaded in the flash is the PPCBoot monitor, a TimeSys certified Linux kernel, and a small root filesystem, according to Amirix.

“Our goal is to make the use of platform FPGAs with embedded processors accessible to developers,” said Bruce Oakley, director of embedded systems at Amirix.

 
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