FGPA Starterkit

February 1, 2011

The Kontron COM Express™ FPGA Starterkit from Kontron (Poway, CA) provides the necessary components to evaluate board designs with open-definable I/Os. OEMs can use the starterkit to develop dedicated full-custom SBC designs or individual custom carrierboards for scalable x86 based Computer-on-Modules (COMs), both with I/Os integrated in Altera’s transceiver-based FPGA, Cyclone® IV GX. The starterkit’s main component is the COM Express™ FPGA baseboard for pin-out Types 1, 2, and 10 COMs, including Kontron ETXexpress® modules. The Altera® Cyclone® IV GX FPGA is designed into the carrierboard, and the specific I/Os are configured via enclosed IP bitstreams. The configuration of the FPGA is possible through the enclosed USB-Blaster download cable, and the physical interfaces are brought about by two High Speed Mezzanine Cards (HSMCs), one communication board, and one mass storage and video board.