Curtiss-Wright's New FPGA-based VME Interface Combats Obsolescence

Eletter Product

Introducing the new obsolescence fighting FPGA-based Helix™ PCI Express to VME64x Interface. The Helix is the next generation of VME bridge solution for Curtiss-Wright VME module products. It addresses the gap created when the popular Tsi148 (Tempe) VME interface device was recently announced End Of Life.

Helix is an FPGA-based VME interface that can continue to be supplied for years to come. It effectively mitigates customer and system integrators concerns about future obsolescence and enables them to continue support and supply VME systems as long as required by their programs.

Click to view the video on Helix - The New VME Bus Interface

Curtiss-Wright will use Helix on all new VME module designs, such as the recently announced SVME/DMV-196 Power Architecture single board computer (SBC). Helix is also being used to update the design of select current flagship VME SBC products, such as the NXP® Power Architecture®-based VME-194 and Intel® 4th generation Core™i7-based VME-1908 SBCs.

With its high performance PCI Express interface, the Helix VME64x interface supports all of the key features of VME required by existing and future applications including:

PCIe Gen 2 interface;
The complete set of VME data transaction types (SLT, BLT, MBLT, 2eVME and 2eSST);
Hardware-based byte swapping capability;
2eSST Broadcast mode, including self-addressing capability;
A dual channel Intelligent Chained DMA engine (IDMA);
PCI Express MSI or Legacy interrupts by means of an embedded Interrupt Controller that can manage up to 64 internal interrupt sources, including:
- VME IRQ [7:1], SYSFAIL, and ACFAIL
- Location Monitor
- Mailboxes
- Message passing FIFO
- Intelligent DMA Engine (IDMA)
- Local VME64x Errors
- GPIOs
Programmable VME Slave support on two address spaces:
CR/CSR as defined by the VME64x specification. This 512 KB window provides a remote configuration port
A32 as a programmable window from 1 to 2048 MB