Software Accelerates FPGA-Based PCMCIA Card June 2005 Issue Published Date: June 09, 2005
A joint effort, the CoDeveloper software tools from Impulse Accelerated Technologies allows users of Pico Computing's E-12 compact flash, FPGA-based PCMCIA cards to compile C algorithms directly into the FPGA without the need to be FPGA hardware designers. The resulting com- bination predicts 10X to 400X increases in the processing speed of desktop and embedded applications in a form factor the size of a compact flash card. The E-12 employs a Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA and is available in two versions: logic optimized (LO) and embedded processor (EP). The LO versions offer the most user-configurable logic, while the EP provides a reduced amount of FPGA logic but adds an embedded PowerPC processor. In either case, the FPGA device is completely reconfigurable through the card's compact flash interface with no need for external power or cabling. Pricing for CoDeveloper starts at $4,995, and a perpetual license that includes one E-12 development kit is available for $7,995. IMPULSE ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Kirkland, WA. (866) 446-7857. PICO COMPUTING INC., Seattle, WA. (866) 569-7426.
