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XRM(2)-DAC-D4/1G User Guide
V2.2 - Mar 8, 2018
1.2 XRM and XRM2
The latest generation of FPGA cards from Alpha Data use a modified version of the XRM interface originally
implemented on legacy FPGA (Virtex4, Virtex5) cards. From a user viewpoint these two interfaces are identical
so references to 'XRM' signals refer also to XRM2 implementations. Where any differences between the two
interfaces are relevant to the operation of the XRM module they will be explicitly stated in the text.
On the XRM(2)-DAC-D4 the principal difference lies in how the I/O voltages for the banks connected to the XRM
are set.
1.2.1 Signalling Voltage
The signals to the DAC are mainly LVDS, with some single-ended signals for serial interfaces etc. Differential
termination is used in the FPGA for clocks etc. which requires that the signalling voltage is set to a suitable level
on the host FPGA card. FPGA cards using the XRM2 interface (e.g. Virtex6, Virtex7 etc.) this voltage is set
automatically. On the XRM interface (boards fitted with Virtex4 or Virtex5) this should be set manually to 2v5.
This voltage level is required solely to ensure correct termination values in the FPGA; the DAC board will not be
damaged if this voltage is inadvertently set to 3v3.
Single-ended signals are all level-translated to hsift signals to/from the device signalling levels to theat of the
FPGA I/O bank supply being used.
1.3 Build Level
The description in this document refer to release 5.0 of the xrm_dac_d4_1g code, dated 15/11/17. Current board
hardware revision is rev 6 and this code supports rev 3 and later builds. Contact the factory for support for board
versions earlier than rev 3.
1.4 Alpha Data SDK Versions
All VHDL code for legacy boards is built using Alpha Data's SDK version 4.9.3. This SDK version is frozen at this
revision.
All VHDL code for current boards uses Alpha Data's ADMXRCG3SDK version 1.7.0.
1.5 Xilinx Tool Versions
The VHDL can be synthesised using either ISE or Vivado. Only FPGA cards fitted with Virtex7 or Kintex7 FPGAs
are supported in Vivado.
The currently supported version of ISE for synthesis and bitfile generation is version 14.7.
The currently supported version of Vivado for synthesis and bitfile generation is version 2017.2.
1.6 ISE Projects
1.6.1 Structure
The example code for ISE builds runs this in batch mode, using makefiles to control the various steps that are
required, based on the methodology used in the both variants of Alpha Data SDKs. The files required for each
FPGA card type are defined in a file with the extension 'prj'; the switches necessary for guiding synthesis, map,
place and route, and bit file generation are defined for each FPGA type in files with the 'scr' extension.
The file paths defined in the prj file reflect the structure of the example code; any changes to the project structure
must be reflected in the paths defined in the prj file.
The default project structure is shown below; this includes the additional folder for the Vivado version of the
Page 4
Introduction
xrm-dac-d4-1g-manual_v2_2.pdf