15.1. BUILDING THE ECOSYSTEM

Development of any new interconnect technology starts with a revolutionary idea that must take evolutionary steps to get adopted. Building an ecosystem to support a new interconnect is the first and foremost barrier that any new technology must cross to gain adoption.

For an interconnect ecosystem to exist three elements must be present: hardware components, validation tools, and software infrastructure. System hardware components such as hosts, switches, bridges and end points build the basic interconnect hardware. Validation components such as bus exercisers, bus analyzers, interoperability platforms and simulation models verify system connectivity and component functionality. A software infrastructure that supports system discovery, enumeration, management and error handling and recovery allows the designer to take advantage of the advanced system features of the interconnect technology. Figure 15.1 illustrates the interconnect ecosystem.

With the advanced I/O capability, high-speed logic matrix and re-programmability, an FPGA can be an enabler to this ecosystem. Figure 15.2 illustrates how an FPGA can be used to build hardware components, help certify validation tools and create a prototyping system that can be used as a basis on which to build a software infrastructure.

The realization that an FPGA can be an enabler to the ecosystem has led FPGA vendors to see themselves as a whole solution provider. This includes not only FPGA device families that offer a variety of options for I/O capability, density and speed, but also intellectual property (IP), software, support and training. The combination of these offerings facilitates the development of the ecosystem and exploits the time to market advantage of FPGAs.

Figure 15.1. Interconnect ecosystem: hardware components, validation tools, software infrastructure

Figure 15.2. FPGA enablement of an interconnect ecosystem