Aldec HES-7 with Xilinx Virtex UltraScale Devices Enables True FPGA-based Verification
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The new HES-7 platform from Aldec with Xilinx UltraScale FPGAs is an extension of the existing HES-7 hardware family, which itself already pushed the envelope for FPGA-based verification and prototyping platforms. Released earlier this year, Aldec’s HES-7 12000 platform, employing Xilinx’s largest Virtex-7 devices, is already the largest single-board prototyping platform, and by pioneering the adoption of Xilinx UltraScale architecture-based devices, Aldec is enabling a new class of FPGA-based verification solutions.
The first HES-7 with Xilinx UltraScale FPGAs contains six Virtex UltraScale VU440 devices, an industry first. Each VU440 device is already breaking new ground in capacity and integration but with this six-device configuration, Aldec is uniquely providing a new level of capability for FPGA resources on a single board. In the demanding application of SoC prototyping projects which require re-targeting of non-optimized ASIC RTL and IP, Aldec expects the capacity of the devices, and the corresponding reduction in inter-FPGA partitioning, to be crucial in today’s designs and for the future.
Aldec’s HES-7 with Xilinx UltraScale devices offers not only scale but also scalability. The boards are designed with a high-speed scalable backplane, allowing multi-board configurations that are easily assembled into compact rack-based systems. These systems can themselves be interconnected to deliver combined capacity well into the billion-gate range at a much lower cost than an equivalent-sized emulator.