Macnica Introduces Versatile SOM-Based Development Kit with Altera’s New Agilex-5 Programmable Devices

Macnica Americas continues its tradition of supporting advanced technology innovation through rich development tools.

The introduction of the Macnica Sulfur Kit is now open for orders. Created specifically for Altera Agilex 5E FPGA developers, the Sulfur Kit’s foundation includes a production-ready SOM (System on Module) with a high density of programmable logic for customized application development, along with diverse connectivity and networking resources, high-speed interfaces, and generous memory resources.

Altera Agilex 5E FPGAs are semiconductor devices that comprise customizable building blocks for high-tech electronics applications. Paired with Macnica’s intellectual property within the Sulfur kit, FPGA developers have a robust, upgradeable platform to test and develop advanced applications in high-end video processing, machine vision, robotics, sensor integration, and AI computing, among others. These applications are suitable for use across innumerable verticals within medical, industrial, automation, and other markets.

Macnica, a trusted Altera partner with deep engineering capabilities, developed the Sulfur kit to enable quick turnaround of prototypes that can be tested, verified, and launched into production cycles. The Sulfur SOM and carrier board include the largest capacity Agilex 5E FPGA available, featuring 656K programmable logic elements (KLEs), powerful Arm processor cores, and 24 high-speed (17G) transceiver channels. The kit’s features also include high-end video interfaces (HDMI 2.0, Camera Link, SONY SLVS-EC, CoaXPress), mobile interfaces (MIPI CSI-2, CAN), USB and direct I/O connectivity (SMA connected fiber-optics and general-purpose I/O (GPIO).

The SOM also incorporates three Gigabit Ethernet ports and high-bandwidth networking (10Gb Ethernet), all with time-sensitive networking (TSN), three high-performance memory banks (LPDDR4), eMMC flash memory storage, and an SD card interface. Additional SOMs with a variety of FPGA sizes are in the works to address various markets and applications for this kit. These will conveniently provide plug-in options and upgrades.

Macnica is perhaps best known for its innovation in high-end video applications, and the Sulfur kit’s video capabilities are amplified through Macnica’s high-speed imaging IP platforms (CoaXPress and SLVS-EC), both developed through Macnica’s mPRESSION engineering team. Macnica’s mPRESSION team brings more than 10 years of advanced FPGA IP development to its partners and customers.

“The Agilex 5 series of semiconductor devices offer Agilex developers a strong set of on-chip resources with high-speed core processing elements that translate exceptionally well to our new Sulfur SOM and carrier board platform, created specifically with Agilex 5 FPGA developers in mind,” said Sebastian Dignard, President, Macnica Americas. “Working closely with our partners at Altera, we are pleased to bring a comprehensive development kit to market for this development community that drives creative and quick turnaround, while enabling lucrative go-to-market strategies for developers moving forward.”