1. Introduction

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Fig. 1.1 VLDB+ visualization

1.1. VLDB+ goal

The VLDB+ (EDA-04075) is a board designed by CERN’s EP-ESE group to provide an evaluation kit for the new Versatile Link ecosystem. This reference design gathers 3 custom and radiation hard devices such as the lpGBT (low power Giga Bit Transceiver), the VTRx+ (Versatile Link Plus Transceiver - not included in the kit) and the FEASTMP DCDCs common to some of the HL-HLC experiments and composing the main elements of the board. It can also be provided with a control toolkit based on a customized RaspberryPi on which runs a control software. With the VLDB+:

  • We propose a validated reference for other designs involving the Versatile Link components.

  • You can get familiar with the lpGBT by configuring it over the PiGBT control tool (the connector is also compatible with the former Dongle).

  • You can test your custom front-end system communication to the lpGBT through two FMC HPC connectors.

  • You can emulate a full system (back-end and front-end) connecting a compatible Xilinx Evaluation Kit (VC707, KCU105, VCU108 VCU118 and ZCU102) through the FMC HPC.

  • You can perform radiation tests on the full system.

1.2. VLDB+ Kit content

With the VLDB+ Kit we provide:

  • 1 VLDB+

  • 1 FEASTMP1.2 DC/DC converter

  • 1 FEASTMP2.5 DC/DC converter

  • 1 Phoenix-1757019 male power supply connector (no cables with it)

  • 14 connected jumpers

  • 4 standoffs and 4 screws

Note

To work with the VLDB+, it is neccesary to purchase it together with the VLDB+ Control toolkit and VTRx+ (or request the SFP Adaptor board and a FEASTMP3.3 to work with a common SFP+).