Avnet's Xilinx Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA MicroBoard kit now supported by Micrium kernels

WESTON, USA: Micrium, in conjunction with Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business region of Avnet Inc., and Xilinx, announced that the Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA MicroBoard kit now fully supports the uC/OS-II and uC/OS-III real-time kernels.

The Xilinx Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA MicroBoard kit features several pre-built hardware designs, as well as uC/OS-III-based examples, allowing the user to quickly evaluate and experiment with the Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA, the Xilinx MicroBlaze embedded soft processor core and Micrium's real-time kernels.

The USB-stick form factor MicroBoard is a low-cost, portable solution for developers looking to create their next design idea. Incorporating the Micrium kernels provides organization and structure to help develop software and, combined with the MicroBlaze processor, provides the perfect starting point to quickly and efficiently develop an embedded product.

The Xilinx Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA MicroBoard Kit includes the Spartan-6 FPGA, low-power DDR memory, an Ethernet port, programmable clock and two expansion ports for I/O access. A license for the Xilinx software development kit (SDK) is also included, providing a familiar Eclipse-based environment for writing and debugging MicroBlaze processor code.

"Avnet's Spartan-6 LX9 FPGA MicroBoard Kit provides a great starting point for both hardware and software designers who want to evaluate or integrate the MicroBlaze processor into their next design," said Jim Beneke, VP, global technical marketing, Avnet Electronics Marketing. "The support from Micrium's uC/OS-III RTOS gives software engineers the ability to experiment with the enhanced capabilities of a real-time operating system."

"The Spartan-6 family offers an optimal balance of low risk, low cost, and low power for cost-sensitive applications," said Raj Seelam, senior marketing manager, platform solutions at Xilinx. "Adding a real-time kernel for the MicroBlaze processor is key to creating a successful microprocessor-based design, and Micrium is widely recognized as providing quality products."

"The MicroBoard offers a highly capable, low-cost solution for embedded engineers wanting to experiment and evaluate high-performance FPGAs as well as some of the highest quality embedded software components," said Jean Labrosse, founder, president and CEO of Micrium. "Through Micrium's kernels, all early adopters of the Spartan-6 FPGA LX9 MicroBoard have a robust foundation for reliable and efficient multitasking applications."