The Xilinx Artix development kit that fits in your laptop! PicoEVB is an affordable development board which can be used to evaluate and prototype PCI Express designs using a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA on Windows or Linux hosts.
The boards are designed around the Artix 7 (XC7A50T). The M.2 form factor is popular in newer laptops. For older laptops with a mini PCIe slot (mPCIe), an adapter is available. Also, PicoEVB can be used in standard desktop computer PCIe slot with an adapter.
PicoEVB has a built-in JTAG cable that works with Vivado! It also has an onboard flash memory for configuration, which can be programmed via Vivado.
PicoEVB has a total of up to 8 digital I/O, and 2 analog I/O. 4 digital I/O are available on the PCIe connector, and the rest of the I/O s available on the Pico-EZMate connector.There are also 3 LEDs on the board. PicoEVB also pins out one of the Artix MGTs. With this you can experiment with Xilinx high-speed digital transceivers. As an example, you could design a PCIe to Aurura bridge.
Currently, Xilinx offers a free licence for the full PCIe stack: Libraries for the Artix device to handle DMA, and Windows/Linux drivers for DMA transfer on the host side. With PicoEVB, you can explore PCIe designs, fully contained in your laptop, for low cost.
PicoEVB isn't limited to PCIe based designs. If you are looking to learn and experiment with FPGAs, and want the convenience of having the development board inside your laptop, this product is for you. Many newer laptops will have at least one M.2 2230 slot. If your computer has only one slot, and it is populated with your wifi adapter- No problem! USB wifi adapters are small and work well nowadays.
Schematics and more information are available on Github at RHSResearchLLC/PicoEVB.
