We have some exciting news from the Xilinx FPGA Playground, including a program for supporting Xilinx-based Crowd Supply projects, details of Xilinx joining the CHIPS Alliance, and a pointer to the archived livestreamed discussion with bunnie and xobs, the creators of Precursor.

Working on a Xilinx-based project? Join us!

We’re thrilled to welcome Aper-Oculus as the inaugural project participating in our new Crowd Supply launch program! Aper-Oculus is one of the first carrier boards for Xilinx’s Kria SOM. Aper-Oculus has plenty of high-speed I/O, including FMC, MIPI, and an SLVS-EC connector compatible with FRAMOS’s FSA/FSM architecture. See the Aper-Oculus project page for more details.

Render of the Aper-Oculus carrier board for Xilinx's Kria SOM

If you are also building something amazing with a Xilinx FPGA, then you may be eligible to join our FPGA Playground, too! Participating projects enjoy these benefits:

• Promotion across Xilinx and Crowd Supply channels
• Discounted parts pricing for your initial production run
• Special access to Xilinx development boards and tools
• Reduced Crowd Supply crowdfunding fee

To be eligible, your project must uniquely showcase Xilinx technology and pass the usual vetting process applied to all Crowd Supply projects. Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis and solely at the discretion of Xilinx and Crowd Supply. To get started, submit your Crowd Supply project proposal and mention your interest in participating in the Xilinx FPGA Playground.

Xilinx Joins CHIPS Alliance

To reinforce our support for open hardware and open standards, Xilinx has formally joined CHIPS Alliance, a leader in the development of open source IP cores, interconnect IP, and design tools. From the announcement:

"As the inventor of the FPGA, Xilinx is one of the key companies driving forward innovation in this market," said Rob Mains, General Manager at CHIPS Alliance. "Xilinx has already been working closely with several CHIPS Alliance members around open source efforts, so it’s great to have them under the CHIPS Alliance umbrella as we plan to boost our FPGA efforts this year."

Precursor Livestream Archived & Available

Finally, in case you missed the livestream, the December 15, 2021 discussion with Precursor creators bunnie and xobs is now archived and available!