RapidIO Connections - April 2003

Get HIP? Here's why and how

Tundra and IneoQuest Technologies recently announced the commercial availability of the first Hardware Interoperability Platform (HIP) motherboard. (For details on the HIP specification see www.rapidio.org/specs ) This HIP motherboard features the Tundra Tsi400™ (a bus bridge that connects 8 bit wide RapidIO devices to PCI or PCI-X 32/64 bit devices) and the Tundra Tsi500™ (an 8 bit wide, four port, RapidIO bus switch). This combination of RapidIO devices brings legacy PCI-based hardware and software into a new high-speed point-to-point, packet-switched interconnect protocol that meets the needs of current and future embedded applications.

The HIP offered by IneoQuest (Figure 1) is an ATX form factor motherboard that supports up to 4 RapidIO plug in cards, two PCI-X cards, three PCI cards and one PrPMC processor board.

HIP

As an initial offering, this platform will support 8 bit RapidIO at 500mbs per datum and 32/64 bit PCI up to 50Mhz. This HIP also supports Tektronix P6880 differential probes for most of the available RapidIO interfaces across the platform supporting visibility between active RapidIO elements. The JTAG interfaces to the Tsi500 switches support WindRiver JTAG tools that offer visibility within each active element.

This platform gives software engineers a mixture of legacy microprocessor and I/O via PCI and new RapidIO processors via RapidIO plug in cards. Combined with a dual switch fabric architecture supporting multiple bridge and processor end points, and JTAG debugger access, this platform represents an excellent vehicle to test and prototype initialization, discovery and error management algorithms as well as legacy software compatibility.

For hardware engineers, testing their prototype designs with semiconductor vendors of their choice is made simple because this RapidIO standard platform continues to gain acceptance among semiconductor and tool vendors. The following table lists some of the HIP compatible products vendors are using today:

HIP

While the HIP standard was originally developed as a silicon interoperability test platform, the availability of HIP motherboards and plug-in cards naturally fill a need for a common prototyping platform. It has never been easier to learn how RapidIO can help you solve your design challenges. Due to confidentiality agreements, there are a number of HIP designs we can't yet mention so ask your favorite silicon and tool vendors how to get their HIP compliant plug in boards and tools today.

Jim Parisien
Product Manager - Third Party Programs
Tundra Semiconductor Corporation