4DSP Products Technical support

Hi,

We can't get our FMC230 card to power up when plugged into an AMC516 FMC carrier.  We have a few other 4DSP FMC cards that seem to function properly on either a Vadatech AMC514 (Virtex 6 FPGA carrier) or an AMC516 (Virtex 7).
The carrier card first powers up the management rail for I2C communications prior to powering up the payload power.  A Vadatech tech support provided us with some guess as to what might be going on,

"We will provide AMCMP(3P3VAUX) and then utilize the I2C bus for reading the VADJ requirements from the FMC EEPROM and then configuring our variable power regulator.  Only then will we enable the payload power rails (including +3.3V) since that is when we know the full payload power requirements.  So if they have things hanging off of the management I2C bus that touch the payload power domain directly, those chips could potentially pull-down the I2C bus.  "

Is this an issue you are aware of and is there some modification we can do on the board to get it to work properly?

Thank you,
Stan

Hi Stan,


On the FMC230 there is indeed a power supply monitoring device that does stall the I2C communication when there is no power applied to the board. We offer customers with an issue to remove the monitoring device if there carrier board cannot be forced to power up. This modification will not change the main functionality of the board. It is a modification we would have to perform at 4DSP. Let me know if you need this and I can provide instructions for returning the board. Please provide me with the serial number of the board in that case. You may want to check with Vadatech first, if there is a way to force the board to power up.


My apologies for the inconvenience,
Peter

Hi Peter,
thank you for the quick reply.
We have a few of them, but first we will start off with SN0140 and SN0121. After that, once we confirm they work we will send you the rest for modification.

Thanks
Stan

Peter, could we expedite the process please. We would like to get this done as fast as possible.  Thank you

Stan

Stan,


Yes, we can turn these around quickly. Please send them with the attached form filled out. The RMA number is 15022001.


Best regards,
Peter

Hi Peter,
I sent two boards to you last Friday. Can you give a firm date when we can get those back? Thanks

Stan

Stan,


Our plan is to ship this back on Friday or Monday.


Best Regards,
Peter

The boards were shipped back. Tracking number: 1ZA317W40393711031


Thank you, Peter

Stan,


Please let us know if the boards arrives and if you are satisfied with the results.


Best Regards,
Arnaud

Hi,
boards arrived on Friday. I just tested them today. I was able to power them up through the carrier card, so that issue seems to have been fixed. An engineer will also run a firmware test to make sure the DACs are working properly as well.

Peter/Arnaud, could you also confirm if the same issue is present on the FMC160? The behavior that the carrier card is exhibiting during FMC configuration on start-up with this board is a little different than the FMC230 but the final result is the same. The board doesn't power up.  If it's the same issue then we would like to have that fixed as well.

We also have 2 more FMC230 boards we would like to send back to you for RMA.  Thanks

Stan

2 FMC230s that we'd like to send back for the mod are SN0171 and SN0185

Hello Stan,


Please return the FMC230 cards under RMA number 15030902, using the form attached.


In regards to the FMC160. Would it be possible to provide us with a Vadatech AMC514 carrier, so we can perform some tests on our end?


Peter

We would need to get some sort of approval on our side because those cards cost over $8k.
Do you have a Vadatech chassis over there to plug the AMC card in?
If you are familiar with the FMC setup routine with an AMC carrier card I can describe to you in greater detail the behavior that I am observing while configuring the card.  Let me know please.

Thanks
Stan

Hello Stan,


I was somehow assuming it would be a VPX card. We can actually verify a fix on our end without the need for the Vadatech carrier. I will keep you updated. Please feel free to go ahead with the return of the FMC230 board.


Peter