Opal Kelly announces Pins - online interactive reference for FPGA module pinouts

PORTLAND, USA: Opal Kelly, a leading producer of powerful FPGA modules that provide essential device-to-computer interconnect using USB, announced a new online interactive reference tool called Pins for their FPGA integration devices.

Pins replaces PDF and text-based references for their module pinouts with an interactive browser-based tool, making it easier for designers to integrate Opal Kelly modules into their designs.

Traditionally, FPGA module pinouts are provided by vendors as tables in PDF documentation, text definitions of the pinout, spreadsheet files, or, in the case of Xilinx and Altera modules, template UCF or QSF constraint files that can be used with CAD tools.

In all such cases, such references may be difficult to follow as the designer needs to cross reference to other resources such as FPGA documentation. Furthermore, designers need to integrate these references into design flow which often requires copying the data to another format which may be prone to error.

Pins simplifies and enhances the module pinout reference by providing additional information that would otherwise be cumbersome in other formats. Designers can choose to show, hide, search, or filter this information when applying the reference. With the growing complexity of FPGA capabilities, a deeper interactive reference can save time, reduce errors, and improve understanding of module capabilities.