Prototyping Systems Using FPGAs.
Sundance attended the “Prototyping Systems Using FPGAs” event on 21 May, hosted at Rolls-Royce in Birmingham. The event brought together experts from the semiconductor, automotive, and embedded systems sectors to share insights on FPGA-based prototyping technologies.
Sundance opened the agenda with a virtually delivered presentation by Flemming Christensen. The talk introduced Sundance’s multi-FPGA prototyping solutions and marked the launch of our new product, the SE300, a high-performance platform designed for demanding development environments.
You can watch Flemming’s presentation from the event in the video below:
SE300 – High-Density Prototyping Without Compromise
The SE300 features four PolarFire MPF500 FPGAs, each with 461,000 logic cells. These are connected via:
- A VITA57.4 FMC+ connector
- 16 high-speed transceivers for JESD204B device support
- LVDS mesh between FPGAs for low-latency signalling
- Samtec FireFly interfaces, adding another 24 transceivers
Each FPGA has its own DDR4 memory via a 260-pin SoDIMM slot, which can also be used for I/O expansion.
A PolarFire SoC manages the system, offering five RV64 RISC-V cores and its own dedicated DDR4 memory. It also includes:
- Ethernet, USB, SATA, eMMC and Flash interfaces
- Dual SFP+ ports for high-speed communication
- A unified JTAG chain for debugging across all devices
Despite its capabilities, the SE300 typically draws around 70W and uses passive cooling, with optional fans. Pricing starts around £18,000.
Unlike many competing platforms, the SE300 is based on Microchip’s PolarFire family and supports the free RISC-V ecosystem, avoiding the licensing fees tied to ARM-based designs.
More Than Just a Prototyping Platform
The SE300 also supports custom embedded applications. Its flexibility makes it a strong fit for aerospace and defence R&D. The four FPGAs can be used to run different firmware, simulate data, or handle parallel processing tasks.