Topic: Issues powering up FMC230 on a Vadatech carrier card  (Read 62671 times)

stanstanev February 17, 2015, 11:20 PM

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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

peter February 18, 2015, 11:12 AM (#1)

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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

stanstanev February 18, 2015, 04:37 PM (#2)

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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

stanstanev February 18, 2015, 07:56 PM (#3)

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

Stan

peter February 20, 2015, 10:53 AM (#4)

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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

stanstanev February 24, 2015, 04:32 PM (#5)

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

Stan

peter February 26, 2015, 10:20 AM (#6)

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Stan,


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


Best Regards,
Peter

peter March 04, 2015, 03:15 PM (#7)

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The boards were shipped back. Tracking number: 1ZA317W40393711031


Thank you, Peter

arnaudNL March 06, 2015, 08:43 AM (#8)

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Stan,


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


Best Regards,
Arnaud

stanstanev March 09, 2015, 08:00 PM (#9)

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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

stanstanev March 09, 2015, 08:15 PM (#10)

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

peter March 09, 2015, 11:53 PM (#11)

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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

stanstanev March 10, 2015, 02:59 PM (#12)

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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

peter March 11, 2015, 01:32 AM (#13)

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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

peter March 13, 2015, 09:26 AM (#14)

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Hi Stan,


We did some initial testing on the FMC160 and it looks like it works as expected. We use Xilinx KCU105 development platform, which is also reading out the EEPROM to determine the VADJ power rail requirement before to power up. You said the behavior with the FMC160 is a little different, could you elaborate? I also have some question:
- What is the serial number of the FMC160?
- Does the Vadatech board power up 3.3V and 12V immediately, or together with VADJ?
- Please explain what differences you notice between the FMC230 and FMC160 on the Vadatech hardware.


Thank you,
Peter