Xilinx 7 Series FPGA/Micron RLDRAM 3 Platform Enables Substantially Higher Data Rates

Xilinx, Inc. and Micron Technology, Inc., today announced the first public hardware demonstration of an FPGA interfacing with RLDRAM 3 memory, a new and emerging memory standard for high-end networking applications such as packet buffering and inspection, linked lists, and lookup tables. Operating with Virtex-7 and Kintex-7 FPGAs at data rates up to 1600 megabits per second (Mb/s), Micron's high-performance RLDRAM 3 memory combines high density, high bandwidth and fast SRAM-like random access to enable a 60 percent higher data rate and memory bandwidth compared to that of the previous generation (Virtex-6 FPGAs/RLDRAM2 memory standard). RLDRAM 3 memory enables 40G and 100G networking systems that require higher speed, higher density, lower power and lower latency.

Virtex-7 and Kintex-7 FPGAs are designed with the necessary IO standards and architectural components for optimal interfacing with RLDRAM 3, providing a significant boost to system performance for high-performance wireless and wired networking systems. RLDRAM 3 memory uses innovative circuit design to minimize the time between the beginning of an access cycle and the instant that the first data is available. Ultra-low bus turnaround time enables higher sustainable bandwidth with near-term balanced read-to-write ratios.