YosysHQ, the workforce behind the Yosys open supply synthesis framework, nextpnr place-and-route software, and a wide range of associated digital design automation instruments, is celebrating a significant milestone: the profitable use of an open supply FPGA toolchain for the biggest machine but, a space-grade chip boasting greater than 500,000 look-up tables (LUTs).
“In what was a significant achievement in open supply FPGA improvement, we now have now added assist for the biggest FPGA thus far supported by open supply tooling,” the YosysHQ workforce explains. “500,000 LUTs! In November 2024 we efficiently concluded the European Area Company [ESA] funded mission in collaboration with NanoXplore, identified for his or her house rated FPGAs.”
The huge 500k-LUT, space-hardened NG-Extremely FPGA is now supported in a Yosys-nextpnr open supply toolchain. (📷: NanoXplore)
The mission, a part of the ESA’s Discovery program, targeted on including assist for NanoXplore’s NG-Extremely FPGA to nextpnr, a place-and-route software which lays out a synthesized design on the FPGA itself. Obtainable in a system-on-chip design pairing Arm Cortex-R52 cores with an FPGA cloth boasting 5,36,928 LUT-4s, permitting for advanced creations, the NG-Extremely is highly effective and radiation-hardened to be used in orbital and deep-space missions — however had beforehand solely been accessible utilizing proprietary, closed-source tooling.
“The mixing of nextpnr with NG-Extremely represents a significant achievement in open-source FPGA improvement, as it’s by far the biggest FPGA supported by open-source tooling,” YosysHQ explains. “The software offers builders with a versatile and customizable possibility for designing for NG-Extremely FPGAs, providing elevated reliability via the flexibility to cross-verify designs utilizing two impartial instruments. Though there are challenges forward when it comes to optimising efficiency and increasing software performance, this mission has laid the inspiration for ongoing innovation and collaboration within the FPGA improvement neighborhood.”
Extra data on the mission is obtainable on the ESA’s Nebula Public Library; nextpnr is obtainable on GitHub beneath the permissive ISC license, with Yosys out there in a separate repository beneath the identical license. Particulars on the NG-Extremely FPGA can be found on the NanoXplore web site.
Major article picture courtesy of the European Area Company (ESA).