Advanced Computing in the Age of AI | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Xilinx Adds High-Bandwidth Memory Capabilities to its Virtex UltraScale+ Portfolio 

June 26, 2020 — Xilinx announced the addition of a new high-bandwidth memory device to its Virtex UltraScale+ portfolio. In an announcement posted below, Xilinx details the new capabilities.


Feeling the need for speed? Look no further. Today we’re proudly adding a one-of-a-kind speed-demon to our Virtex UltraScale+ line, a new high-bandwidth memory (HBM) device that moves large amounts of data very quickly, with low latency and minimal power requirements. The new Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA brings together a truly powerful set of capabilities ideal for the most demanding applications in the datacenter and wired and wireless communications.

Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA. Image courtesy of Xilinx.

Unique to the Virtex UltraScale+ HBM FPGAs is an integrated AXI port switch, which enables any HBM memory location to be accessed from any memory port, saving 250K look-up tables, 370K flip-flops, and over 4W of power. The switch reduces design size and complexity and eases timing closure efforts leading to a faster time to market and lower OPEX.Our Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA delivers significantly more memory bandwidth and capacity than discrete commodity memories, like DDR4, making it the perfect choice for latency-sensitive workloads where fast data throughput and fast memory are key requirements. It integrates power-efficient compute capabilities with the highest memory bandwidth—up to 460GB/s – and capacity while leveraging the latest PAM4 high-speed transceivers to double the transmission rate vs mainstream 25G transceivers. The integrated HBM controller and AXI port switch provides contiguous memory access to the entire 16G HBM.

In addition, the new device integrates high-speed connectivity, as well—100G Ethernet with RS-FEC, 150G Interlaken, PCIe Gen4—simplifying design efforts, and accelerating time to market.

Among the applications that will benefit from the new Xilinx device are:

  • Compute acceleration: Pre-processing data is critical to achieve the best performance results. Unlike fixed-function compute devices, the Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P device, with its adaptable logic and 460GB/s of HBM bandwidth, can select, transform and groom data to optimize inputs for the target accelerator. With its high-speed PAM4 transceivers, the new Xilinx FPGA maximizes throughput and system performance.
  • Next-generation firewalls: Network operators require uninterrupted, robust network availability, and intelligent management while securing data and avoiding malware attacks on enterprise networks. The Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA enables unmatched scalability for implementing multi-layer network security with 10s of millions of concurrent sessions at line-rate. With 16G HBM, security appliances can manage multiple look-up tables while buffering and reordering network flows. 58G PAM4 transceivers enable support for the latest optical standards for scalability to higher throughput needed by next-generation firewalls.
  • Switches and routers with QoS: Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA with 16G HBM enables an Nx400G/200G/100G/50G switch with a 400G datapath pipeline and traffic manager for QoS. 58G PAM4 transceivers enable connectivity to the latest optical standards and double the transmission rate to external devices. Look-up tables and traffic manager queues are implemented in HBM DRAM. With power/thermal constraints​ in mind, Virtex UltraScale+ VU57P FPGA-based switches and routers can implement a less complex cooling mechanism with higher performance through lidless package options, which is critical to datacenter and telco infrastructure.

For more details about our very own “Top Gun,” the turbo-charged, new Virtex UltraScale+VU57P FPGA, see www.xilinx.com/vu57p.

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