The MimoKit is designed for extensively networked embedded applications that require wireless LAN connectivity and Gigabit Ethernet. Based on two high-end field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), the MimoKit permits the implementation of extremely complex digital processing blocks, such as those found in modern multi-antenna WLAN interfaces.
Moreover, it also has a sufficient gate capacity to host a complete system-on-programmable chip (SoPC), including microcontroller cores and advanced communication peripherals. Given these unique features, the MimoKit is the ideal platform for WLAN-capable SoC prototyping.
One major advantage of the MimoKit is the presence of the MIMO RF and analog front-end consisting of 2 major sub-blocks:
• The analog block is made of 3 IQ codecs which perform the conversions between the digital and analog domains. The digital side of the codec’s bank is connected to an FPGA, while the analog side carries the differential signals to the radio transceivers.
• The radio block consists of three 2.4GHz/5GHz dual-band radio transceivers.
In addition to the state-of-the-art MIMO front-end and a huge configurable logic capacity, the MimoKit features two independent Gigabit Ethernet PHYs. These transceivers make the MimoKit a sensible choice for applications requiring a high degree of network connectivity. For example, wireless routers, residential gateways, or triple play ISP boxes. Additionally, the MimoKit platform features lower bandwidth I/O peripherals: USB2 high-speed host and device transceivers, and a couple of industry-standard RS-232 ports. The PCI interface permits a seamless integration in a PC environment and provides a fast and convenient debug interface to complex design.
