Description of COMBO cards
The set of COMBO cards has been designed by CESNET and his partners for the CESNET strategic project "Implementation of IPv6 in the CESNET2 Network". The cards are actively used in the EU projects 6NET (IST-2001-32603) and SCAMPI (IST-32404).
The main idea of the COMBO family is to give the developers a possibility to work with "open hardware" and use it in the same way as open-source software. The heart of COMBO cards consists of one or more FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chips, memories and other necessary components (power supply, IO chips, connectors, etc.). Due to the flexibility of FPGA chips, the functionality of COMBO cards can be easily (and quickly - within just several milliseconds) changed by downloading a new design into the FPGA. This way the same cards can be used for a wide array of research and development projects.
COMBO6COMBO6 is a PCI (32/33) card with XILINX FPGA, memories and connectors for add-on and extension cards. COMBO6 can be used in applications either alone (as a hardware coprocessor) or with add-on cards as an accelerated interface PCI card.
COMBO6XCOMBO6X is a PCI (64/66) card with XILINX FPGA, memories and connectors for add-on and extension cards. COMBO6X can be used in applications either alone (as a hardware coprocessor) or with add-on cards as an accelerated interface PCI card. COMBO6X is expected to replace COMBO6 in the future.
COMBO6ECOMBO6X is an Express PCI card with XILINX FPGA, memories and connectors for add-on and extension cards. COMBO6X can be used in applications either alone (as a hardware coprocessor) or with add-on cards as an accelerated interface Express PCI card. COMBO6X is expected to replace COMBO6 in the future.
COMBO-4MTXCOMBO-4MTX is an add-on card with four copper GE interfaces. The card can be used in many network applications.
COMBO-4SFPCOMBO-4SFP is an add-on card with four SFP cages for GE interfaces. Multimode, monomode, CWDM or copper transceivers can be used. Serialise/deserialise chips also support 2.5Gb/s (Infiniband) and after replacing the crystal 1.062GB/s (Fiber channel) or 2.12Gb/s can be supported, too.
COMBO-4SFPROCOMBO-4SFPRO is an add-on card with four SFP cages for GE or OC48 interfaces. Multimode, monomode, CWDM or copper transceivers can be used.
COMBO-2XFPCOMBO-2XFP is an add-on card with two XFP cages for 10GE interfaces. Multimode, monomode, CWDM or copper transceivers can be used.
COMBO-2XFP2COMBO-2XFP2 is an add-on card with two XFP cages for 10GE and one 1SFP cage for 1GE interfaces. Multimode, monomode, CWDM or copper transceivers can be used.
COMBO-PTMCOMBO-PTM is a PCI(32/33) card with XILINX Spartan3 FPGA, an embedded processor, a precise crystal and several connectors. The card was developed as a source of precise timestamps, but can also be used as a universal accelerated interface card.
COMBO-BOOTCOMBO-BOOT is a card designed as power supply and booting device for COMBO add-on cards. It is intended to support applications that can work without the COMBO6 card and a host PC computer.
