MNT Reform Kintex-7 SoM (MNT RKX7)

This is the open hardware system-on-module featuring the Xilinx/AMD Kintex-7 FPGA (XC7K160T or XC7K325T) and 2GB DDR3 RAM. It can be used as an alternative to the main processor module in the MNT Reform open hardware laptop or in any other custom device. The idea is to test synthesized open cores such as CORE-V CVA6 (RISC-V), LiteX (multi-architecture), LibreSOC (OpenPOWER) in a real laptop. True emulation of vintage computer architectures in a laptop form factor is possible as well.

The module was designed by Lukas F. Hartmann (mntmn) of MNT Research GmbH.

Manual

Please see the RKX7 manual in PDF form.

Status

In September 2022 we assembled and brought up the second revision of the module (D-2) which fixes some problems found in the first revision. We were able to run a full RISC-V Linux desktop on the new module, integrated in the MNT Reform laptop shell. We are using the XC7K325T-FFG676 FPGA. For details, see the MNT Reform Kintex-7 SoM Showcase.

Changes from D-1:

• The power sequencing IC was missing pullups on the outputs.
• The DDR3 memory routing was completely redone for a less congested layout and avoiding crosstalk. This fixed some address bus errors of the first version.
• The TC358778XBG MIPI encoder was removed. Instead, 24-bit parallel RGB, clocks and extra GPIOs are routed out to a new 50 pin FPC header. This makes the module more flexibly usable.
• We designed a new adapter PCB featuring the Analogix ANX9807 RGB to eDP chip. We are able to successfully drive MNT Reform's eDP Full HD display.
• The TUSB1310ZAY USB3/2 PHY was removed as it is EOL, expensive and there was is no available XHCI host implementation that could drive it. Instead, USB1/2 pads are now driven directly by the FPGA. This works well with the SpinalHDL OHCI host controller which is supported by LiteX.