WLAN Validation Platform

The Ittiam Wireless LAN (WLAN) Validation Platform forms a part of the WLAN Validation Kit available to licensees of Ittiam's IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g PHY synthesizable cores (delivered as Verilog or VHDL) and MAC IP (implemented as portable ANSI-C source and hardware accelerators).

The Ittiam WLAN Validation Platform provides an environment for a physical realization of Ittiam Systems’ IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g PHYs and 802.11 MAC. Integrated with appropriate host and network interfaces and commercial Radio Frequency (RF) chipsets, this allows the Validation Platform to be operated as a Station or Access Point (AP), interoperable with standard off the shelf 802.11 WLAN networking equipment.

The Validation Platform can be used for validation, performance testing, interoperability testing and application level testing of Ittiam's WLAN IP.

The Validation Platform deprecates the first generation platform (in use since 2002) and improves on it through increased flexibility, enhanced ease of realization and lower cost.

Features

• Provisioned with two Altera Stratix FPGAs for realization of two PHYs (e.g. dual band operation)
• Altera Excalibur (ARM922T core, AMBA bus, FPGA gates) to execute MAC software with hardware acceleration
• Separate analog section to allow for fast, cost effective and targetted respins of platform various RF chipsets
• Provision for two analog sections and RF
• Host and Network interfaces, with appropriate drivers
• Configurable as Station or Access Point, with appropriate configuration utilities
• Provides facilities for code and FPGA bitstream download
• Provides for test and debug of Ittiam IP, interoperable with standard off the shelf 802.11 networking equipment

Technical Specification

• Dual Altera FPGA Stratix EP1S80
• Altera FPGA Excalibur EPXA10 (with embedded ARM9 core at 200 MHz)
• USB 1.1, USB 2.0 Host Interfaces
• 32 bit CardBus (PCMCIA) Host Interface
• 10 / 100 Base T Ethernet Network Interface
• RS232 Serial Interface
• 8 MB Flash Memory, and 64 MB SDRAM
• Separate Analog Section with
• I/Q ADC / DAC at 80 MSPS
• RSSI ADC at 40 MSPS
• AGC Gain, Tx Power Set DAC at 40 MSPS
• JTAG and Mictor Connectors for Programming and Debugging
• Interfaces for RF Cards
• Onboard clocks for FPGA, ARM9, and USB/Ethernet Interfaces
• Single 5V power supply connection for board operation

Applications

• Validation of Ittiam WLAN IP
• Performance measurement of Ittiam WLAN IP
• Custom Applications

Delivery

• 1 Ittiam WLAN Validation Platform Digital Board
• 1 Ittiam WLAN Validation Platform Analog Board, 1 RF card with 1 external Antenna (optional)
• 1 Power Supply (5V, 10A)
• 1 Ethernet Cable, 1 USB Cable, 1 Serial Port Cable
• 1 CD with Board Support Package and Documentation

For further details, contact mkt@ittiam.com.