Mezzanine Connector

A very useful option for plug-in modules is the ANSI/VITA 57 standard FPGA Mezzanine Card or FMC. This standard specifies an industry standard form factor utilizing a low profile, high-speed, high-pin count connector. The FMC connector can support very high bandwidths. The FMC approach solves the problem of how to change the I/O configuration of an FPGA design without having to redesign the core FPGA functionality. Commercially available mezzanine cards include analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, communications and memory functions. The FMC connector provides a great deal of flexibility by allowing the I/O configuration to be changed by simply plugging in different mezzanine cards. An example of a JAS node with an FMC connector is shown in the photograph below.