Microchip releases second-generation PolarFire FPGA Ethernet Sensor Bridge

Microchip Technology has announced the release of the second-generation PolarFire FPGA Ethernet Sensor Bridge (Rev 2.0). This production-ready board is designed to facilitate standardized sensor integration by leveraging NVIDIA Holoscan Sensor Bridge (HSB) technology.

Compared to the first generation, the Rev 2.0 board features a 60 percent smaller form factor and supports twice the number of cameras, up to four. It is powered via USB-C to allow for streamlined rack deployment and is offered at a lower price point than its predecessor. The architecture utilizes a 10Gb Ethernet-based system to replace complex, multi-interface sensor connections, which aims to reduce overall system costs and bill-of-materials complexity.

The board is intended for AI-driven applications in medical, industrial, and humanoid robotics sectors, specifically those utilizing NVIDIA edge computing platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson and IGX. It includes on-board optical latency measurement circuitry to enable end-to-end latency validation from sensor capture to AI inference. Additionally, the design includes an FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) expansion connector to support future interfaces such as MIPI CSI-2, I2C, UART, and GPIO.