Arm MPS4 FPGA Prototyping Board

The Arm MPS4 is the most powerful FPGA prototyping board in Arm’s MPS family, built around the AMD Virtex UltraScale+ XCVU13P with 3,780,000 logic elements, enabling prototyping of complete Arm Corstone subsystems including Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M processors alongside Ethos-U neural processing units and other Arm IP. The board provides the FPGA resources, memory, high-speed interfaces, and debug infrastructure needed for next-generation SoC prototyping.

The MPS4 provides 16 GB DDR4 (8 GB fitted), 128 MB QSPI flash, approximately 11.8 MB of on-FPGA Block RAM (94.5 Mb total per the Virtex UltraScale+ XCVU13P datasheet), and a microSD interface. Two PCIe Gen 3 x4 slots, four USB 3.0 ports, and Gigabit Ethernet provide high-speed host connectivity. The VITA FMC+ HPC connector and three ARC6 24x multi-gigabit transceiver connectors (rated at 10/20 Gbps) enable complex peripheral and high-speed interface prototyping. HDMI 1.4a output supports 1080p video with I2S audio, while MIPI CSI/DSI connectors support camera and display interfaces.

Debug capabilities are exceptional: an on-board ULINKplus provides integrated debug and power measurement, complemented by MIPI 60-wire debug + 16/32-bit trace, 10-pin and 20-pin CoreSight debug connectors, high-speed USB 3.0 16-bit FIFO, four virtual UARTs, and an ILA connector for ChipScope or Identify FPGA debug.

Technical Specifications

Feature	Specification
FPGA	AMD Virtex UltraScale+ XCVU13P
Logic Elements	3,780,000
FPGA Encryption	Arm encrypted image support
DDR4	16 GB (8 GB fitted)
QSPI Flash	128 MB
Internal BRAM	~11.8 MB (94.5 Mb on-FPGA Block RAM per Virtex UltraScale+ XCVU13P datasheet)
Internal UltraRAM	~45 MB (360 Mb on-FPGA UltraRAM per XCVU13P datasheet)
Storage	microSD card interface
PCIe	2x PCIe Gen 3 x4 slots
USB	4x USB 3.0
Ethernet	10/100/1000 GbE
Video	RGB to HDMI 1.4a 1080p with I2S audio
Audio	6-channel Audio In/Out codec
Camera	2x MIPI CSI 1.25 Gbps 2-lane, 1x MIPI CSI 1.25 Gbps 4-lane
Display	1x MIPI DSI 1.25 Gbps 2-lane
Expansion, FMC+	VITA FMC+ HPC connector
Expansion, MGT	3x ARC6 24x connectors (10/20 Gbps per lane)
Expansion, Arduino	2x Arduino Shield connectors
Expansion, Pmod	4x Pmod connectors
Expansion, HAT	HAT GPIO connector
Remote Access	Raspberry Pi interface
User I/O	10 LEDs, 8 switches
Debug, CoreSight	10-pin + 20-pin CoreSight debug + 4-bit trace
Debug, MIPI	MIPI 60w debug + 16/32-bit trace
Debug, On-board	ULINKplus (integrated debug + power measurement)
Debug, USB	High-speed USB 3.0 16-bit FIFO
Debug, Virtual	4 virtual UARTs
Debug, FPGA	ILA connector for ChipScope / Identify
Board Controller	MCC with microSD configuration
Power	252W 12V PSU (included)
Included	MPS4 board, PSU, USB-C cable, test software + FPGA image

MPS Board Comparison

Feature	MPS2+	MPS3	MPS4
FPGA	Altera Cyclone V (300K LE)	Xilinx Kintex UltraScale	AMD Virtex UltraScale+ (3.8M LE)
Processor Support	Cortex-M only (incl. SSE-100/200)	Cortex-M, Cortex-A, Cortex-R (incl. Corstone-300/310)	Cortex-A, Cortex-R, Cortex-M (incl. Corstone-315/320 next-gen subsystems)
Memory	8 MB SSRAM + 16 MB PSRAM	4 GB DDR4 + 16 GB eMMC	16 GB DDR4 + 128 MB QSPI + ~11.8 MB Block RAM
PCIe	None	None	2x Gen 3 x4
USB	USB via MCC	Dual USB-A	4x USB 3.0
Ethernet	SMSC9220 (10/100)	10/100	Gigabit Ethernet
Video	VGA (RGB)	HDMI 1080p	HDMI 1.4a 1080p + MIPI CSI/DSI
Expansion	IDC ports	FMC-HPC + Arduino + Pmod	FMC+ HPC + 3x ARC6 MGT + Arduino + Pmod + HAT
Debug	JTAG + 16-bit trace	P-JTAG + CMSIS-DAP	On-board ULINKplus + MIPI 60w + 32-bit trace
Best For	Cortex-M evaluation	Complex SoC prototyping	Next-gen silicon with AI/ML, high-speed I/O

Why GSAS for MPS4

GSAS provides MPS4 FPGA prototyping boards in India with manufacturer warranty and local application engineering support. The MPS4 is the definitive platform for teams prototyping next-generation Arm-based SoCs with AI/ML acceleration (Ethos-U NPU), high-speed interfaces (PCIe Gen 3, USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, MIPI), and complex multi-processor subsystems. Our team assists with Corstone image configuration, DDR4/PCIe bring-up, debug infrastructure setup (ULINKplus, CoreSight trace), and RTOS/Linux development workflows. For simpler Cortex-M evaluation, see the MPS2+. For mid-range prototyping with FMC-HPC, see the MPS3.