The system is built around a Lattice ECP3-150EA FPGA, providing

• 149.000 LUTs,
• 6.8MBits of embedded RAM, and
• 16 in/out 3.2 Gbps SERDES channels.

In conjuction with fast DDR3 Memory, the Sparrowhawk FX allows for

• reception,
• processing,
• arbitrary mixing and
• display

of 4 independent HDMI video input and output streams in full HD 1080p60 resolution (1920×1080 @ 60Hz, 24-bit color), with room to handle also the emerging 4k*2k video for next generation digital cinemas.

Eight SERDES input and output channels are allocated to two HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs.

The remaining 8 input and output SERDES channels are connected to a high speed expansion connector, which enables prototyping various other video and non-video interfaces with the Sparrowhawk FX development system.

A total of three expansion connectors with 142 GPIO pins and 8 in/out SERDES differential pairs are available on the Sparrowhawk FX.

To facilitate the development of soft CPU applications with the Lattice Mico32, and to provide space for embedded graphics, the Sparrowhawk FX board integrates a 512 Mbits parallel NOR flash.

For extendable, removable storage, a standard Secure Digital (SD) Card slot is mounted, with both the SPI and the Proprietary SD interface connected to the ECP3 FPGA.

An additional 64Mbit SPI flash memory is available for the storage of the FPGA bitstream and other system data such as the Mico32 software.

Audio processing and playback is supported through the embedded AC’97 audio codec with two 3.5mm stereo jacks (input and output) and an S/PDIF 5.1 digital output RCA connector.

RS-232 and USB connectivity is available, with the board integrating a USB 2.0 host and a USB 2.0 device, both capable of High speed, 480 Mbps transfers.