Lattice Semiconductor

Wireless equipment vendors have relied on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to implement multiple functions as wireless technology has evolved. Common Public Radio Interface, or CPRI, is one example of a wireless protocol that is both new and evolving, and one that can be fully supported in FPGAs. CPRI was formed in 2003 as an industry initiative to define a common interface between radio equipment (RE) and their controllers (REC), in response to demands for greater bandwidth and for the ability to support ever-increasing data rates under extreme pressure.

This paper explains CPRI and its functions, describes the advantages of using a flexible, low cost FPGA-based implementation for CPRI, and discusses design tools that can optimize the synthesis, implementation and verification flow.