Platform Management is required wherever a system’s hardware needs to be overseen and supervised, such as a server platform, an accelerator module, and add-in card, just to name a few. Platform management embraces everything from low-end tasks such as power-sequencing when the system is powered-on or powered-off, which may be implemented by using CPLDs or entry-level FPGAs, all the way to high-end activities such as resource discovery, telemetry, configuraiton, control, update, security, and resiliency, which may require specialized Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) devices.
Altera FPGAs, such as MAX10, Agilex 3, and Agilex 5, are optimized to perform the platform management functions from Host Processor Module (HPM), SCM (Secure Control Module), and PRoT (Platform Root of Trust) to BMC. The platform management solution using Altera FPGAs provides great flexibility and scalability, faster Time-to-Market (TTM), and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
The flexibility and scalability of the Altera FPGA-based solution provide customers with the possibility to address the evolving security standards and protocols. Faster enabling and TTM make it possible to achieve Best-in-Class security, in-field upgradability, ease of scaling up or down for various platform architectures/generations, and no legacy burden. Customers can also benefit from a lower TCO through competitive BOM, board area, and consolidated functions into one FPGA. The Intel® 7 technology based Agilex FPGA also ensures better processor and supply resilience.
Altera is an advocate for Open Source and OCP (Open Compute Project) as an active participant in OCP and OpenBMC.
The diagram below indicates all the platform management components and their functions.