Inexpensive FPGA module with German chip and open-source toolchain
Manufacturer Cologne Chip solders its GateMate A1 onto a module that fits I/O boards for the Raspberry Pi CM5.
Developer module ULX5M-GS with GateMate FPGA on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 IO Board
(Image: Christof Windeck / heise medien)
Many development boards for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are expensive and can only be programmed with proprietary, paid design software. This is different with the GateMate FPGAs from the German manufacturer Cologne Chip, which Globalfoundries manufactures in Dresden using 28-nanometer technology. To further reduce costs for hobbyists, Cologne Chip has developed the ULX5M-GS module, which fits, for example, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 IO Board for the CM5, which costs around 25 euros.
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The ULX5M-GS is equipped with the Cologne Chip GateMate A1, 64 MByte DRAM, and a Gigabit Ethernet adapter chip. The same FPGA is also used on the Olimex GateMateA1-EVB, which has been available for longer and is popular for retro projects, such as GateMate PC DOS. Such retro projects can also be implemented with the ULX5M-GS.
On the ULX5M-GS, for example, the 32-bit RISC-V processor FemtoRV can also be implemented.
Open-Source Hardware
The ULX5M-GS is open-source hardware, and the documentation of the ULX5M-GS is openly available on GitHub.
Cologne Chip has not yet named a supplier or an exact price for the ULX5M-GS. However, the module is expected to cost around 50 euros, a Cologne Chip representative said when asked at the embedded world 2026 trade fair in Nuremberg.
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(ciw)
