Oxide and Friends

Bringing up Cosmo

31 snips
Apr 24, 2025
Nathanael Huffman, an electrical engineer at Oxide Computer Company, joins the discussion to unveil the challenges and triumphs behind their next-generation server, Cosmo. The team shares fascinating tales of hardware design, including the complexities of integrating FPGAs and troubleshooting nuanced issues. They also reflect on the significance of collaboration in overcoming design hurdles, from circuit board rework to power system optimizations. Humor and camaraderie pepper their insights, making the technical intricacies accessible and engaging.
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INSIGHT

Switch to In-House Design and Altium

  • Oxide moved from outsourced CAD and multiple owners to a compact in-house design team for Cosmo.
  • Switching to Altium from OrCAD enabled a consolidated part library and better control of PCB design quality.
INSIGHT

FPGA Improves Power Sequencing

  • Using FPGA for power sequencing added flexibility and easy updates compared to fixed discrete logic.
  • FPGA-based sequencing hardware supports complex, adaptive power and reset control for AMD Turin processors.
ANECDOTE

Grapefruit Enables Early Risk Reduction

  • Oxide developed Grapefruit, an OCP DC-SCM form-factor board, as a test platform for service processor and FPGA design before Cosmo tape-out.
  • Grapefruit enabled months of FPGA development and risk reduction, proving SPD, eSpy, and other critical subsystems early.
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