Extending CASPER support to third-party RFSoC boards: a case study with TQ47DR postprint

Abstract: The open-source Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER) toolflow has become a popular choice for building reconfigurable digital backends in radio astronomy. We extend this toolflow to the third-party TQ47DR Radio-Frequency System-on-Chip (RFSoC) platform, a cost-effective and widely available board. Our implementation includes a custom PetaLinux system, a lightweight control server, a deterministic clock-management driver, and platform-specific yellow-block adaptations that expose the on-chip data converters and 100-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. System validation demonstrates high-quality converter performance, stable packet streaming, and real-time spectrometry, confirming that such third-party hardware can be integrated seamlessly into this open-source programming ecosystem for next-generation instruments.