Actel's IGLOO FPGAs Address the Rapidly Expanding Portable Market

For the first time Actel's IGLOO FPGAs create the opportunity for designers of portable applications to use reprogrammable, fast time-to-market FPGAs in ultra low-power applications. Actel is delivering IP and reference platforms in the areas of storage, display, and control solutions.

Details of the storage solutions are on page 5 of this edition of eZone. Details of display solutions will follow by the end of 2007. Make sure to register for product updates to get the latest product releases.

The use of programmable logic in portable applications enables designers to build a standard platform of peripherals and use the FPGA to create several variations of the same product, allowing faster time-to-market for the simple version and an upgrade to the higher price point for a full-featured or high-end product. The ability to leverage hardware and software design costs across multiple product models can lead to significant savings in product development costs.

IGLOO FPGAs are unlike any other FPGA on the market. In portable electronics, there are usually several power modes. Think of a camcorder as an example. When recording, everything is on — the lens, controls, display, storage, etc. In playback, some of the functions will not be used. In standby, very few of the functions are used. With the use of the Flash*Freeze pin, IGLOO devices have the ability to reach a standby current of 5 µW in the smallest device. The device can then power up with the release of this single pin and be instantly on, with previous register and memory contents intact. In addition, IGLOO devices can operate in low-frequency mode to provide simple operations in low-power mode.

Actel is also the leader in small footprint packages for programmable logic. Four times the logic and three times the I/O per mm² compared to competitors. IGLOO FPGAs have the broadest offering of small footprint packages, with 0.5mm chip-scale packages, 1mm pitch BGA and more chip-scale offerings than all other programmable logic families.

Beginning Development with IGLOO FPGAs

IGLOO Development Kit comes with everything you need to work on your first IGLOO design, including FREE software, a built-in programmer, and debug support. Since this is focused on low-power applications, you have the ability to run the device at 1.2 V and measure the core voltage and I/O bank voltages individually.

Check your power budget before building your own prototype.

• Download the IGLOO Starter Kit Brochure