Still Using the Same Old FPGA Supplier?

For many companies, the decision about which FPGA supplier to use was made some time ago. In some instances, the argument for changing suppliers is like asking someone to challenge their own religious beliefs. However, the decision should not be about changing suppliers, but instead about leveraging the right technology to get the job done.

Are technology differences significant enough to make it worth going out on a limb?

In this edition of eZone, we provide you with the arguments, data, and support you need to make the right choice. At Actel, we understand the difficulties and risks you take when recommending a new technology to your boss or team. With your existing supplier, you know the design tools, you know your rep, and you know your FAE and his home number when you need him. You don't want to learn new tools, find new IP, or risk design flow issues in this critical time-to-market, have-everything-done-yesterday environment.

You need to have a very good reason to leave the comfort of your existing design world and examine the alternatives. In this fast-paced world of more features with faster time-to-market and lower costs, that reason includes the ever-increasing demand for low power, extended battery life, and providing more features at the same battery life. Even if you are not designing for battery-powered applications, the UN has stated that it is the responsibility of design engineers to use less power in all applications. Just because it has a plug doesn't mean it should be power hungry. Think of all the fans in a server room trying to keep equipment cool—that's a lot of power!

Why not use the same FPGA you've always used?
Because Power Matters!

At each stage of the design process, you have certain choices. Let's assume your design includes an FPGA or an FPGA is contending for the spot of logic processing or general muscle in your system. When you think FPGA, you most likely consider popular SRAM-based solutions from Altera® and Xilinx®. We suggest that these may not be the right choices for your application.

Nonvolatile flash technology offers significant benefits worth considering. For power alone, flash-based FPGAs consume more than 200 times less static power than SRAM-based offerings and deliver more than 10 times the battery life of the current leading PLDs in portable applications. These advantages are worth looking into, are they not? Other benefits include single chip, no boot PROM, live at power-up, security, firm-error immunity, and the list goes on...

Similarly, consider the move toward on-board flash-based microcontrollers instead of having to run code from external SRAM. The fact that your SRAM-based FPGA supplier has to recommend a flash device for configuration or build a hybrid part to store their configuration might suggest that starting with a flash-based FPGA would just be easier.

In order to convince you to change suppliers, we have recognized that we need to have more than just the right technology. For this reason, Actel is attacking power in every aspect of FPGA design—from process to power-optimized design tools, IP, packaging, and education. So, to help you see the possibilities in a change to Actel, this edition of eZone will walk you through your key decision points.

A Chinese proverb suggests: "You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow."