Actel Unveils Platform8051, Industry's First Embedded System Platform for Highly Integrated 8051 Designs
Pre-Integrated and Pre-Verified, Platform8051 IP Significantly Reduces
Development Cost and Design Time for Embedded Systems Designers
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 06, 2003 —
Actel Corporation (Nasdaq:
ACTL) today introduced the new Platform8051, an integrated platform solution
initially consisting of six popular pre-integrated and pre-verified intellectual
property (IP) cores. Optimized for use with Actel field-programmable
gate arrays (FPGAs), the Platform8051 solution enables a flexible, cost-effective,
highly integrated embedded system for consumer, communications, industrial,
automotive, military and aerospace applications. Designers may specify
any configuration of the industry-standard IP cores, including Actel's
new Core8051 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) and a range of peripherals,
and within one day receive the platform design files via a Web-based
delivery system. Actel today also announced availability of the Platform8051
Development Kit that includes the IP cores, software tools and target
silicon needed to implement this unique platform solution. Leveraging
this highly integrated IP solution, Actel expects designers to shave
months off their design time.
"By integrating a variety of key peripherals with an MCU core on
a single FPGA, Actel enables the embedded system designer to achieve
a highly differentiated system-on-chip design for a fraction of the time
and expense required to develop an ASIC," said Yankin Tanurhan,
senior director, Applications and IP Solutions Group at Actel. "The
8051 is the world's leading 8-bit MCU architecture, and with this integrated
platform, designers can use Actel FPGAs to quickly create new products.
Likewise, Platform8051 enables designers to easily migrate current board-level
designs onto a single FPGA to dramatically reduce system costs."
The initial Platform8051 IP family includes Core8051, introduced today
(see related press release, "Actel's
New Core8051 MCU Core Delivers Price/Performance From 35 Cents/MIPS on
a Single Actel FPGA"), along with popular DirectCore peripheral
IP including:
- Core10/100 — 10/100Mbps Ethernet core,
an Ethernet-protocol transceiver/controller
- CoreI2C — Standard Inter-Integrated Circuit core,
a two-wire master/slave serial interface
- CoreSPI — Serial Peripheral Interface core,
a point-to-point master/slave serial interface
- CoreSDLC — Synchronous Data Link Controller core,
a high-speed synchronous serial interface
- Core16X50 — Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART)
core,
a serial communications controller
The cores are thoroughly verified and tested in software simulation
and hardware and have been proven in customer designs. Customers can
purchase the complete set or any combination of the cores, depending
on individual requirements, and receive the platform cores and user documentation
via Web access within a day.
Platform8051 can be used with many Actel FPGA families, including ProASICPLUS,
Axcelerator, SX-A and RTSX-S, to deliver highly integrated 8051-based
products more quickly and without the high non-recurring engineering
(NRE) fees associated with ASIC designs. Actel plans to deliver platforms
based on other industry-standard processors in the future.
Platform8051 Development Kit
With the Platform8051
Development Kit, Actel delivers a complete development environment
including IP cores, software tools and target FPGA for the embedded
designer. A Web server application is utilized to demonstrate Core8051
and Core10/100 in operation. The kit includes an Actel ProASICPLUS APA600-FG676
device, the Keil mVision2 IDE evaluation software, Actel's Libero integrated
design environment and an optional FlashPro Lite debugger providing
access to First Silicon Solutions' (FS2) On-Chip Instrumentation. Being
modular, the kit will allow designers access to future demonstration
applications, such as MIL-STD-1553, USB, IRDA and AFDX.
Pricing and Availability
The Platform8051 product and development kit are available now. The
single-use price for all six cores is $25,000, a cost equivalent to 3
individual cores. The cores are also available individually or as a smaller,
pre-integrated group. The evaluation kit is $550, or $700 including a
FlashPro Lite programmer and FS2 debugger.
About Actel's DirectCore Products
Actel DirectCore products are IP products that are designed specifically
for use with Actel devices. DirectCores are sourced, verified, supported
and maintained by Actel. They come complete as pre-implemented, synthesizable
building blocks and have been thoroughly tested and verified in Actel
FPGAs. DirectCores are delivered with excellent documentation and support
to help simplify the designer's task of achieving fast time-to-market
with minimal design costs and risks.
About Actel
Actel Corporation is a supplier
of innovative programmable logic solutions, including field-programmable
gate arrays (FPGAs) based on antifuse and flash technologies, high-performance
intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design
services, targeted for the high-speed communications, application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) replacement and radiation-tolerant markets.
Founded in 1985, Actel employs approximately 500 people worldwide.
The Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol
ACTL and is headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA,
94043-4655. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com.
Contact: Ferda Mehmet, A&R Edelman, 415.308.7877
