Actel Expands Web-Based Resource Center for ASIC and FPGA Design Engineers
Company's Resource Center Offers Information on Design Security,
Neutron-Induced Firm Errors, Power Consumption and Green Packaging
SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 09, 2003 —
Actel Corporation (Nasdaq:
ACTL), a supplier of innovative programmable logic solutions, today announced
the company has expanded its Actel
Resource Center to include comprehensive information on power
consumption, "green"
packaging and neutron-induced
firm errors. The Web-based resource center provides customers, design
engineers and managers with information on issues that directly affect
users of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs).
Launched in September of last year to provide information on design
security issues and increase the awareness of design theft, the
Web site includes technology tutorials, FAQs, market overviews, application
notes, white papers, extensive glossaries of industry terms, and links
to other relevant articles and third-party resources. Additional topics
and issues will be added as appropriate.
"With the addition of the new materials, we believe that the Actel
Resource Center will serve as a comprehensive and technical one-stop
site for designers who need the latest information on issues relevant
to the industry," said Barry Marsh, vice president of product marketing
at Actel. "The initial launch of the site demonstrated that Actel
is a leading authority on security issues and we believe that our technology
leadership in the new topic areas further solidifies the site as a valuable
resource. We're committed to maintaining this value by updating the materials
and leveraging third-party materials to provide broad industry perspectives."
Design security, power consumption issues, neutron-induced firm errors,
and green packaging were selected as the four key subject areas of the
site due to their increasing importance in the industry.
Security Issues
Cost-effective, user-programmable FPGAs offer a highly attractive alternative
to traditional ASICs for implementing complex design functions. With
the increase in FPGA adoption, devices have grown in size and complexity,
thereby making the need for secure logic devices more apparent. More
often than not, the key intellectual property (IP), which differentiates
the system from competitive offerings, is housed in programmable logic.
Given these trends, the vulnerability of each system's unique value-added
characteristics is often a direct function of an FPGA's security capabilities.
Power Management Issues
Power management issues are increasingly critical to designers as system
designs become smaller and portable designs continue to grow at a substantial
rate. The power dissipation of the individual components in the system
lead to the sizing of the power supplies, the type of cooling required
and the size of the enclosure. Using low power consuming devices can
greatly reduce the overall total system power requirement, which is directly
related to system cost. As a result, designers are turning to solutions
with advanced power capabilities, such as Actel's nonvolatile FPGAs,
which are live at power-up, thereby helping to avoid in-rush current
spikes; simplify system power supply design; and generally deliver lower
standby and dynamic power consumption than competing solutions.Neutron-Induced
Firm Errors
Firm errors occur when high-energy neutrons generated in the upper atmosphere
strike the configuration cell of an SRAM FPGA. The energy of the collision
can change the state of the configuration cell and thus change the logic
and/or routing of the FPGA in an unpredictable and uncontrollable way.
As a result, these errors are impossible to prevent when using SRAM FPGAs,
costly to detect and could result in system failure. With solutions such
as Actel's nonvolatile FPGAs, the configuration element of the device
cannot be altered once programmed, making firm errors nonexistent.
Green Packaging
"Green" packaging solutions comply with global environmental
initiatives aimed at replacing lead in the manufacturing process of electronic
devices. A "green" package is defined as being free of lead,
halogenated compounds and antimony oxides. Japan, the first country to
manufacture lead-free assemblies, requires all semiconductors manufactured
in that country to have lead-free packaging. The majority of Japanese-based
companies insist that vendors comply with these regulations. In addition,
environment-conscious initiatives in Europe and the U.S. are gaining
momentum as well.
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 955 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif.,
94086-4533. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com.
Contact: Ferda Mehmet, A&R Edelman, 415.308.7877
