Unlocking New Possibilities in System Development, Actel Ships World's First Mixed-Signal FPGA
Unprecedented Integration of Analog Peripherals,
Flash Memory and FPGA Fabric in a Monolithic Programmable System Chip
Redefines How Products are Designed
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., December 12, 2005 —
Satisfying
a strong demand from system architects for a device that simplifies design
and unleashes their creativity, Actel Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTL) today
announced the immediate availability of the Actel
Fusion™ Programmable System Chip (PSC), the world's first mixed-signal
FPGA family. By integrating mixed-signal analog, flash memory and FPGA
fabric in a monolithic PSC, the Actel Fusion devices enable designers
to quickly move from concept to completed design and deliver feature-rich
systems to market. The Actel Fusion PSCs bring the benefits of programmable
logic to application areas, including: power management, smart battery
charging, clock generation and management and motor control, that until
now have only been served by either costly and space-consuming discrete
analog components or mixed-signal ASIC solutions.
The Actel Fusion PSCs present new capabilities for system development
by allowing designers to integrate a wide range of functionality into
a single device while at the same time offering the flexibility of upgrades
in the field or deep in the production cycle. The Actel Fusion devices
provide an excellent alternative to costly and time-consuming mixed-signal
ASIC design. In addition, when used in conjunction with Actel's ARM7
and 8051-based soft MCU cores, the Actel Fusion technology represents
the definitive PSC platform.
"With the Actel Fusion PSC we are removing the handcuffs from system
architects and allowing them to focus on adding unique features and enhancing
end-product value," said John East, president and CEO of Actel. "Designers
will be able to treat the Fusion PSCs like a mixed-signal ASIC without
all the ASIC penalties of long design cycles and high costs."
To support these new devices and help maximize designer productivity,
Actel has developed a comprehensive design environment that includes
software tools, intellectual property (IP) and reference designs. (See
related press release issued today "Actel
Design Environment Enables Fast, Easy Implementation of World's First
Mixed-Signal FPGA.")
The Ultimate Programmable System Chip
The Actel Fusion devices integrate a configurable 12-bit successive
approximation register (SAR) analog to digital converter (ADC) with frequencies
up to 600 ksps. The flexible analog block supports MOSFET gate driver
output and multiple analog inputs from -12 volts to up to +12 volts with
optional prescaler, thus enabling direct connection and control of a
wide variety of analog systems such as a voltage, differential current
or temperature monitor.
The Actel Fusion PSC family is the only programmable logic solution
to include embedded flash memory — up to 1 Mbyte per device. The
flash memory offers 60-nanosecond random access and a very fast 100MHz
access in read-ahead mode. The high performance flash memory offers a
user-configurable data bus supporting x8, x16 and x32 bit widths. The
memory also offers error correction circuitry (ECC) with single-bit error
fix and two-bit error-detect capabilities. Pseudo EEPROM can be achieved
with endurance extender IP available from Actel. Further, the Actel Fusion
PSCs give designers unprecedented levels of flexibility by allowing them
to easily reconfigure analog block settings to perform widely different
functions by simply downloading data from embedded flash memory.
Actel's Fusion PSCs extend the core benefits of the company's flash
FPGA technology — live
at power-up (LAPU), single-chip, firm-error
immunity and low total
system cost — to the world's only mixed-signal FPGAs. The new
Actel Fusion PSCs deliver the core analog blocks required for applications
in the industrial, medical, military/aerospace, communications, consumer
and automotive markets.
For power-sensitive applications, the Actel Fusion PSCs offer ultra
low-power sleep and stand-by modes and are specifically designed to handle
Level 0 LAPU system supervisory activities, such as system board power-up
sequencing and configuration.
Enabling Technology Behind Fusion Innovation
The Actel Fusion technology and devices enable designers to design at
both very high and very low levels of abstraction. Fusion peripherals
include hard analog IP and hard and/or soft digital IP. Peripherals communicate
across the FPGA fabric via a layer of soft gates — the Smart Backbone.
Much more than a bus interface, the Smart Backbone integrates a micro-sequencer
within the FPGA fabric and will configure the individual peripherals
and support low-level processing of peripheral data.
Pricing and Availability
The Actel Fusion PSC family includes four devices of varying gate densities,
levels of embedded flash and analog channels. Actel's AFS600 Fusion PSCs
are available immediately. Pricing for the Fusion PSC family of products
start below $5.00 each in 250K quantities. Starter kits, reference designs
and software tools are also available now. For more information on pricing
and availability, contact your local sales representative.
About Actel
Actel Corporation is the leader in single-chip FPGA solutions. The Company
is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol ACTL and is
headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, Calif., 94043-4655.
For more information about Actel, visit http://www.actel.com.
Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835).
Contact: Stephanie Mrus, Actel Corporation, 650.318.4614
