Actel Rolls Out Industry's First FPGA-Based System Management for MicroTCA Market
Free, Tested Reference Designs Drive MicroTCA Adoption and Provide Templates for Customization
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 16, 2006 —
Actel
Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTL) today announced it is the first silicon provider
to embrace the Micro Telecom Computing Architecture (MicroTCA) standard
with a comprehensive roadmap of free and tested reference platforms for
system management utilizing field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology.
Leveraging the company's single-chip mixed-signal Fusion™ Programmable
System Chip (PSC), these new reference designs include hardware,
software and intellectual property (IP) for a complete solution to meet
the cost, footprint, flexibility, security and reliability requirements
facing today's system designers.
Built upon the AdvancedTCA (ATCA) specification, MicroTCA is an emerging
global standard driven by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group
(PICMG) offering adopters lower cost and a smaller form factor, improved
reliability and flexibility and reduced time to market. According to
industry estimates, the overall MicroTCA market opportunity is $3.5 billion
in 2010.
"MicroTCA is poised to capture large shares in markets which need
low-cost, high-reliability, remotely-managed systems," said Mike
Franco, president and CEO of Signal Stream Technologies and chairman
of the MicroTCA subcommittee. "I am pleased to see Actel's commitment
to support the MicroTCA design community with Fusion and several comprehensive
reference designs. As an early semiconductor entrant, Actel is well positioned
to capture a significant share of this promising market."
"As a smaller, lower cost option for the marketplace, many believe
that MicroTCA has great potential to replace successful standards like
CompactPCI and VME as the platform of choice," said Jake Chuang,
senior director, application solutions marketing for Actel. "As
more telecom OEMs adopt MicroTCA, Actel can help them improve reliability
and reduce the costs and board space associated with current MicroTCA
and system management implementations using Actel's free Fusion-based
reference designs."
Actel's MicroTCA Solutions and Roadmap
Actel has identified five reference designs along its roadmap to address
the MicroTCA specification – a power module, an advanced mezzanine
card, a cooling module, a MicroTCA carrier hub and a power supply.
Actel's first available offerings include the power module and the advanced
mezzanine card. Conformant with MicroTCA version 1.0 and the Intelligent
Platform Management Interface (IPMI) version 2.0, the Fusion-based power
module design offers unprecedented integration, resulting in a more than
50 percent reduction in part count, cost, and board space as well as
improved manufacturability, flexibility and reliability versus typical
power module designs. Actel's advanced mezzanine card design conforms
to PICMG AMC.0 ECROO1 RC1.0 and allows designers to integrate payload
and management functions.
In 2007, Actel plans to deliver the cooling module, the MicroTCA carrier
hub (MCH) and the power supply reference designs. Actel's cooling module
will offer temperature and voltage monitoring for fans. Performing shelf
and carrier management functions, Actel's MCH will provide integrated
baseboard and network management and support the MicroTCA Carrier Management
Controller (MCMC) interface. Later in the year, Actel expects to offer
the conversion of AC power to 48V DC input via its power supply offering.
Availability
Pricing for the Fusion PSC family starts below $5.00 each in 250K quantities.
Free of charge to qualified customers, the power module and advanced
mezzanine card reference designs are available now. The cooling module
and MCH reference designs will be available in 1H 2007 with the power
supply available in 2H 2007. For more information on pricing and availability,
contact Actel.
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: Gwen Carlson, Microsemi Corporation, 949.221.7173
