Английская Википедия:Actel

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox company

Actel Corporation (formerly NASDAQ:ACTL) was an American manufacturer of nonvolatile, low-power field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),[1] mixed-signal FPGAs,[2] and programmable logic solutions.[3][4][5] It had its headquarters in Mountain View, California, with offices worldwide. In November 2010, Microsemi acquired Actel for $430 million.[6][7][8][9]

History and competition

Actel was founded in 1985 and became known for its high-reliability and anti-fuse-based FPGAs, used in the military and aerospace markets.[10]

Actel acquired GateField in 2000, which expanded Actel's anti-fuse FPGA offering to include flash-based FPGAs. Actel announced in 2004 that it had shipped the one-millionth unit of its flash-based ProASICPLUS FPGA.[11]

In 2005, Actel introduced a new technology known as Fusion to bring FPGA programmability to mixed-signal solutions. Fusion was the first technology to integrate mixed-signal analogue capabilities with flash memory and FPGA fabric in a monolithic device.[12]

In 2006, to address the tight power budgets of the portable market, Actel introduced the IGLOO FPGA. The IGLOO family of FPGAs was based on Actel's nonvolatile flash technology and the ProASIC 3 FPGA architecture.[13] Two new IGLOO derivatives were added in 2008: IGLOO PLUS FPGAs with enhanced I/O capabilities, and IGLOO nano FPGAs, a low power solution at 2 µW. A nano version of ProASIC3 also became available in 2008.

In 2010, Actel introduced the SmartFusion line of FPGAs. SmartFusion includes both analogue components and a programmable flash-based logic fabric within the same chip. SmartFusion was the first FPGA product to additionally include a hard ARM processor core.[14]

Altera and Xilinx are the other key players in the market, however, their main focus is on SRAM FPGAs. Lattice Semiconductor is another competitor.[15][16]

Technologies

Actel's portfolio of FPGAs is based on two types of technologies: anti-fuse-based FPGAs (Axcelerator, SX-A, eX, and MX families) and flash-based FPGAs (Fusion, PolarFire, IGLOO, and ProASIC3 families).

Actel's anti-fuse FPGAs have been known for their nonvolatility, live-at power-up operation,[17] single-chip form factorШаблон:ClarifyШаблон:Citation needed, and securityШаблон:Citation needed. Actel's flash-based FPGA families include these same characteristicsШаблон:Citation needed and are also reprogrammable and low power.Шаблон:Citation needed

Actel also develops system-critical FPGAs (RTAX and ProASIC3 families), including extended temperature automotive, military, and aerospace FPGAs, plus a wide variety of space-class radiation-tolerant devices. These flash and anti-fuse FPGAs have high levels of reliabilityШаблон:Citation needed and firm-error immunity.Шаблон:ClarifyШаблон:Citation needed

Controversy

In March 2012, researchers from the University of Cambridge discovered a backdoor in the JTAG interface of the ProASIC3 family of low-powered FPGAs.[18] They defended their theory at a cryptography workshop held in Belgium in September 2012.[19]

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:Portal

Шаблон:Programmable Logic Шаблон:Authority control

  1. Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "Actel FPGAs cut power drain to target mobile market Шаблон:Webarchive." Aug 30, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  2. Paul Buckley, EETimes. "Micrium supports Actel SmartFusion FPGAs Шаблон:Webarchive." March 8, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  3. EETimes India. "Actel designs IP core for nonvalatile FPGAs Шаблон:Webarchive." Mar 23, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  4. EETimes Asia. "Seiko Epson goes with Actel FPGAs for multimedia viewers Шаблон:Webarchive." Dec 10, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  5. EETimes Asia. "Free controller cores roll for Actel FPGAs Шаблон:Webarchive." Feb 8, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  6. Microsemi press release "Microsemi Completes Tender Offer for Actel Corporation Шаблон:Webarchive"
  7. Mark Lapedus, EE Times. "Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  8. MELISSA KORN, Wall Street Journal. "Microsemi to Buy Rival Actel for $430 Million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  9. Шаблон:Cite web
  10. Andrew Hamm, SJ Business Journal. "The sky's the limit for Actel chips in planned European satellites." August 1, 2003. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  11. Company Release. "Actel Achieves Key Milestone with its Cost-Effective, Flash-Based FPGAs; Company Ships More Than 1 Million Units Шаблон:Webarchive." March 29, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  12. EETimes. "Actel Claims To Usher In Era Of 'Programmable System Chip'." July 18, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  13. Company Release. "Actel Brings Portable Market In from the Cold With Industry's Lowest Power FPGA Family Шаблон:Webarchive." August 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  14. EETimes. "Actel rolls mixed-signal FPGA with hard ARM core." March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  15. Electronics Weekly. "FPGA / PLD." Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  16. John Edwards, EDN. "No room for Second Place." Jun 1, 2006. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  17. Шаблон:Cite web
  18. Sergei Skorobogatov. "Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip"
  19. CHES 2012 "Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems"