Actel

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Actel Corporation 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 factorScript error: No such module "Unsubst".Script error: No such module "Unsubst"., and securityScript error: No such module "Unsubst".. Actel's flash-based FPGA families include these same characteristicsScript error: No such module "Unsubst". and are also reprogrammable and low power.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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 reliabilityScript error: No such module "Unsubst". and firm-error immunity.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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

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  1. ↑ Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "Actel FPGAs cut power drain to target mobile market Template:Webarchive." Aug 30, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  2. ↑ Paul Buckley, EETimes. "Micrium supports Actel SmartFusion FPGAs Template:Webarchive." March 8, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ EETimes India. "Actel designs IP core for nonvalatile FPGAs Template:Webarchive." Mar 23, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  4. ↑ EETimes Asia. "Seiko Epson goes with Actel FPGAs for multimedia viewers Template:Webarchive." Dec 10, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ EETimes Asia. "Free controller cores roll for Actel FPGAs Template:Webarchive." Feb 8, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ Microsemi press release "Microsemi Completes Tender Offer for Actel Corporation Template: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. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  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 Template: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 Template: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. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Sergei Skorobogatov. "Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip"
  19. ↑ CHES 2012 "Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems"

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External links

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