Chris Hall, DigiTimes.com, Taipei [Tuesday 14 March 2006]

Actel tends to play in the mainstream, value-based end of the FPGA market. That strategy offers a unique value proposition based on Actel`s commitment to the use of flash memory. With an Actel FPGA, it`s flash that holds the memory bits for configuration. DigiTimes.com spoke recently with Dennis Kish, senior vice president for Sales and Marketing, about the company`s FPGA strategy, and in particular, the benefits of the flash-memory approach.

Kish also commented on new products, such as the company`s Fusion programmable system chip (PSC) device, as well as the recent CoreMP7 soft ARM7 microprocessor core optimized for FPGAs. Put simply, Actel is now offering all the building blocks for a system-on-chip (SoC). FPGAs are on the move, says Kish, and today they`re found in a myriad devices, from PDAs to LCD TVs.

This is Part III of a four-part interview. Part I appeared on 10 March, and Part II on 13 March. Part IV will follow on 15 March.

Q: The FPGA market is segmented, with Xilinx, for example, making a distinction between the market positioning of its Vertex and Spartan lines. How does this work out for Actel? What is your strategy in that area, in terms of market segmentation, in terms of offering different products at different price points and so on?

A: For general-purpose FPGAs, we focus on the value-based end of the market with differentiated technology – flash-based FPGAs. Our competition, for example, for general-purpose FPGAs is the Spartan line from Xilinx. And we feel we have pretty good differentiation in that market because our products are flash based. Those products tend to be priced aggressively, and having a system cost advantage is significant for users. The fact that we don`t require any separate configuration memory, which has an associated cost, is a savings that is passed on to the user.

In addition, we don`t have any kind of support circuitry; that’s not required because the flash memory retains the configuration information when the board is turned off – another cost savings for the user. Typically, if you have an SRAM and an FPGA onboard, you also have to have a CPLD on there to supply the power. You have to configure that SRAM device, and that requires additional circuits. So, we have a nice value proposition for people who are in the value-based segment of the business.

The remainder of our strategy is really to focus on additional value that we can deliver with that flash process. The flash transistors program at about 20 volts, so we have high-voltage support on our devices. As well, we have what`s called a triple-well process on our devices, and both of these features lend themselves to analog and flash-memory integration. So, in the latest product we`ve announced, Actel Fusion, we have included, quite a large number of configurable analog blocks, as well as a relatively large amount of storage – up to 8Mbits of flash memory.

Q: How significant is that analog capability in the current market? Is there increasing demand for that?

A: Yes, we`re seeing that the total available market (TAM) that we have addressed with that device actually approaches the TAM for the total FPGA market. That`s because we have put a lot of flexibility into that device, and we have all of that high-voltage support. What`s being integrated there is an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). That ADC is quite flexible and has a 32-channel mux at the front end. Then, we have a series of analog inputs and outputs. The inputs can support temperature, current, and voltage monitoring, as well as data-path functioning for the ADC. The outputs can be high-voltage FET drivers, so you can use this product to do power-up sequencing, or handle fan-control or motor control-type applications. In addition, we have multiple oscillators and PLLs on the device, so you are able to do clock generation, clock conditioning and clock buffering. Then we have high-end flash-memory storage, so you could even put a soft microcontroller into the FPGA component of the device and then operate directly out of flash memory, in terms of program code. It`s a really robust feature set.

Q: How do you see the development of I/O standards at this point in time, and how do they impact the products you offer?

A: I/O is one of the toughest aspects of our planning for new products in the marketplace. The I/O standards are of course evolving quickly, and people do enjoy having a wide selection of FPGA technology. Since we`re programmable, people would like to use our products in a variety of different ways, and they really do want us to support a great many I/O standards.

The value-based products have to be less aggressive, in terms of the number of I/Os that need to be supported, whereas the high-end products are usually packed with I/O features. Probably the most important I/O decisions we have to make, in the course of product planning, are what memory interfaces to support. That has cost implications, so you want to try to support the least expensive forms of external memory, so that users can keep system costs down.

Q: Do you have any new products, or are you about to offer new products, that target particular market segments?

A: Over the course of the last year, we`ve been through a whole spate of launches. The Actel Fusion mixed-signal FPGA is the one that is the most exciting, and the one that I think will most change the landscape of the FPGA market. That`s the one where we have integrated all the analog functions and flash memory, and that puts new use models into play for FPGA vendors, use models that have never been available before. In the past, no FPGA vendor had offered flash memory that could be used as a processor as well as storage, and nobody had any analog functions, other than a PLL, that were available on the device, so that allows us to really begin to build what we call a programmable system chip (PSC).

A true system on chip requires that you support many different types of technology on one device because every board has analog; every board has flash memory; every board has an SRAM. Almost every board has a processor, and almost every board also has a logic function of some sort, whether it`s an ASIC, an ASSP or an FPGA, and we actually have all those forms of technology on the Fusion device. We feel we have a revolutionary product there, and that`s the one we`re putting most of our emphasis on, as we promote products in the marketplace.

Another offering that we made late last year was a soft ARM7 microprocessor core, called CoreMP7. This synthesizable IP core can be embedded securely in an FPGA. That product is also revolutionary, I think, the reason being that we have a unique business model that allows a customer to essentially build any ARM7-based system they want on our device with no licensing or licensing fee or contract required. All they have to do is buy a device from us, and the tools that come along with it, for free, will allow them to put an ARM7 inside our product. For the price of a single FPGA, you`re in the business of creating ARM7-based systems.

Q: There was considerable publicity when Actel offered the CoreMP7, the integrated ARM7 product.

A: Yes, with that new business model, we`ve made quite a bit stir in the marketplace. We ran a campaign that we called “ARM for the Masses” because there had never really been a synthesizable solution for ARM in the FPGA space.

Our competition has gone forward with the creation of their own internally developed soft processors. Instead, we`re very happy to have an industry-standard product because of all the third-party support that `s available. And, of course, users are already familiar with the architecture, and they have existing code libraries and so on.[I have to wonder if we still have a relationship here...

Another product we launched late last year is our high-density, radiation-tolerant RTAX-S, based on our antifuse FPGA technology. We announced a high-end product in that family that can go up to four million system gates, and that really does provide a strong ASIC alternative in the marketplace, compared to what has been available previously.

Q: Could you indicate some of the applications?

A: The primary use of a product like that is in satellites. The radiation you encounter beyond the earth`s atmosphere is fairly intense, and the SRAM-based products that you could use out in that environment aren`t really appropriate. An SRAM would have its configuration bits ``flipped`` in that environment, whereas antifuse, once you have programmed it, is permanently programmed. In fact, it cannot be unprogrammed, so the technology is rock-solid for a radiation environment.

Our customers for radiation-tolerant products include the aeronautics industry and the military, as you`d expect, but we also have customers in medical instrumentation. Nowadays, there are many medical instruments that are used in a radiation environment.

This is Part III of a four-part interview. Part I appeared on 10 March, and Part II on 13 March. Part IV will follow on 15 March.