Product category:
Programmable Logic Devices
News Release from: Altera Europe | Subject: Cyclone II
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 01 July 2004
Low-cost FPGAs boost design density
Offering 30% lower cost and more than three times the logic density of its predecessor, Cyclone II FPGAs aim to expand on the industry-leading success set by the first-generation Cyclone family.
Offering 30% lower cost and more than three times the logic density of its predecessor, Cyclone II FPGAs aim to expand on the industry-leading success set by the first-generation Cyclone family In addition, Cyclone II FPGAs are approximately half the cost and, based on benchmark results from a large suite of designs, are more than 50% faster than competing low-cost FPGAs
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 26 Mar 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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"With Cyclone II FPGAs, we can further reduce our costs and increase functionality at the same time".
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Based on a cost-optimised architecture manufactured on TSMC's proven 90nm low-k dielectric process, Cyclone II devices offer more features and greater density plus the lowest cost per logic element (LE) in the industry.
New and enhanced features of the Cyclone II device family include: higher density - Cyclone II devices range from 4608 to 68,416 logic elements; embedded multipliers - Cyclone II devices feature up to 150 embedded 18 x 18 multipliers, which are ideal for implementing low-cost digital signal processing (DSP) applications; and embedded memory - Cyclone II devices contain M4K memory blocks consisting of 4608 bits per block and offering up to 1.1Mbit of on-chip memory supporting multiple configurations including true dual-port and single-port RAM, ROM and FIFO buffers.
Cyclone II devices have been designed for high-speed, reliable data transfer and can interface with DDR, DDR II and SDR SDRAM devices as well as QDRII SRAM devices at up to 668Mbit/s.
In addition, Cyclone II supports a variety of single-ended and differential I/O standards including SSTL, HSTL, PCI-X, PCI, LVTTL, LVCMOS, LVDS, mini-LVDS, RSDS and LVPECL.
Cyclone II devices support the recently introduced Nios II family of embedded processors which offer exceptional performance, low cost and the most complete set of software development tools available.
When implemented on a Cyclone II device, the Nios II embedded processor delivers over 100DMIPS performance for as little as $0.35 of logic.
This is the lowest cost 32bit microprocessor on the market today.
In addition, the flexibility of this solution is a compelling alternative to stand-alone processors or hard embedded cores whose features and performance may be rendered obsolete by the time the entire system design is finalised.
"As the Cyclone series has dramatically increased the capability and decreased the cost of FPGAs, designers are using them more and more as a cost-effective means to avoid the growing development costs and risk associated with ASIC design", said Steve Mensor, Altera's Senior Director of Product Marketing.
"With their greater densities and expanded feature set, Cyclone II devices will significantly expand the FPGA market into new, high-volume applications".
"Designers leveraging this capability have a complete set of development tools, including the free Quartus II 4.1 web edition, and IP, including the Nios II soft-core processor, at their disposal to help them quickly implement their designs".
The Cyclone II family is the second line of Altera FPGAs to be built on TSMC's proven, 90nm process node with Applied Materials' Black Diamond low-k dielectric process technology.
This standard process gives Altera a competitive edge in meeting delivery commitments to customers.
On-time delivery of end products onto store shelves is critical to a product's success, especially in low-cost, high-volume markets.
"TSMC's 90nm low-k dielectric process has been adopted and proven by several other leading semiconductor companies, including Altera, which is using it for its Stratix II FPGA family", said Francois Gregoire, Altera's Vice President of Technology.
"Because Cyclone II FPGAs are targeted at cost sensitive applications, it is important that it be built on a standard, robust process, reducing our customers' exposure to risk".
"Our customers can rest assured that we will continue our track record of excellence in execution".
The Cyclone II EP2C30 device will be available in February 2005.
All family members will be in full production by the second half of 2005.
The web edition of Quartus II version 4.1 supports the entire Cyclone II family and can be downloaded for free from the Altera website.
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