Product category:
Programmable Logic Devices
News Release from: Altera Europe | Subject: Cyclone III FPGAs
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 15 November 2007
FPGA collaboration cuts costs and boosts
power
The LonWorks communications protocol has been ported to Altera's Nios II embedded processor, which is implemented in a Cyclone FPGA.
Echelon and Altera are collaborating to extend the advantages of Echelon's LonWorks networks to controllers used in building, industrial and home applications The LonWorks communications protocol has been ported to Altera's Nios II embedded processor, which is implemented in a Cyclone FPGA
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 18 Jul 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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This FPGA-based solution, in conjunction with Echelon's new FTXL high-speed network transceiver, provides a quick and easy hardware interface to LonWorks control networks.
The solution is expected to expand the market for high-end LonWorks-based controllers by enabling manufacturers to include greater functionality and processing power at lower costs.
For example, a single Cyclone III FPGA and Nios II embedded processor will serve as a LonWorks processor, intellectual property (IP) host, digital signal processor and touch-screen display driver.
Altera's Cyclone III FPGAs deliver high functionality with a rich feature set and very low power consumption, making them suitable for environmentally responsible products that require a high-performance device while reducing energy consumption and cost.
In home appliances, Echelon's newly updated ShortStack 2.1 API uses Altera's Cyclone III FPGA and Nios II embedded processor to replace as many as four function-specific microprocessors with a single FPGA and a power line smart transceiver.
This helps reduce cost, complexity and development time while simultaneously adding network communications to an appliance that enables utility companies, home appliance OEMs and consumers to effectively manage and control energy consumption.
The Shortstack 2.1 API works in conjunction with Echelon's power line smart transceivers to use the existing electricity wiring in a home for communications, making the solution a "no new wires" approach.
"The combination of Echelon's FTXL high-speed network component and ShortStack 2.1 API with our FPGA and embedded processor technology enables us to deliver flexible, low-cost solutions for consumer products as well as high-performance building and industrial automation system controllers", said Michael Samuelian, Director of Altera's Industrial Business Unit.
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