Analogue arrays double processing capability

Two new field programmable analogue arrays (FPAAs) offer twice the processing capability of Anadigm's entry-level device at an aggressive price point.

Two new field programmable analogue arrays (FPAAs) offer twice the processing capability of Anadigm's entry-level device at an aggressive price point.

These new devices open the way for programmable analogue implementations in high-volume audio, industrial, and medical systems.

Priced starting at $5.08 in 10,000-piece quantities, the new AN122E04 and AN222E04 combine streamlined I/O configuration options with the same configurable analogue block (CAB) resources as Anadigm's flagship FPAA products, giving designers all the signal processing capabilities they need for high-volume analogue filtering, sensor conditioning, and basic PID control applications.

Serving as the analogue equivalent to an FPGA, the new FPAAs will be used to replace discrete components and analogue ASICs and ASSPs with a programmable, pretested, single-chip device that puts analogue functions under software control.

"With twice the analogue processing resources as our entry-level AN221E02, these new FPAAs deliver twice the value for our customers at a marginally higher cost", said Nathan John, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Anadigm.

"For high-volume applications, these new devices are highly price-competitive with discretes and ASICs, while greatly reducing the duration and cost of the development process by comparison".

Designers will program the AN222E04 and AN122E04 using AnadigmDesigner2, a drag-and-drop CAD tool that allows designers to construct complex analogue functions using configurable analogue modules (CAMs) as system building blocks.

With this easy-to-use interface, the design process can be measured in minutes, allowing complete analogue systems to be built rapidly, simulated immediately, and then downloaded to the FPAA chip for testing and validation.

With analogue functions defined by software, control is easily implemented using C-code automatically generated by AnadigmDesigner2.

Both the AN222E04 and AN122E04 devices can be reconfigured in-system to enable auto-ranging and auto-calibration.

This same capability allows the FPAAs to change their functions sequentially over time to support multiple operating modes, thus allowing designers to consolidate several functions in a single IC.

The AN222E04 has the additional feature of being dynamically reconfigurable, allowing on-the-fly, real-time control of analogue functions by the microprocessor in an embedded system.

At the heart of the AN222E04 and AN122E04 devices is an array of four identical CABs that are the supporting hardware elements that implement the CAM functions.

These devices also feature four I/O cells and two dedicated output cells, allowing each device to be programmed with up to six outputs.

In addition, both devices have a successive approximation register block that can be used with the lookup table to implement nonlinear functions.

Packaged in 44-pin QFPs, samples and production quantities of both devices are available now.

Pricing in 10,000-piece quantities for US delivery starts at $6.19 for the AN222E04 and $5.08 for the AN122E04.

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