PLDs cross over into FPGA applications

Lattice Semiconductor has launched its new MachXO family with the immediate availability of its first two members, the MachXO256 and MachXO640.

Lattice Semiconductor has launched its new MachXO family with the immediate availability of its first two members, the MachXO256 and MachXO640.

This new class of crossover programmable logic device supports applications that traditionally have been addressed either by high density CPLDs or low capacity FPGAs, but with a more comprehensive and cost-effective architecture and technology.

Through the use of 130nm nonvolatile embedded Flash process technology, and the use of an industry-standard four-input look-up table (LUT) approach for logic implementation, these new devices provide system designers with up to 50% lower cost per logic function, yet deliver a dramatic increase in features.

Not content merely to address traditional CPLD applications with its MachXO devices, Lattice has added to all family members distributed memory, a low standby power sleep mode and the ability to transparently update logic configurations through Lattice's unique TransFR technology.

In addition, support for embedded block RAM (EBR) and phase-locked loop (PLL) clock circuitry, as well as PCI and LVDS I/O, has been added to the larger family members, providing functionality typically found only in traditional FPGA architectures.

At the same time, the instant on, single-chip and high-speed benefits of previous generations of Lattice CPLDs, such as its popular MACH devices, have been preserved.

"When we defined our MachXO products, we took a hard look at the features that customers needed for control, bus-bridging and interface functions that are most commonly implemented in CPLDs", said Stan Kopec, Lattice Vice President of Marketing.

"It quickly became obvious that by utilising the efficiency of a LUT-based architecture, and combining it with our unique high-performance Flash plus SRAM technology, we would be able to provide a significantly lower cost per function, even as we were able to add features that are extremely important in the implementation of today's bridging and interface functions".

The MachXO logic devices are built on a low cost 130nm embedded Flash process technology that enables instant-on operation in a single chip, a feature essential to many CPLD applications.

Pin-to-pin delays as fast as 3.5ns allow the devices to address the high-speed requirements of contemporary system designs.

The technology uses a native 1.2V logic core that is supported directly by "E" versions of the MachXO devices for the lowest power consumption.

An on-chip voltage regulator allows "C" versions of the devices to support 1.8, 2.5 or 3.3V external power supplies to support legacy system power requirements.

Four density levels have been defined for the MachXO family, including 256, 640, 1200 and 2280 LUT devices, with user I/O counts ranging from 78 to 271 I/Os.

Package options include thin quad flatpack (TQFP), 8 x 8mm footprint chip-scale BGA (csBGA) and fine-pitch BGA (fpBGA) package styles from 100 to 324 leads.

The MachXO1200 and MachXO2280 support one or two analogue PLLs, as well as one or three 9Kbit embedded block RAM blocks, respectively, yielding 9.2 or 27.6Kbit of block memory per device.

Flash backup allows each EBR block to be configured not only for standard single- and dual-port RAM functions, but also nonvolatile user ROM.

Dedicated "hard" FIFO support logic increases the efficiency of FIFO implementations as well, requiring no additional LUTs for pointer and flag functions.

At the core of each device is an array of look-up tables that can be used to implement logic and small distributed memories.

This array is surrounded by flexible I/Os that can implement a variety of popular I/O standards such as LVCMOS and, on the larger devices, PCI and LVDS.

A sleep mode offers up to a 100x reduction in standby power, supporting those applications that demand low power.

The devices also support Lattice's unique TransFR (transparent field reconfiguration) technology that allows the Flash configuration storage to be programmed transparently while the device continues to operate normally from its SRAM configuration storage.

The new configuration can be downloaded when convenient from the Flash to the SRAM blocks in milliseconds.

TransFR technology allows devices to be updated without significantly disrupting system operation, enabling the flexibility of field logic updates while maintaining "5 nines" (99.999%) or better system availability.

Complete timing driven design for the MachXO devices is included in the Lattice ispLever design tool suite.

Mentor Graphics' Precision RTL Synthesis and Synplicity's Synplify synthesis tools support VHDL and Verilog design entry, and the ispLever software provides a comprehensive suite of implementation, verification and programming tools.

The ispLever 5.0 Service Pack 1 is available for immediate download from the Lattice website.

Evaluation boards for the MachXO256 and MachXO640 devices also are available for purchase, starting at $99.

MachXO devices are suitable for the implementation of a wide array of functions, including bus bridging, interfacing, control logic, clock management, power and reset control, glue logic, memory control and ASIC and FPGA configuration.

These applications are found in a wide variety of end markets, including automotive, consumer, communications, computing, industrial, medical, military and networking.

The 640 and 256 devices are available now and the 1200 and 2280 are expected to sample during 2005.

In high volumes (250,000 units), the 256 LUT MachXO256 device will be priced as low as $1.50, and the 640 LUT MachXO640 device will be priced as low as $2.25.

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