ProASIC3L Low Power Flash FPGAs
Revision 13
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Reduced Cost of Ownership
Advantages to the designer extend beyond low unit cost, performance, and ease of use. Unlike SRAM-
based FPGAs, flash-based ProASIC3L devices allow all functionality to be Instant On; no external boot
PROM is required. On-board security mechanisms prevent access to all the programming information
and enable secure remote updates of the FPGA logic. Designers can perform secure remote in-system
reprogramming to support future design iterations and field upgrades with confidence that valuable
intellectual property cannot be compromised or copied. Secure ISP can be performed using the industry-
standard AES algorithm. The ProASIC3L family device architecture mitigates the need for ASIC
migration at higher user volumes. This makes the ProASIC3L family a cost-effective ASIC replacement
solution, manipulation in portable media and secure communications, radio applications as well as high
performance portable Industrial, test, scientific and medical applications.
Firm-Error Immunity
Firm errors occur most commonly when high-energy neutrons, generated in the upper atmosphere, strike
a configuration cell of an SRAM FPGA. The energy of the collision can change the state of the
configuration cell and thus change the logic, routing, or I/O behavior in an unpredictable way. These
errors are impossible to prevent in SRAM FPGAs. The consequence of this type of error can be a
complete system failure. Firm errors do not exist in the configuration memory of ProASIC3L flash-based
FPGAs. Once it is programmed, the flash cell configuration element of ProASIC3L FPGAs cannot be
altered by high-energy neutrons and is therefore immune to them. Recoverable (or soft) errors occur in
the user data SRAM of all FPGA devices. These can easily be mitigated by using error detection and
correction (EDAC) circuitry built into the FPGA fabric.
Advanced Flash Technology
The ProASIC3L family offers many benefits, including nonvolatility and reprogrammability, through an
advanced flash-based, 130-nm LVCMOS process with 7 layers of metal. Standard CMOS design
techniques are used to implement logic and control functions. The combination of fine granularity,
enhanced flexible routing resources, and abundant flash switches allows for very high logic utilization
without compromising device routability or performance. Logic functions within the device are
interconnected through a four-level routing hierarchy.
Advanced Architecture
The proprietary ProASIC3L architecture provides granularity comparable to standard-cell ASICs. The
ProASIC3L device consists of five distinct and programmable architectural features
(Figure 1-1 onFPGA VersaTiles
Dedicated FlashROM
Dedicated SRAM/FIFO memory
Extensive CCCs and PLLs
I/O structure
The FPGA core consists of a sea of VersaTiles. Each VersaTile can be configured as a three-input logic
function, a D-flip-flop (with or without enable), or a latch by programming the appropriate flash switch
interconnections. The versatility of the ProASIC3L core tile, as either a three-input lookup table (LUT)
equivalent or a D-flip-flop/latch with enable, allows for efficient use of the FPGA fabric.
The VersaTile capability is unique to the ProASIC family of third-generation-architecture flash FPGAs.
VersaTiles are connected with any of the four levels of routing hierarchy. Flash switches are distributed
throughout the device to provide nonvolatile, reconfigurable interconnect programming. Maximum core
utilization is possible for virtually any design.