Date: 16/09/2008

ATMEL's new family of FPGAs for space applications

Single-chip RTAX-DSP FPGAs

Actel Corporation announced new FPGA family with digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities for space-flight applications.

The new RTAX-DSP family combines Actel's radiation-tolerant RTAX-S FPGA fabric with a high-speed multiply-accumulate (MAC) capability on a single chip.
The two RTAX-DSP devices available are the four-million gate RTAX4000D and the two-million gate RTAX2000D.

Some of the key features & advantages are listed below:

1. Protected against single-event upsets (SEUs), and single-event transients. (Otherwise occur due to heavy ion radiation in space)
2. Immune to radiation-induced configuration upsets.
3. Signal processing power of above 15 billion multiplications per second.
4. Military-temperature range of -55°C to 125°C.
5. RTAX4000D features 120 DSP math-blocks, each capable of performing 18-bit x 18-bit multiplications in excess of 125 MHz
6. RTAX2000D features 64 DSP math-blocks, giving a total signal processing capability above eight billion multiplications per second.
7. Suitable for implementing DSP functions such as FIR and IIR filtering, FFT, IFT and DCT transforms in applications such as radio communication in spacecraft command and data handling systems and communications payloads, imaging and radar systems.
8. Both devices are pin compatible with their RTAX-S counterparts, and will support the same IP.


Packaging: RTAX2000D will be available in 1,152-pin CCGA and LGA packages,
RTAX4000D will be available in 1,272-pin CCGA and LGA packages.
Re-programmable flash-based FPGAs
Actel Corporation introduced the radiation-tolerant, low-power, flash-based FPGAs, RT3PE600L & RT3PE3000L, for space-flight applications. The re-programmability of this family simplifies prototyping and eases hardware timing validation of complex space systems.

Other main features include:

1. Support power supplies ranging from 1.2 to 1.5V
2. RT3PE600L contains 600,000-gate and RT3PE3000L comes with three million-gates.
3. Is based on Actel's ProASIC3 architecture.


Packaging: RT3PE600L will be offered in 484-pin CCGA and LGA packages
RT3PE3000L will be offered in both 484- and 896-pin CCGA and LGA packages.

For more details visit: www.actel.com