FPGAs Pierce Price And Density Barriers April 2005 Issue Published Date: April 04, 2005
Emerging as the company’s fourth FPGA family based on its 90 nm process technology, the Spartan-3E family reportedly breaks the barriers between price and density. With densities ranging from 100K to 1.6M system gates, the devices integrate microprocessor, microcontroller, and digital-signal processing functions, including the 32-bit MicroBlaze embedded processor. They also include a number of features geared for the consumer electronics market including support for 18 common I/O standards including PCI 64/66, PCI-X 100, RSDS, and mini-LVDS, as well as interfaces for commodity-priced DDR memories. The added features promise to reduce the need for other discrete devices. Price for a Spartan XC3S100E device with 100K system gates is less than $2 each. XILINX INC., San Jose, CA. (408) 559-7778.
