FPGA Central

FPGA Journal Update




a techfocus media publication :: April 1, 2009 :: volume XXII, no. 13











FROM THE EDITOR



This week, we back off from the high-flying world of high-performance FPGAs and cool down a bit. We're not talking about the microwatt-standby power cool of some of today's low-power FPGAs, however. This week, we take the wraps off a new FPGA family from RetroLogik that is cool in a whole different way. Our latest feature has the details.

Also new this week, Mike Santarini of Xilinx brings us a contributed article with some exciting new work from Xilinx Research Labs. Long before we get new production FPGAs, the research labs are doing work at the fundamental process level. The company is announcing the discovery of four new fundamental components that could ultimately change our design lives.

Thanks for reading! If there's anything we can do to make our publications more useful to you, please let us know at:comments (AT) fpgajournal (DOT) com. If you'd rather sound off in public, please post your comments or questions in our Journal Forums.



Kevin Morris – Editor in Chief
Techfocus Media, Inc.











EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS











Introducing Stratix IV GT FPGAs.
Take your high-speed transceiver designs to the next level with new Altera Stratix IV GT FPGAs-- the only 40-nm FPGAs to feature integrated 11.3-Gbps transceivers. Stratix IV GT FPGAs are well suited for access, enterprise, service provider and other 40/100G applications.
Watch the webcast to learn more.





















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LATEST NEWS



March 31, 2009



Curtiss-Wright Controls Adds Multiprocessor Debugger to its Continuum Insights 3.0 Multiprocessor Tool Suite



Tundra Semiconductor Announces RapidIO Gen2 Program



New Pioneer Software From National Instruments Opens LabVIEW FPGA to C Programmers



AdaCore Launches GNAT Pro for 8-bit AVR Microcontroller



March 30, 2009



Altera Collaborates With National Semiconductor to Facilitate Routing High-Resolution Digital Video in Automotive Applications



SiliconBlue Introduces New iCEman65™ Evaluation Kit for Ultra Low-Power, Single-Chip iCE65 SRAM FPGAs



Samplify Rolls Production Quantities of Its SAM1600 Analog/Digital Converters with Real-Time Data Compression



Atmel’s MPCF-II Technology Brings ARM Processor-based Custom SoCs to 10K-unit Apps with No License Fees



National Instruments Introduces 15 Embedded I/O Modules for Board-Level Hardware



Mixel’s MDDI PHY IP Embedded in QuickLogic’s Proven System Block (PSB) Targeting Qualcomm-Based Mobile Products



March 26, 2009



AdvancedIO® Systems Announces Launch of V3021 Dual 10-Gigabit Ethernet AMC with PCI Express® Fabric



IAR Systems to Showcase Products for Wireless System Development at ESC



March 25, 2009



Actel Announces Free Training Session at ESC Silicon Valley 2009



QuickLogic Expands Performance and Functionality in 2nd Generation Visual Enhancement Engine (VEE)



Lattice Receives 2008 Supply Support Award From Huawei Technologies










CURRENT FEATURE ARTICLES



Retro Revolution
The New Vintage FPGAs
(Kevin Morris)
Xilinx Researchers Find Four New Fundamental Electronic Components
(Mike Santarini, Xilinx, Inc.)
Superlative Soup
The Three Biggest Baddest FPGAs
(Kevin Morris)
GateRocket Blasts Off
FPGAs Verifying FPGAs (Kevin Morris)
How Physical Synthesis Enables FPGA Design Productivity
by Ajay Jagtiani, Altera Corporation
FPGAs and the IC Bubble
The Techonomics of Programmability (Kevin Morris)



JOURNAL WEBCASTS



CHALK TALK Confirma™: The Next Era Of Prototyping. Struggling with FPGA prototyping boards? Join Amelia Dalton as she talks with Juergen Jaeger of Synopsys about the Next Era of Rapid Prototyping. (Synopsys)

CHALK TALK From Desktop to Target: What You Need From A Development Suite. Is embedded software development and debug a challenge for your team? Join Amelia Dalton as she chats with Jit Sivalogan of Mentor Graphics about setting up a productive environment for embedded development. (Mentor Graphics)

CHALK TALK Simplified Verification of DSP Algorithms in Hardware. Moving algorithms from MATLAB to FPGAs? Join Amelia Dalton as she explores options for verifying DSP designs implemented in FPGAs with Tim Vanevenhoven from Xilinx. (Xilinx)

CHALK TALK Using Embedded Hypervisors in Mobile Devices. Join Amelia Dalton as she explores the use of embedded hypervisors to create safe and secure software for mobile devices with Rob McCammon of Open Kernel Labs. (Open Kernel Labs)



[click here for more webcasts]











Retro Revolution
The New Vintage FPGAs
(Kevin Morris)



Retro is the new new.

Here in the age of ubiquitous high technology, styles and tastes have turned to the past.  Vintage clothing, automobiles from yesteryear, pinup models, antique cocktails, and 60s home furnishings are all the rage with today's hipsters.  "Steampunks", "Rockabillies", and "Mods" crowd their respective club scenes.  In the audio world, it's vinyl albums, tube amplifiers, reel-to-reel tape, and horn speakers. Culturally-aware engineers who spend their days worrying about leakage current in 32nm transistors go home in the evening and crank the LP version of Louis Armstrong singing St James Infirmary on their Caliburn turntables.

It's no wonder that retro-tech is now making its way into FPGAs as well.  The latest in cool programmable logic devices follows on the proven principles that have fed the retro revolutions in fashion and lifestyle - that form often trumps function when people are making purchase decisions.  You won't find these FPGAs bragging about the latest process node or the largest LUT counts - quite the opposite.  These paragons of prior-generation splendor boldly wear their micron-scale processes on their sleeves. Fabricated in a completely re-tooled 3-micron Bi-polar process, RetroLogik's new FP-GT500 series FPGAs take us back to a time that never really existed - when electronic designers truly valued the art of design, and when popping the enclosure open on your latest project could gather a crowd faster than free doughnuts in the break room. [more]







Xilinx Researchers Find Four New Fundamental Electronic Components
(Mike Santarini, Xilinx, Inc.)

Move over Shockley, Edison and Einstein.  You’ve got Paroli to deal with now.

Hot on the heels of last year's discovery of the memristor by HP Labs, Xilinx Research Labs today announced the discovery of no fewer than four new fundamental electronic components:  Two are two-terminal devices and two are three-terminal devices.  "The memristor was predicted to overturn a generation of textbooks," stated Dr. Flo Paroli, head of Derivative Disruptive Technologies at Xilinx. "This is bigger, much bigger.  This discovery may well obsolete all electrical and electromechanical devices.  It could completely change computer storage and networking over the next five years.  It could even make Moore's Law irrelevant.  It's as if you went from stone knives to laser scalpels overnight."  Big talk.  But they back it up. [more]






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