I/O optimised FPGAs are ready for production

I/O optimised Spartan-3A platform FPGAs are now production qualified at 90nm.

Xilinx has announced production qualification of its entire line of 90nm I/O optimised Spartan-3A platform.

This includes all five devices of the Spartan-3A platform including the XC3S50A, XC3S200A, XC3S400A, XC3S700A and XC3S1400A devices.

With consistent evolution of the architecture and drastic reductions in cost, Xilinx Spartan series FPGAs have continued to expand in usage since their introduction in 1998 to become the number one choice of designers worldwide for use in consumer electronic and automotive applications, including digital displays, mobile phones, PDAs, rear-seat entertainment and satellite navigation systems.

The company has delivered over 215 million Spartan FPGAs with cumulative revenues of approximately US $2 billion.

"By achieving production qualification across the Spartan-3A within five months since introduction is a testament to the stability and efficiency of our proven 90nm process technology - the optimum node for high volume FPGAs", said Christophe Chene, Senior Director of Marketing and Applications for the General Products Division at Xilinx.

"Having a well-established 90nm process and proven tight process controls has resulted in an excellent combination of low power, high performance, and low cost for high-volume applications".

"Through more than a decade of close collaboration, Xilinx and UMC together have achieved many significant production milestones across multiple process generations", said Lee Chung, Vice President of the Corporate Marketing Division at UMC.

"We are delighted to celebrate this new, most recent Spartan-3A accomplishment via our proven, mature 90nm process, and look forward to continuing our successful relationship to enhance Xilinx's leadership position in the FPGA market".

Xilinx has also achieved substantial power reduction in its Spartan-3 generation FPGAs through higher yields and fine-tuning of its proven 90nm process technology that first went into production four years ago in April, 2003 with fab partner UMC.

Quiescent current (also known as static current) has been reduced by up to 40% in Spartan-3 FPGAs and up to 57% in Spartan-3E FPGAs.

Individual power rail requirements have been reduced by up to 90%.

Every reduction in quiescent current reduces operating current by the same amount.

Reduced current can provide for lower cost power supplies and less heat in the system, improving reliability.

The latest Spartan generation devices to take advantage of this process, the Spartan-3A, Spartan-3AN and Spartan-3A DSP platforms are already specified with low quiescent power.

Each of these platforms also includes a suspend mode that further reduces quiescent power by an additional 40%.

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