Every now and again something rather exciting comes along, and today is one of those days because the folks at Actel have announced a new line of mixed-signal FPGAs called SmartFusion with embedded ARM Cortex-M3 hard processor cores (Click Here to see the video). But the really good news is that they are available in production quantities NOW!

Existing Fusion mixed-signal FPGAs (including soft processor cores)
Before we really plunge into the fray with regard to this new announcement, let's briefly set the scene. The guys and gals at Actel already have a family of Fusion mixed-signal FPGAs that comprise a mix of programmable digital fabric with programmable analog fabric. These little scamps are tremendously useful for a wide variety of applications, including medical instruments, industrial monitoring and control, systems monitoring and control, and ... well, all sorts of "stuff" really.

The flash-based nature of Fusion mixed-signal FPGAs means that the are "instant-on", which also means that they are of use for power-sequencing applications – that is, powering up/down the other components on the board in a pre-determined sequence. Also, a by-product of using flash technology means that these devices inherently support high-voltage analog inputs and circuits that co-exist with the digital fabric. By comparison, the standard CMOS processes used to create SRAM-based FPGAs are not conducive to high-voltage analog (not that this is a problem per se, because none of the SRAM-based FPGAs offer analog/mixed-signal capability anyway [grin]).

In many cases, system designs require some sort of microprocessor or microcontroller. In the case of existing Fusion devices, you can implement this as a soft core – the folks at Actel support a range of such cores, including the 8-bit CoreABC, the Core8251, and the ARM Cortex-M1, which is the first ARM processor developed specifically for implementation in FPGAs. Of particular interest is the fact that you can use this core to monitor the analog/mixed-signal portion of the device and reconfigure it on the fly.

The advantages of using a soft core are that you only need to implement one if you want to, and also that you can include multiple such cores if you wish. The disadvantages are that they consume some of your programmable digital fabric and they don’t run as fast as a hard core implementation.

New SmartFusion mixed-signal FPGAs (including hard processor cores)
And so we come to today's announcement – Actel's new flash-based SmartFusion devices feature Actel's proven programmable digital FPGA fabric, programmable analog fabric, and a hard ARM Cortex-M3 processor.

This really is a great choice of processor, because, the Cortex-M3 is one of the most widely-used 32-bit processors when it comes to for highly deterministic real-time applications. The Cortex-M3 was specifically developed to satisfy the needs of a broad range of high-performance applications, including automotive systems, industrial control systems, medical systems, and wireless networking and sensors.

What is really cool is that this is a full-up implementation of the Cortex-M3, which equates to about 10 million equivalent logic gates. What is even cooler is the fact that Actel's implementation is so configurable – using a simple graphical interface you can easily disable any of the Cortex-M3's functional blocks that you don’t require, thereby saving power.

And what is really REALLY cool is the fact that these devices (and the associated design tool chain) are available in production quantities NOW! (I don’t know about you, but I'm getting a little tired of announcements for amazing new devices that we won’t actually get to see for another 6, 9, or even 12 months ... I am a man of little patience who demands instant gratification [grin]).

It's also nice to hear that early adopters have actually been using this technology to implement real-world products, which sort of gives us some confidence that everything works as planned. For example, David Brain, CTO Smartgrid Technologies says that: "SmartFusion gave us the resources to build a highly-agile smartgrid sensor with greater flexibility in a smaller package. The integration of a state-of-the-art embedded ARM processor with on-chip analog to digital conversion and the ability to build custom features in the uncommitted gate array is an unbeatable combination." (So I think it's fair to say that David is a supporter.)

Why SmartFusion is a Smart Choice
The combination of three programmable elements – digital logic, analog/mixed-signal, and a microcontroller subsystem -- makes the SmartFusion family a fully-customizable, easy-to-use system design platform. Embedded designers can now optimize hardware / software tradeoffs on the fly without board-level changes. In the SmartFusion device, all the data transferred from the processor to the FPGA or from the analog to the processor or between the FPGA and the analog is on-chip. In addition, Actel's FlashLock technology provides a superior level of intellectual property (IP) security.

When faced with options for co-processing or interface customization, SmartFusion devices offer a compelling solution in a wide variety of applications, including motor control, system and power management and industrial automation. These applications span the industrial, military, medical, telecommunications, computing and storage markets.

A Closer Look
Targeted at today's complex embedded designs, SmartFusion devices evolved from the company's first Fusion mixed signal FPGAs, introduced in 2005. Key components and features of the device are:

Full-Featured FPGA: SmartFusion devices feature Actel's proven, flash-based ProASIC®3 FPGA architecture. Built on an advanced 130-nm CMOS process, Actel offers densities ranging from 60K to 500K system gates, with 350 MHz performance and up to 204 I/Os. This combination enables the integration of existing functions from other devices, substantially reducing board space and power consumption of the overall system.

Microcontroller Subsystem: Intelligence is added to the FPGA in the form of a microcontroller subsystem that features a hard ARM Cortex-M3 processor running at 100 MHz. A full complement of standard peripherals and features include:

• Multi-layer AHB communications matrix with up to 16 Gbps throughput
• 10/100 Ethernet MAC with RMII interface
• Two of each: SPI, I2C, UART, 32-bit Timers
• Up to 512 KB flash memory and 64 KB of SRAM
• External memory controller (EMC)
• 8-channel DMA controller

Programmable Analog: The innovative and proprietary Analog Compute Engine (ACE) performs sample sequencing and computation, which offloads the ARM Cortex-M3 processor from analog initialization and processing. The programmable analog system features:

• ADCs and DACs with 1 percent accuracy.
• Up to three 12-bit ADC with up to 600 Ksps sampling rate
• Up to three 12-bit first order sigma delta DACs
• Up to ten 50 ns high-speed comparators
• Multiple integrated temperature, voltage and current monitors

Early Customer Engagements
Sampling devices since September 2009, Actel has been engaged with customers around the globe through a formal lead customer program. For a full six months, designers of a multitude of applications, ranging from servers, routers, and industrial network gateways to solar panel inverters and gaming machines, were given the ability to use the software and silicon prior to market introduction.

Start Designing Now
The SmartFusion family is supported by Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE) v9.0, Actel's comprehensive software toolset for designing with all Actel FPGAs. Libero IDE version 9.0 is immediately available for download, free of charge at www.actel.com.

Libero IDE includes synthesis, simulation, and debug tools from Synopsys and Mentor Graphics as well as innovative timing and power optimization and analysis. For embedded designers, Actel offers free SoftConsole Eclipse-based IDE with GNU, as well as evaluation versions of software from Keil(TM) and IAR Systems. Full versions are available from the respective suppliers. Micrium supports SmartFusion devices with their new real-time operating system (RTOS) uC/OS-III, TCP/IP stack and uC/Probe products (see also My Review of uC/OS-III)

Pricing and Availability
SmartFusion A2F200 devices are now available in volume production. A2F500 devices are scheduled for delivery in Q2 2010 and A2F060 devices are expected at the second half of the year.

Evaluation kits priced at $99 and a full development kit for $999 are immediately available. Customers may contact their local Actel sales office or distributor for more information.