Sammy Cheung

A Methodology for FPGA to Structured-ASIC Synthesis and Verification

Structured-ASIC design provides a mid-way point between FPGA and cell-based ASIC design for performance, area and power, but suffers from the same increasing verification burden associated with cell-based design. In this paper we address the verification issue with a methodology and fabric to directly tie FPGA prototype and functional in-system verification with a clean migration path to structured ASIC. The most important aspects of this methodology are the use of physically identical blocks for difficult-to-verify PLLs, I/O and RAM and a structured re-synthesis of FPGA logic blocks to target cells that guarantees anchor points for easy formal verification

A 3.3-V programmable logic device that addresses low power supply and interface trends

This paper discusses a 3.3 V programmable logic device family which provides up to 130 Kgates. It blends a multi-dimensional interconnect scheme, logic array block approach consisting of 6,656 logic elements and circuit techniques to address low power supply and interface trends. It is designed on a 0.35 /spl mu/m triple metal-dual oxide process to operate in a 3.3 V only, 5 V only or 3.3 V-5 V systems. Under worst case operating conditions it was observed to have a typical system operating frequency of 90 MHz. The EPF10K50V is the first member of the second-generation FLEX 10K family.

A 6.9 ns, 560 macrocell, in system programmable, CMOS PLD with 3.3-5 volt I/O capability

The methods and circuits used in the design of a high density, high performance, power efficient, complex PLD are discussed. The EPM9560A is the first member of the third generation MAX 9000 family. Developed on a 0.5 /spl mu/m triple layer metal process, significant improvements in die size, performance, and power have been achieved over the previous generations. Circuit enhancements and design methodologies resulting in better performance are discussed. Analysis methods used in the design of a 560 macrocell PLD with a die size of 99.9 Kmil/sup 2/ and a propagation delay under 7 ns are also discussed.

A million gate PLD with 622 MHz I/O interface, multiple PLLs and high performance embedded CAM

A million gate programmable logic device (PLD) designed for high performance system integration is discussed. The APEX 20K1000E is fabricated on a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The chip supports multiple I/O standards with data bandwidth up to 622 Mbps when using the integrated low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) interfaces. Multiple on-chip phase-locked loops (PLL) increase performance and provide clock-frequency synthesis. The embedded content addressable memory (CAM) enhances performance for fast search applications.