Actel, RTAX4000S

Prototype Solution Provides Architecture, Density and Timing Properties Identical to Flight-Quality Silicon

News Release from: Actel Europe Ltd
27/06/2006

Maintaining its support for designers in the aerospace industry, Actel has announced prototype availability of the RTAX4000S, the industry's highest-density, high-reliability field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for space-bound systems.

With the four million-gate RTAX4000S prototype, designers obtain the same architecture, density and timing properties, and packaging options offered by space flight-quality RTAX-S devices, without the added costs of MIL-STD 883 qualification and hermetically sealed packaging. With the prototype, designers can validate a design and evaluate performance before programming a fully qualified FPGA, leading to significant reductions in overall design risk, time and costs.

“The RTAX4000S prototype answers the need of space designers searching for a programmable platform for the evaluation of a design prior to space flight,” said Ravi Pragasam, senior manager, military and aerospace product marketing at Actel. “This prototyping strategy for the RTAX4000S allows customers to verify the functionality of their designs and derive timing numbers that correspond to the actual flight silicon.”

The RTAX4000S is well suited for satellite payload systems that require high gate counts, such as data processing applications in communications, earth observation and scientific satellites. Like the flight units of the radiation-tolerant RTAX4000S, the RTAX4000S prototype boasts four million system gates (double the gate count of the previous largest RTAX-S part), 840 I/Os and 540 Kbits of embedded memory.

Compared with traditional RH-ASIC solutions, the RTAX4000S delivers cost and time-to-market advantages. RH-ASICs can deliver high gate counts, but have long lead times and require high up-front tooling charges that, in combination with the minimal volume requirements for many space applications, often translate into higher total unit costs. With the advent of the RTAX4000S and the prototyping solution, customers can take advantage of the flexibility of the programmable fabric to speed the design process and improve overall system cost.