1.3 The Live-at-Power-Up (“Instant On”) and “Single-Chip” Features
(Ask a Question)An advantage of the NV technology is that there is no need to reload the FPGA bitstream at power-up because the FPGA configuration cell retains its state after power-down. Thus, there is no need for an external flash. This improves overall system reliability. In large systems that use many FPGAs, this can result in a significant increase in reliability. For example, in some large passenger airplanes, there can be over 1,000 FPGAs used throughout the system. Eliminating configuration devices brings a significant increase in reliability. Additionally, the use of an internal NV memory for each configuration transistor means that these devices are live at power-up. This 'instant on' capability improves system robustness since the designer does not consider the various 'complexities' that occur during power-up if some devices are not working.