Microchip FPGA Overview

Microchip offers a diverse range of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) designed to address a wide range of application requirements, from low-density to mid-range solutions. These FPGAs are known for their low power consumption, high reliability and robust security features, Microchip FPGAs are utilized across diverse applications, including automotive, industrial, medical, aerospace and defense. These devices offer pre-configured solutions for Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes), networking, microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors (MPUs), and analog blocks, enabling faster design cycles and simplified development.

Key Advantages of Microchip FPGAs:

  1. Security: Microchip FPGAs are designed based on the three core security principles: confidentiality, integrity and authenticity. They incorporate robust security features to protect against tampering, reverse engineering and other security threats.
  2. Reliability: The FPGAs comply with stringent reliability standards required for high-availability, safety-critical and mission-critical systems across industrial, aviation, military and communications sectors. The increasing emphasis on safety standards across industries continues to drive the demand for high-reliability solutions.
  3. Low Power: Microchip FPGAs and SoC FPGAs deliver up to 50% lower total power consumption compared to competing FPGAs. Their nonvolatile architecture ensures immediate operation upon power-up, with minimal in-rush current and significantly reduced leakage compared to SRAM-based alternatives. For a more detailed analysis, it is recommended to conduct a power benchmark using Microchip’s power estimator tool.
Figure . 

Key FPGA Families Offered by Microchip:

  1. IGLOO®2 and SmartFusion®2: These fourth-generation low-density FPGAs are manufactured using a 65 nm low-power flash memory process. They offer up to 150,000 logic elements, up to 240 math blocks for DSP operations, and up to 5 megabits of embedded SRAM. SmartFusion®2 integrates an ARM Cortex-M3 processor, providing a combination of programmable logic and embedded processing.
  2. PolarFire®: This family represents Microchip's fifth-generation of mid-range FPGAs. PolarFire® FPGAs are fabricated using a 28 nm Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (SONOS) flash memory process, offering up to 480,000 logic elements, 1,480 math blocks, and 33 megabits of embedded SRAM. They are known for their low power consumption, high performance, and exceptional security and reliability. Additionally, PolarFire® FPGAs feature high-speed transceivers and are suitable for applications requiring high data throughput.

For additional information regarding Microchip’s FPGA and SoC families, please refer to: FPGA and SoC Product Families.