Actel Announces Power-Efficient System Management for Embedded Applications

Actel Corp. announced a new reference design that is said to enable intelligent system and power management implementations starting at $1.20. The design combines the mixed-signal Fusion Programmable System Chip (PSC) with the optimized, configurable CoreABC microcontroller to provide a complete system management solution using a fraction of the Fusion part’s logic tiles. As a result, the small and flexible design is said to eliminate the need for a variety of discrete components typically used in system management applications, while also offering additional chip real estate that can be custom-configured for the end application.

Actel’s single-chip Fusion-based devices are said to enable a broader range of embedded applications, such as medical, industrial and test, to engage in cost-effective and sophisticated power management so that end systems can become more energy-efficient. The CoreABC soft microcontroller is said to provide a complete system management solution, in conjunction with Fusion’s analog sub-systems, which uses roughly 40,000 gates of the 250,000-gate AFS250 Actel Fusion device. This results in an implementation cost of $1.20 and leaves the remaining portion of the device free for integrating additional system functionality such as glue logic, as well as clock generation and management logic. The device is therefore claimed to enable significant bill of materials, power and board area savings.

Actel’s system management integrates voltage monitors, current monitors, thermal monitoring, real-time signal processing, PLD functionality and more – often replacing more than 10 discrete components typically used in system management applications. Additionally the Actel Fusion allows designers to engage in intelligent system, power and thermal management, data logging and system diagnostics in a single chip, saving board space.

The combination of CoreABC and Fusion are said to make it possible to effectively monitor system performance, improve system efficiencies and maximize battery life. As important, Fusion is said to enable easy implementation of board-level power saving modes to optimize or minimize power consumption for other devices on the board. Using the mixed-signal Actel Fusion device and CoreABC, designers can achieve real-time operation with hardware response times. In addition, CoreABC does not need complex interrupt schemes or a real-time operating system. The programmable Fusion device can monitor temperatures, voltages and currents using analog inputs.

Actel’s system management reference design is available now. The reference design includes VHDL and Verilog versions of the design with a detailed user guide. Actel also delivers a comprehensive development environment, including the Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE) and CoreConsole intellectual property (IP) deployment platform, as well as a broad portfolio of free IP cores for processing, communications, and analog and memory interface.

The Actel AFS250 is available now, with prices starting at $7.50 in 100K volume. The Actel AFS090 Fusion device is planned for Q4 with prices starting at $4.50 in 100K volume. Actel’s CoreABC is available for download free of charge with Actel’s CoreConsole software.