SmartFusion combines FPGA, Cortex-M3, and programmable analog

SmartFusion combines FPGA, Cortex-M3, and programmable analog

The SmartFusion family from Microsemi puts an FPGA fabric, a 100-MHz ARM Cortex-M3 processor, and programmable analog blocks all in one package. We think that was a very bright idea.

The hard-coded CPU has 128 to 512 Kbytes of flash and 16 to 64 Kbytes of SRAM and a multilayer AHB communications bus matrix to talk to everything. It has a 10/100 Ethernet MAC, SPI, I2 C, and UART interfaces. You can get 60-, 200-, or 500-K logic element in the FPGA. The analog subsystem has 12-bit A/D and D/A converters, signal-conditioning blocks, voltage and current monitors, and a temperature monitor.

For many applications, this is all you need, and a good IDE makes it relatively easy to implement. SmartFusion versions range from less than $10 to $50, depending on density, screening level, and volume. They come in temperature grades up to –40° to 100°C, and secure in-system programming, with 128-bit AES encryption, is the icing on the cake.

Microsemi , Irvine , CA
SoC Products Group
650-318-4200
www.actel.com