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ACTEL, INICORE DELIVER TURNKEY DESIGN SOLUTION TO L-3

Actel Corp announced it has joined with Inicore, an intellectual property (IP) and design services partner, to deliver a turnkey design solution to the Targa Systems Division of L3 Communications for a new line of data storage products for military and rugged applications. The silicon, software, IP and design services provided by Actel and Inicore, a member of Actel's Solution Partner Program, enabled L-3 Targa Systems to achieve first-time product success, while also providing the added benefits of rapid time-to-market and reduced overall design costs.

L-3 Targa Systems designed two new data storage products -- one utilizing Actel's high-performance, single-chip, nonvolatile A54SX08A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and the other using an A54SX72A FPGA device. In addition, Inicore provided VME and ATA IP cores for the designs, while Actel delivered a CorePCI core that served as a bridge interface for the new products. By providing pre-verified IP, Actel and Inicore helped reduce design time and provided L-3 Targa Systems with the ability to integrate multiple design elements into a one-chip solution, reducing component count and cost.

"We were extremely impressed with the complete package that was delivered by Actel and Inicore and believe these types of turnkey design solutions are the wave of the future," said Dave Saunders, general manager at L-3 Targa Systems. "By leaving the semiconductor IP building blocks and silicon design work to Actel and Inicore, we were able to concentrate on adding value to the products in other areas, which substantially benefited the overall system designs."

Yankin Tanurhan, senior director of applications and IP solutions at Actel, said, "These two design wins with L-3 Targa Systems are a great example of the value-add that Actel and its Solutions Partners, such as Inicore, can deliver. IP building blocks coupled with Inicore's system-level integration expertise played an integral role in enabling first-pass design success. In addition, the high reliability and extended temperature range provided by our tamper-proof SX-A devices met the stringent requirements for L-3 Targa Systems' extremely rugged products."

"One of the key goals for L-3 Targa Systems was to minimize software code changes from previous designs," added Hans J. Kuffer, vice president of business development at Inicore. "This was easier to accomplish using FPGA devices and RTL IP cores, versus alternative silicon solutions, such as an ASIC or ASSP. Leveraging the pre-built IP offered by Actel and Inicore, in tandem with our design service knowledge, we were able to provide L-3 Targa Systems with a time-to-market and cost-reduction advantage that is vital for today's highly competitive market."

Qualified to operate over the full military temperature range from minus 55 degrees Celsius to 125 degrees Celsius, Actel's SX-A FPGAs deliver high-performance at extended temperatures. L-3 Targa Systems wanted the extended temperature ranges of the SX-A devices because of their ability to outperform standard bridge devices in extreme environmental conditions.

The SX-A devices, based on Actel's nonvolatile antifuse technology, provide an inherently secure, low-cost, single-chip solution. Featuring up to 72,000 typical gates, or 36,000 ASIC gates, the SX-A devices deliver system performance of up to 250 MHz.