Actel adds power analysis to FPGA design - By Design - Brief Article - Product Announcement

Electronic News, June 24, 2002

ACTEL CORP. HAS UPGRADED ITS DESIGNER series FPGA tool suite with two new capabilities: a power analysis tool called SmartPower, and Netlist Viewer, a utility that allows designers to display the netlist in a hierarchical manner.

Additionally, the performance of the timing analysis and layout utilities has increased by up to 50 percent on specific customer designs, according to the company.

The power tool will identify power consumption problems within individual components rather than the design as a whole and then optimize the design accordingly. The designer can inspect detailed hierarchical reports of the dynamic power consumption of a design, Actel said. This includes design-level power summary, average switching activities, ambient and junction temperature readings.

The addition of Netlist Viewer allows users to display the netlist in a hierarchical manner, trace signals and explore each level of the design, the company said.

Actel's designer series works with synthesis, schematic and simulation tools from EDA vendors, including Cadence Design Systems, Innoveda, Mentor Graphics, Model Technology, SynaptiCAD, Synopsys and Synplicity.