Three metal layers speed FPGA design and operation

Electronic News, Nov 18, 1996 by Andy Santoni

These RC specifications compare with an ON resistance of about 200 to 500 ohms for a dielectric antifuse device and 600 to 800 ohms for an SRAM device. Typical OFF capacitance is 5 fF for a dielectric antifuse device and 50 fF for an SRAM device. As a result of their higher resistance and capacitance, these devices are slower.

Software support for the pASIC 2 family is available through two environments: QuickWorks and QuickTools. The QuickWorks suite provides a complete FPGA software toolset, including design entry, logic synthesis, place-and-route and simulation. QuickWorks includes VHDL, Verilog, schematic, Boolean and mixed-mode entry. Logic synthesis is provided by the integrated Synplicity Synplify Lite tool, which has been tuned to take advantage of the pASIC 2 architecture. A Verilog or graphical simulation environment is also integrated with the Simucad Silos III simulator. Direct correlation between simulation timing waveforms and Verilog source code provides an effective debug environment.

The QuickTools package provides a solution for engineers who use Cadence, Mentor, Synopsys, Viewlogic, Intergraph or other third-party tools for design entry, synthesis or simulation. QuickTools reads Verilog, VHDL and EDIF netlists and provides optimization, place-and-route, timing analysis and back-annotation support for QuickLogic devices. QuickTools also writes out files in many formats to support a wide range of third-party modeling and simulation tools.

The latest software tool from QuickLogic is the Mentor Graphics Interface Kit, which integrates design flows between Mentor Graphics' tools and QuickTools. QuickLogic-optimized macrofunction libraries enable support for VHDL design through Mentor Graphics' AutoLogic II synthesis tool, while schematic capture is supported through Mentor Graphics' Architect. Mixed-mode designs can be compiled using QuickLogic Libraries.