SiliconBlue Technologies
Encyclopedia
SiliconBlue Technologies Corporation is a United States
based manufacturer of ultra-low power programmable logic device
s (FPGAs) that the company calls "mobile FPGAs." The products target mobile and hand-held electronics applications that require low power and small physical size..
SiliconBlue iCEcube2 development tools package includes ....
SiliconBlue's mobileFPGA products are notable because their devices are the lowest power FPGAs to be marketed. In fact, their devices are low power and low cost enough to be used in cell phones. This is a significant advance in FPGA design and will potentially open up new markets to FPGAs where they had not been practical until now.
using 65 nm process. The iCE65 FPGAs can be configured similar to other RAM-based FPGAs. Optionally, the FPGA can load its configuration from internal Nonvolatile Configuration Memory (NVCM).
SiliconBlue's FPGA fabric is very common architecture based on a four-input look-up table (LUT4) and flip-flops. The iCE65 fabric includes RAM blocks, each with 4,096 memory bits, arranged as 256 locations, each location 16 bits wide. However the write port has write mask input port what allows any smaller width of memory to be emulated. The iCE65 'P' FPGAs also include on on-chip PLL/DCM
; the iCE65 'L' FPGAs do not have a PLL. The only other special primitives are global buffers and warmboot primitive.
SiliconBlue iCE65 Ultra Low Power FPGA's use Kilopass XPM OTP memory for on-chip secure configuration storage.
On power up one of four configuration images can be selected (coldboot mode), or then at run time reconfiguration can be invoked from the FPGA fabric logic (warmboot). New configuration image can optionally load block RAM's or they can hold old contents.
Kilopass XPM Configuration memory
The NVCM of the iCE65 family is programmed via SPI slave interface; there is no separate JTAG interface or special algorithm required.
The power consumption is where these devices show their unique characteristics. The largest device in the family, the iCE65L16, is claimed to consume 250-microamps at 32-kHz and 40 milliamps at 32-MHz. The high speed number is well below any competing device on the market and the 32-kHz current is orders of magnitude less than that of other vendors. The expected cost of these devices is also notable. They are targeted to devices that have to be cheap enough to be given away. Silicon Blue has kept that in mind when designing these parts. Using a 65 nm process keeps the die size small to make them very inexpensive. Low standby power consumption and low device cost are required to make FPGAs practical for use in cell phone handsets.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based manufacturer of ultra-low power programmable logic device
Programmable logic device
A programmable logic device or PLD is an electronic component used to build reconfigurable digital circuits. Unlike a logic gate, which has a fixed function, a PLD has an undefined function at the time of manufacture...
s (FPGAs) that the company calls "mobile FPGAs." The products target mobile and hand-held electronics applications that require low power and small physical size..
SiliconBlue iCEcube2 development tools package includes ....
- the Synplicity synthesis technology from SynopsysSynopsysSynopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...
, - place and route tools that include timing-driven placement
- static timing analyzer
- graphic floorplanning and I/O assignment tools
- power estimator
- programming software
SiliconBlue's mobileFPGA products are notable because their devices are the lowest power FPGAs to be marketed. In fact, their devices are low power and low cost enough to be used in cell phones. This is a significant advance in FPGA design and will potentially open up new markets to FPGAs where they had not been practical until now.
Technology
The SiliconBlue iCE65 FPGA family is manufacted by TSMCTSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited or TSMC is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, with its headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.-Overview:...
using 65 nm process. The iCE65 FPGAs can be configured similar to other RAM-based FPGAs. Optionally, the FPGA can load its configuration from internal Nonvolatile Configuration Memory (NVCM).
SiliconBlue's FPGA fabric is very common architecture based on a four-input look-up table (LUT4) and flip-flops. The iCE65 fabric includes RAM blocks, each with 4,096 memory bits, arranged as 256 locations, each location 16 bits wide. However the write port has write mask input port what allows any smaller width of memory to be emulated. The iCE65 'P' FPGAs also include on on-chip PLL/DCM
Digital Clock Manager
Digital Clock Manager is a function for manipulating clock signals by: * Multiply and divide an incoming clock .* Recondition a clock to, for example, ensure 50% duty cycle.* Phase shift .* Eliminate clock skew.-See also:* Clock signal...
; the iCE65 'L' FPGAs do not have a PLL. The only other special primitives are global buffers and warmboot primitive.
Configuration
Like other RAM-based FPGA, SiliconBlue mobileFPGAs are configured immediately after power is applied or upon request. There are multiple methods to configured mobileFPGAs, including ...- SPISerial Peripheral Interface BusThe Serial Peripheral Interface Bus or SPI bus is a synchronous serial data link standard named by Motorola that operates in full duplex mode. Devices communicate in master/slave mode where the master device initiates the data frame. Multiple slave devices are allowed with individual slave select ...
Master, with configuration data stored in an industry-standard SPI Flash, - SPI Slave, with configuration data downloaded to the mobile FPGA by external microcontrollerMicrocontrollerA microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
(MCU), processor (CPU), or digital signal processor (DSP) - internal NVCM (nonvolatile configuration memory)
- JTAGJTAGJoint Test Action Group is the common name for what was later standardized as the IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture. It was initially devised for testing printed circuit boards using boundary scan and is still widely used for this application.Today JTAG is also...
, which is available only on certain package options
SiliconBlue iCE65 Ultra Low Power FPGA's use Kilopass XPM OTP memory for on-chip secure configuration storage.
On power up one of four configuration images can be selected (coldboot mode), or then at run time reconfiguration can be invoked from the FPGA fabric logic (warmboot). New configuration image can optionally load block RAM's or they can hold old contents.
Kilopass XPM Configuration memory
- No voltage storage so no inductive, IR, or magnetic detection
- No charge storage
- Not visually identifiable like Fuse technologies
- SRAM Devices with Encryption can have the KEY deciphered from the silicon memory technology (EEPROM or FLASH)
- The memory is embedded in the XPM cell → Totally Secure
- Self-Destruct Capability
- Write-locks
The NVCM of the iCE65 family is programmed via SPI slave interface; there is no separate JTAG interface or special algorithm required.
The power consumption is where these devices show their unique characteristics. The largest device in the family, the iCE65L16, is claimed to consume 250-microamps at 32-kHz and 40 milliamps at 32-MHz. The high speed number is well below any competing device on the market and the 32-kHz current is orders of magnitude less than that of other vendors. The expected cost of these devices is also notable. They are targeted to devices that have to be cheap enough to be given away. Silicon Blue has kept that in mind when designing these parts. Using a 65 nm process keeps the die size small to make them very inexpensive. Low standby power consumption and low device cost are required to make FPGAs practical for use in cell phone handsets.