原创 为Spartan而喝彩

2011-7-13 14:50 1871 0 分类: FPGA/CPLD

像Spartan之类、以成本优化为主的FPGA家族产品系列从来都没有获得应有的重视,至少在其周围还有很多类似Virtex的高性能“兄长”。这一现象在近期表现的尤为明显。随着Xilinx进入28nm工艺技术,Spartan品牌正在被慢慢淘汰掉,留给我们是Arrix、Kintex、Virtex和Zynq的多种产品组合,Spartan已不见影踪。


Cost-optimized FPGA families like Spartan never get the attention they deserve when performance-driven big brothers like Virtex are around. That matters particularly in the current generation, as Xilinx will be phasing out the Spartan brand as it transitions to 28-nm process technologies, offering us a mix of Arrix, Kintex, Virtex, and Zynq instead.

Thankfully, a few OEMs are determined to squeeze some good life from the Spartan-6 as a farewell of sorts. We’ve already seen some interesting designs in mil-aero reconnaissance and industrial control. Now, SiliconGear and Acromag are launching new products based on an FPGA architecture, Spartan-6, that is far from being long in the tooth.

SiliconGear, a Korea-based company that develops FPGA- and SoC-based set-top box and video-recorder surveillance equipment for system integrators, will use the Spartan-6 as the core architecture for HD video surveillance tools. SiliconGear displayed a Spartan-6 HD DVR and video multiplexer solution at the recent SecuTech 2011.

Acromag, a VME/VPX and PCI board specialist, introduced the VPX-SLX 3U boards, intended for adding high-speed algorithmic processing to any general embedded computing task. Acromag is no stranger to Xilinx architectures, and its roots in Michigan have placed the company in the direct path of automotive and industrial-control applications. Launch of the SLX for VPX form factors could well suggest Acromag will continue to look at Spartan-6 for PMC and Compact PCI designs, as well.

Before we forget, Virtex-6 received a kicker this week as well, when GE Intelligent Systems announced a new A/D and D/A converter module based on the Virtex-6. But since Virtex survives in the Xilinx-7 family, such an announcement has less drama than the continuing Spartan design-ins. However, it does underscore the fact, well-known to all FPGA vendors, that customers will continue to demand older generations of FPGAs. In the case of Spartan, there is clearly a fan base out there.

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