ALTERA MAXII OR ACTEL APA?

I am design new project.For security reason I will select FPGA which need no configuration device,so I need to select from ALTERA MAXII and ACTEL APA,which is better?
thanks a lot.

Use Actel ProAsicPlus devices. They are flash based devices and don't require additional configuration ROM. Wheras Altera and Xilinx FPGA's require external configuration ROM.

I do agree with Ramesh.. Just a tiny note.. Libero version 6 is around the corner or is already available. (14th june 04).. The synplify tools do not always generates best results.. It is sometimes better to synthesize with Leonardo and then feed the edif file to Actel designer..

Cheers

Re: @ltera MAXII OR ACTEL APA?

ramesh said:

Wheras @ltera and Xilinx FPGA's require external configuation ROM.

Click to expand...

The question was about MAXII devices!!! And not about Altera or Xilinx FPGAs. MAXII devices are sort of mixture of CPLD and FPGA which don't need configuration memories!

Can't speak for Actel devices...at least they sound interesting since they have p to 1 million gates still in QFP package...so not bad for prototyping and hobbyist .Though what I don't like is their home-cooked ISP cable which uses a protected APA device itself (o;


In the end it all comes down to your local support and how easy you get samples/eval kits to start with...

Besides Altera's MaxII and Actel's ProASIC+, you have a third party with non-volatile, reconfigurable devices, namely Lattice Look at their website and browse for XP. You will find two types of devices, one a CPLD with memory, and one a FPGA.
Altera's claims MaxII is CPLD, but in reality it isn't, and I'm not shure if they are fully available yet.
Actel needs (as far as I know) special voltage for programming and reconfiguration, and indeed the special programming cable.

How does that special programming cable for Actel look like and what kind of connectors should I put on the PCB to connect that cable for ISP programming?

Re: @ltera MAXII OR ACTEL APA?

Hi sihuijian,
The MaxII is not an FPGA but a lrge CPLD, it lacks most of the modern type of blocks that exists inside an FPGA. And the most important issue with it has very limited (less than 1,700 macrocells). But if that is enough for your product then it is an interesting device.

sihuijian said:

I am design new project.For security reason I will select FPGA which need no configuration device,so I need to select from @ltera MAXII and ACTEL APA,which is better?
thanks a lot.

Click to expand...

The key difference between the 2 IMHO is the size and the amount of logic you need for your design. Plus the fact that Altera MaxII can be designed/simulated and programmed using their free Quartus® II Web Edition but I am not sure about the ACTEL devices.

So, if you need SRAM, PLL and a lot of logic and I/O, then ACTEL is the answer, otherwise, I would go for MaxII or if you do not need the internal FLASH, look into Xilinx 95XL devices.

If you give more information about what your requirments in this projects are, it will be much easier to answer to your wuestion, without knowing what you want to do, it is almost like asking people do you want to have ice cream or fruit after dinner, it is a mater of tase, and how what you are used to.

Just my 2c,
/Farhad