Mixed Signal Power Management
Actel’s logo incorporates the phrase Power Matters, and Actel’s emphasis on power savings is real. All of Actel’s flash-based FPGAs, including Actel’s new SmartFusion intelligent mixed signal FPGA, are intrinsically low power devices. Low device power consumption, low cooling requirements, efficient power management and system monitoring all contribute to the total efficiency of a system. With increasing emphasis on efficient use of limited energy supplies and natural resources, products with the smallest impact and most efficient use of energy deliver a real competitive advantage. Management of power at the system level is a challenge faced by all system designers who grapple with a daunting set of divides between digital and analog as well as software and circuitry when they consider the best tools, practices and methodologies. An innovative methodology developed by Actel addresses these challenges and eliminates barriers to delivering user-configurable mixed signal power management that spans software and hardware, analog and digital domains, all without the need to reprogram FPGA circuitry to implement functional changes.
Management of power-up sequencing, monitoring and trimming on-board power regulators, conditionally invoking partial or full system power-down, and managing power-down sequencing are functions often implemented using assemblies of discrete devices, but it is rare that standard devices precisely meet the exact specifications of a particular requirement due to fixed number of channels, limited voltage range and limited digital input/output (I/O) capabilities. Designers are reluctant at times to consider custom power management solutions because of added design cycle time, cost and the need to systematically validate such a solution. This risk aversion leads inevitably to compromise, such as downgrading of the feature set to match the capabilities of available devices, or selecting parts that exceed design requirements despite performance, board space, and price penalties. With the advent of mixed signal FPGA devices that integrate industry standard embedded microcontrollers, these compromises can be reduced, but new challenges arise.
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Tags: Actel