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Gate Array Solution Benefits
Gate Array solutions from NEC Electronics by nature have some very strong advantages over other solutions such as SRAM-based field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
Wide range operating ambient temperature / TA
All Gate Array solutions offered by NEC Electronics feature a full ambient temperature range from -40 up to +85°C. Depending on individual packaging/mounting solutions, junction temperature (TJ) of +125°C is possible.
Single supply voltage
NEC Electronics' Gate Array solutions only require a single supply voltage with an accuracy of just +/- 10% for proper operation.
High performance
Due to the fact that Gate Array solutions use hard-wired connections for the logic implementation they are inherently faster than other solutions like FPGAs.
Low power consumption
Gate arrays show a much smaller*1 power consumption in comparison to FPGAs for two reasons: Firstly, the hard-wired logic results in much smaller leakage currents and secondly, the rush current during the power-on phase is also significantly lower.
Small number of I/Os
For the same application, gate arrays need significantly less I/O pins than other solutions. Firstly, no programming pins are required and secondly - due to lower power consumption - less power & ground pins are needed.
The reduction of I/O package pins usually comes along with the reduction of package size.
Fast start-up time
As Gate Arrays are hard-wired and do not need to be re-programmed after powering up, they are started-up much faster than FPGAs. Gate arrays typically need less than 1 msec for starting-up.
Low failure rate
Gate arrays show a very low failure rate of typically less than 3 FIT. Again, due to their SRAM-based architecture, FPGAs feature much worse values here. So-called soft errors (SER), which the latest generation FPGAs are extremely susceptible to, are unknown to Gate Arrays.
High design data security (Copy protection)
The circuit data with the customer proprietary design details are protected by hard-wired connections within the Gate Array chip. Compared to FPGAs, there is no bit stream necessary from the outside for re-programming at every start-up.
Direct 5 Volts interface
With NEC Electronics Gate Arrays direct 5V connections are possible without any additional external components (e.g. resistors).
Wide choice of packaging solutions
NEC Electronics' Gate Arrays are available with a very wide choice of different packaging solutions, ranging from high-end Advanced BGA (ABGA) packages to very small outline, low pin-count Fine-Pitch BGA (FPBGA), SSOP or QFN packages.
Note(*)
- up to one order of magnitude
