Aldec Prototyping Board for Actel RTAX-S FPGAs

Aldec recently announced the availability of the RTAX-S Prototyping Board for radiation-tolerant RTAX-S FPGAs from Actel Corporation. The new RTAX-S Prototyping Board provides the flexibility Actel's flash-based ProASIC3 FPGAs offer. This feature allow developer to utilize a design across multiple aerospace projects and shorten design cycles.

"For easy and rapid early prototyping of Actel's space-optimized RTAX-S FPGAs, Aldec's solution uses ProASIC3 FPGAs, allowing customers to tap the flexibility and reprogrammability of flash-based prototypes for multiple applications. As a result, Aldec's solution can accelerate design and validation cycles, which translates into faster time to market and lower development costs." said Rich Brossart, product marketing at Actel.

The primitives' library conversion utility is provided with Active-HDL, a mixed-language simulator that is included with the RTAX-S Prototyping Board. The utility allows automatic conversion of primitives from one library (e.g., RTAX-S) to another (e.g., ProASIC3). RTAX-S designs not using library specific primitives or memories can be implemented to different architecture without any modifications. Otherwise, primitives and memories should be replaced manually or supplied as a customer service.

The prototyping adaptor board allows easy and inexpensive RTAX-S designs prototyping with flash devices. The reprogrammable ProASIC3 chip on the top of the adaptor allows implementing design changes easily, eliminating the need to solder/unsolder the adaptor from the prototyping board each time the design is being changed.

RTAX Prototyping Adapter

The JTAG connector next to the ProASIC3 device allows reprogramming of the adaptor on the fly. Bottom part of the adaptor is footprint-compatible with RTAX-S device allowing soldering the adaptor board to the PCB as a regular RTAX-S device.

The Prototyping solution provides engineers with a complete prototyping and verification toolset:

• Aldec Active-HDL (Designer Edition) mixed-language simulator
• Actel Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE) - Gold edition
• Aldec library primitives conversion utility (built-in Active-HDL)
• Reusable FPGA-based prototyping adaptor board with Actel's ProASIC3 FPGA
• FlashPro3 programmer

Prototyping adaptor is available today in two packages:

1. Prototyping bundle for $4,995.
Includes Active-HDL (Design Edition) mixed VHDL and Verilog, built-in library primitives' conversion utility, Actel Libero integrated design environment, prototyping adaptor, and FlashPro3 programmer.

2. Prototyping adaptor only for $3,495.
Includes Prototyping adaptor and FlashPro3 programmer.

Further information: Aldec Prototyping Board for Actel RTAX-S Space FPGAs