New classes of semiconductors sometimes require new tools to support them. The latest devices to fit this description is the field-programmable object array (FPOA) from MathStar, a fabless semiconductor vendor. MathStar has rolled out Version 2.0 of its FPOA design tools, as well as announced a projected September, 2006 shipping date for the next generation of FPOA devices.
The Version 2.0 FPOA tools include a new release of the FPOA Connection and Assignment Tool (COAST v2.0) and Summit Design’s Visual Elite 2005.1. These tools combine to enable MathStar’s customers to design, simulate, and debug applications for FPOAs. The tool suite’s simulator is built around cycle-accurate SystemC models; as a result, full-chip simulations can be run in minutes as opposed to hours.
FPOAs are reprogrammable ICs based on MathStar’s Silicon Object technology. The devices can process logic functions at clock rates of up to 1 GHz. MathStar’s flagship device, the MOA1400D FPOA, is suited for DSP and filtering applications in machine-vision, video-processing, medical-imaging, and military/aerospace systems.
www.mathstar.com