3.3V/5V Metal PGA Family Seeks To Displace FPGAs & CPLDs

Based on the firm's novel Metal Programmed Gate Array (MPGA) technology, the MPGA-3v3 family of ASIC products is designed to serve as fast turnaround, low-cost replacements of FPGA and CPLD devices. Manufactured in a 0.5-micron CMOS, triple metal process, MPGA-3v3 devices are designed to accommodate up to 41,850 gates with 41,472 bits of single- or dual-port RAM and 324 I/O pins. MPGA-3v3 ICs can operate with a 3.3V or 5V supply, with 5V tolerant I/O available for 3.3V operation. And depending on application, ESD immunity can be as high as 7 kV. Furthermore, the JTAG registers are now built directly into the I/O buffers to improve boundary scan performance. And by using the Metal Bridge Architecture to implement full random logic by customizing only the top metal mask layer, the devices reportedly offer the lowest tooling costs in the industry. The MPGA-3v3 family is said to be particularly well-suited for use in telecomm, computer peripheral, and embedded system applications, as well as serving as replacements for obsolete devices. Production quantities of the ASIC devices are currently available with up to 28,700 gates plus 28,224 bits of single/dual-port RAM and up to 260 I/O pins. And there is no NRE for standard designs with a minimum order of 4000 pieces.