Demo Kit Showcases Low-Power FPGA

Demonstrating techniques for extending battery life in portable designs, the Icicle Kit includes the company’s, 5-?W IGLOO, reportedly the industry’s lowest power field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the 1.4" x 3.6" Icicle evaluation board promises to consume less than one-seventh the power of comparable FPGA development solutions in a design the size of a small cell phone. The RoHS-compliant board integrates a nonvolatile, 125,000-gate AGL125 IGLOO FPGA, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery, USB-to-UART interfaces, and power management circuits. In addition to the evaluation board, the kit includes a programming stick and a free, unlimited-use license for the Libero Integrated Design Environment Gold edition. Available now, price for the Icicle Kit is $99 each. ACTEL CORP., Mountain View, CA. (888) 992-2835.