FPGAs help drive automation

Ismini Scouras, EE Times
(03/13/2008 9:44 AM EDT)

Aiming to help automotive designers reduce board complexity by taking on more functionality and system integration, FPGA vendors are tailoring parts that offer low-cost connectivity and DSP capabilities, as well as new power management and security features with tighter overall design integration.

FPGA vendors first began to address the automotive market with parts several years ago, recognizing the inherent nature of FPGAs and how they can speed the design process for automotive designers. That trend continues to sweep the industry. Worldwide revenue for automobile ASICs, ASSPs and FPGAs is expected to reach $10.26 billion in 2010--a 52 percent increase from $6.75 billion in 2006, according to Frost & Sullivan (Palo Alto, Calif.).

"The automotive market's appetite for programmable logic solutions continues to increase rapidly," said Stan Kopec, corporate vice president of marketing at Lattice Semiconductor.

FPGA vendors Altera, Xilinx, Lattice and Actel are preparing to capitalize on that trend, providing automotive OEMs with programmable devices to build scalable platforms for emerging automotive infotainment, networking and driver-assistance applications. Using programmable logic devices, automotive products can accommodate feature needs that are changing faster than typical automotive design cycles and faster than ASSP products.

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