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Migrating FPGAs to structured ASICs in avionics to reduce SEU susceptibility

By
Amr El-Ashmawi
Altera Corporation

Feature / Discussion: April 2007The use of FPGAs in many applications is rapidly increasing. With the attributes of reconfigurability and design-to-working part times much faster than those of ASICs, FPGAs offer avionics engineers advantages not available in mask-programmable silicon platforms. However, SRAM-based FPGAs are susceptible to particle-induced SEUs, which make their deployment in avionics problematic. The solution to this dilemma lies in the use of both FPGAs and a structured ASIC for complete system development, with a clear migration path using a single tool flow and suite. Using an FPGA to validate an initial design and then migrating from the FPGA to a structured ASIC reduces cost, power, and system susceptibility to SEUs.

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