» Smarter and denser FPGAs always draw a lot of attention, but our editors and readers remind us that standard products like translators, clock circuits and peripheral connectivity enablers remain the workhorses of this category.

(1)
LATTICE
New FPGAs target Low Cost and DSP Functions
eeProductCenter's Jon Gabay says: "The new LatticeECP-DSP and LatticeEC FPGA devices were architected from the ground up to find that sweet spot which provides the most optimized feature sets with the lowest total solution costs. "
Readers say: » "Sounds fantastic, but we will see ..." » "Too little too late" » "Wow!" » "More capacity would help" » "Claims about benchmarking are a bit vague" » "Low cost integrated DSP is essential for more and more applications." » "I do not currently have an application for the DSP aspects of the Lattice FPGA's, but I shall archive this information for future reference." » "Overblown" » "The LatticeECP-DSP parts seem to have found a niche that is currently unfilled in the low-cost FPGA market -- dedicated MAC functionality that can be implemented in hardware. Dedicated hardware provides faster speeds than can be achieved in regular FPGA fabric, and also supports selection of a smaller part due to a reduced requirement for general FPGA logic. There are a myriad of choices available for low-cost FPGAs that implement basic logic, all of which can probably be used for a given application. The choice will come down to price, software tool functionality and ease of use, brand loyalty and past experience, plus other unquantifiable stimulus. The best hope for Lattice is that users of their LatticeECP devices make the jump to LatticeEC parts when they need to implement generic logic. All that being said, more choices will still benefit the industry in the long run."
USABILITY RANK: 2

(2)
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
USB-to-Serial bridge offers additional life for legacy peripherals
eeProductCenter's Stephen Ohr says: "The TUSB3410 is a bridge device that allows connectivity between serial-based peripherals and embedded applications, on one side, and new laptops and PCs, on the other. Supporting both self- and bus-powered modes, the TUSB3410 is ideal for upgrading serial devices to a fast, flexible USB interface by bridging between a high-speed USB port and an enhanced Universal Asychronous Receiver/Transmitters (UART) serial port. "
Readers say: » "It's about time!!" » "USB already is an installation/software nightmare. A 'fully compatible' adapter? I'm sceptical." » "These innovations will create market space for functionally new peripherals rather than perpetuating older ones." » "The industrial market has a large number of rs232 devices -- the USB-to-Serial bridge will find many users in the test instruments found in laboratory, biomedical, and industrial designs." » "A must for realtime products."
USABILITY RANK: 1

(3)
LEOPARD LOGIC
Is It Middle Of The Road, Or, A Road In The Middle
eeProductCenter's Jon Gabay says: "What Leopard has come up with is a new architecture that resembles both an ASIC and an FPGA. The Gladiator as it is called, is 100% user programmable and you can perform instant design changes as with FPGAs. But, for critical functions that need to be small and fast, fixed blocks can live happily on the chip. "
Readers say: » "It's not clear the difference between the masked version of Gladiator and HardCopy or similar mask/cost reduced options from Xilinx, Altera, etc. It would be nice to see a table comparing these options and RapidChip, eASIC, etc.-- comparing die area/gate, performance, cost, etc." » "What about programming software for Leopard?" » "Very light on details in both the article and web site (last time I checked)" » "The product niche is very small." » "It was not clear to me, if the ASIC portions of the design are mine to define as a developer or were they funtions that are standard in the device" » "IP with it? " » "Strong product, gentle price." » "Interconnect structure seems interesting."
USABILITY RANK: 4

(4)
SMSC
Just what you need: SMSC introduces USB port controllers with an odd number of ports
eeProductCenter's Stephen Ohr says: "The USB2503 and USB2507 are the industry's first USB2.0 3-port and 7-port hub controllers. The USB2504 is a second generation 4-port hub controller; the USB2228, a controller for 12-in-1 flash card readers; the USB3250, a second generation USB2.0 physical layer transceiver (PHY) device. "
Readers say: » "As USB 2.0 devices are becoming more available, as well as the large data requirements of today, a hub controller with dedicated port bandwidth is ideal over a shared device layer. Nice work!!" » "Interesting, but not significant." » "Cool." » "An odd announcement..." » "No support for XD in MediaCard silicon. OTG support?" » "It is very rare to find a device such as the USB2228, which can cover such a wide range of the MediaCard technologies. Usually only a couple supported in one device." » "They seem to have moved the bottleneck at a lower level" » "USB is fundamental to peripheral integration. I have been utilizing USB to interface with smart transmitters."
USABILITY RANK: 3

(5)
ATMEL
Increased Density Spawns Need for Increased Density
eeProductCenter's Jon Gabay says: "As FPGA densities have increased, the number of storage locations which tailors their personalities, has also increased. As a result, several configurator IC's may be needed for a single large FPGA. Atmel has tackled this issue by introducing the new 32-megabit AT17F32 and AT17F32A. These parts have four times the density of any commercially available competing FPGA configurator device according to Atmel. "
Readers say: » "Prices are much too high." » "It would be beneficial to see a comparison to the competition." » "Industrial temperature range only to +85 degrees; need +100 degrees. Package height >4.5mm need <3.8mm. That's two strikes, I'm not looking for a third." » "Important to know product exists, but not stunning news. Quoting a price of $24 for 100000 units is pointless. As if anyone is going to buy these parts in that type of quantity. 100 off and 1000 off would make far more sense" » "The advantages are extraordinary." » "Reduction of configuration parts for FPGAs on a board has always been an issue. It's nice to see a vendor finally create a part that will support the largest FPGAs with a single IC. While the multiple FPGA image support on a single IC is a nice feature, it's not as significant as the size support."
USABILITY RANK: 6

(6)
PERICOM SEMICONDUCTOR
LVPECL Translator Clock IC's Help Solve Jitter Issues
eeProductCenter's Stephen Ohr says: "The PI6C4853x ICs, a family of 3.3-V, 1:4 LVPECL clock buffers with speeds up to 800 MHz target the networking, telecommunications, storage, and industrial system markets. "
Readers say: » "Not a new idea." » "PECL is a bit dangerous as the reference rail is the positive one so power supply rejection is not very good --I would worry a bit about using these for really low jitter needs." » "Clock jitter is an important issue. Traditionally it is resolved by dividing down the clock frequency which requires a clock fundamental much highetr than the timing requirement. The LVPECL seems like a simple integrated solution."
USABILITY RANK: 5

(7)
FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR
Logic level translators match the ups and downs of portables
eeProductCenter's Stephan Ohr says: "The FXL4T245BQX (4-bit bi-directional) and FXL5T244BQX (5-bit uni-directional) low-voltage logic-level translators in DQFN packaging are designed for cell phones, notebooks and other battery-powered portable devices"
Readers say: » "Article states these are Pb-Free. Our processes need tin-lead if made from tin." » "Great for bridging between legacy parts and newer technologies."
USABILITY RANK: 7

(8)
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
First 3.3-V supply PECL/TTL translators rolled for digital data, clock signals in telecom apps
eeProductCenter's Stephen Ohr says: "Seven pseudo emitter-coupled logic (PECL) and transistor-transistor logic (TTL) translator drivers and receivers, including the industry's first 3.3-V PECL translators and five devices that are direct replacements for translators discontinued by Agere Systems. The devices translate between differential input logic levels and TTL output logic levels. "
Readers say:
USABILITY RANK: 8

(9)
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
Multipoint-LVDS line drivers support AdvancedTCA clock distribution
eeProductCenter's Stephen Ohr says: "The new clock chips, the SN65MLVD047 Quad LVTTL to M-LVDS Translator and the SN65MLVD128/129 Translators translate the low-voltage TTL (LVTTL) clock signals found on a common SBC into the differential signals that constitute a multi-drop LVDS transmission."
Readers say: » "Now we use TI's LVDS CameraLink Family but multipoint ability wiil be helpful." » "significant advance"
USABILITY RANK: 9