
2
Preliminary
7-2
pASIC 3 FPGA
TM
Family
Family Summary
The pASIC 3 family is fabricated on a 0.35mm 4-
layer metal process using QuickLogic’s patented
ViaLink
“
technology to provide a unique combination
of high performance, high density, low cost, and
complete flexibility. The five devices in the family
range from 4,000 usable PLD gates with 82 I/Os to
60,000 usable PLD gates with 3163 I/Os, making
them among the largest FPGAs available. While
other FPGA families sacrifice performance to reach
these densities, the pASIC 3 family is the fastest
available from any vendor at any density level - with
16-bit counter speeds that exceed 300 MHz and
datapath speeds over 400 MHz.
With die sizes as small as half those of competing
FPGAs, pASIC 3 devices provide high levels of den-
sity and performance at a lower cost. The pASIC 3
family also provides 100% routability, even with all
logic cells used and I/O pins fixed. This capability is
critical for larger designs completed using high-level
hardware description languages such as Verilog and
VHDL.
Devices in the pASIC 3 family are based on an array
of highly flexible logic cells which have been opti-
mized to efficiently implement a wide range of logic
functions at high speed. Each cell can implement
one large function, five independent smaller func-
tions, or any combination in-between.
Logic cells are configured and interconnected by
rows and columns of routing metal and ViaLink
metal-to-metal antifuses. Because ViaLink antifuses
are small, fast, and are placed between metal layers
above the logic cells (rather than on the silicon sub-
strate), they can be located at every routing track
junction. This approach allows abundant intercon-
nect resources with small die sizes.
pASIC 3 family members feature 3.3 volt operation
with multi-volt compatible I/Os. Thus the devices
can easily operate in 3 volt only systems, as well as
mixed 3.3 volt/5 volt systems.
A wide range of additional family features comple-
ments the pASIC 3 family. All members include 5
volt and 3 volt PCI-compliant speed grades capable
of implementing bus master and target applications
at 33 MHz with zero wait states. I/O pins provide
individually-controlled output enables, dedicated
input/feedback registers, and full JTAG capability for
boundary scan and test. Different family members in
the same package are pin-compatible with one
another, permitting easy design migration within the
family. In addition, pASIC 3 devices provide the ben-
efits of non-volatility, high design security, immediate
functionality on power-up, and self-contained single
chip solutions.
Software support for the pASIC 3 family is available
through three basic packages. The turnkey PC-based
QuickWorks
package, shown in Figure 1, provides
the most complete FPGA software solution from
design entry, to logic synthesis, to place and route, to
simulation. QuickWorks includes VHDL, Verilog,
schematic, boolean, and mixed-mode entry with fast
and efficient logic synthesis provided by the inte-
grated Synplicity Synplify Lite
tool, specially tuned
to take advantage of the pASIC 3 architecture.
QuickWorks also provides functional and timing sim-
ulation for guaranteed timing and source-level debug-
ging.
FIGURE 1. QuickWorks Tool Suite
The PC/Sun/HP-based QuickTools
and PC-based
QuickWorks
-Lite packages are a subset of Quick-
Works and provide a solution for designers who use
Cadence, Mentor, Synopsys, Viewlogic, Intergraph,
or other third-party tools for design entry, synthesis,
F
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