Programmable Logic

• So far, have only talked about PALs (see

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22V10 PLD

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 Programmable
Cypress CPLD interconnect matrix.

Each logic block is

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 Any other approaches?
Another approach to building a “better” PLD is place a lot of
primitive gates on a die, and then place programmable
interconnect between them:

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 Field Programmable Gate Arrays
The FPGA approach to arrange primitive logic elements
(logic cells) arrange in rows/columns with programmable
routing between them.
What constitutes a primitive logic element? Lots of different
choices can be made! Primitive element must be classified as a
“complete logic family”.
• A primitive gate like a NAND gate
• A 2/1 mux (this happens to be a complete logic family)
• A Lookup table (I.e, 16x1 lookup table can implement any
4 input logic function).
Often combine one of the above with a DFF to form the
primitive logic element.
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 Other FPGA features
• Besides primitive logic elements and programmable
routing, some FPGA families add other features
• Embedded memory
– Many hardware applications need memory for data
storage. Many FPGAs include blocks of RAM for this
purpose
• Dedicated logic for carry generation, or other
arithmetic functions
• Phase locked loops for clock synchronization,
division, multiplication.

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Altera Flex 10K FPGA Family

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Altera Flex 10K FPGA Family (cont)

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 Dedicated memory

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16 x1 LUT

DFF

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 Emedded Array Block
• Memory block, Can be configured:
– 256 x 8, 512 x 4, 1024 x 2, 2048 x 1

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 Issues in FPGA Technologies
• Complexity of Logic Element
– How many inputs/outputs for the logic element?
– Does the basic logic element contain a FF? What type?
• Interconnect
– How fast is it? Does it offer ‘high speed’ paths that cross the chip? How
many of these?
– Can I have on-chip tri-state busses?
– How routable is the design? If 95% of the logic elements are used, can I
route the design?
• More routing means more routability, but less room for logic
elements

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Issues in FPGA Technologies (cont)
• Macro elements
– Are there SRAM blocks? Is the SRAM dual ported?
– Is there fast adder support (i.e. fast carry chains?)
– Is there fast logic support (i.e. cascade chains)
– What other types of macro blocks are available (fast decoders?
register files? )
• Clock support
– How many global clocks can I have?
– Are there any on-chip Phase Logic Loops (PLLs) or Delay
Locked Loops (DLLs) for clock synchronization, clock
multiplication?

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 Issues in FPGA Technologies (cont)
• What type of IO support do I have?
– TTL, CMOS are a given
– Support for mixed 5V, 3.3v IOs?
• 3.3 v internal, but 5V tolerant inputs?
– Support for new low voltage signaling standards?
• GTL+, GTL (Gunning Tranceiver Logic) - used on Pentium II
• HSTL - High Speed Transceiver Logic
• SSTL - Stub Series-Terminate Logic
• USB - IO used for Universal Serial Bus (differential signaling)
• AGP - IO used for Advanced Graphics Port
– Maximum number of IO? Package types?
• Ball Grid Array (BGA) for high density IO

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 Altera FPGA Family Summaries
• Altera Flex10K/10KE
– LEs (Logic elements) have 4-input LUTS (look-up tables) +1 FF
– Fast Carry Chain between LE’s, Cascade chain for logic
operations
– Large blocks of SRAM available as well
• Altera Max7000/Max7000A
– EEPROM based, very fast (Tpd = 7.5 ns)
– Basically a PLD architecture with programmable interconnect.
– Max 7000A family is 3.3 v

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 Xilinx FPGA Family Summaries
• Virtex Family
– SRAM Based
– Largest device has 1M gates
– Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) have two 4-input LUTS, 2 DFFs
– Four onboard Delay Locked Loops (DLLs) for clock
synchronization
– Dedicated RAM blocks (LUTs can also function as RAM).
– Fast Carry Logic
• XC4000 Family
– Previous version of Virtex
– No DLLs, No dedicated RAM blocks

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 Actel FPGA Family Summaries
• MXDS Family
– Fine grain Logic Elements that contain Mux logic + DFF
– Embedded Dual Port SRAM
– One Time Programmable (OTP) - means that no configuration
loading on powerup, no external serial ROM
– AntiFuse technology for programming (AntiFuse means that
you program the fuse to make the connection).
– Fast (Tpd = 7.5 ns)
– Low density compared to Altera, Xilinx - maximum number
of gates is 36,000

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 Cypress CPLDs
• Ultra37000 Family
– 32 to 512 Macrocells
– Fast (Tpd 5 to 10ns depending on number of
macrocells)
– Very good routing resources for a CPLD

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