Actel
 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (March 2011) |
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| Industry | Integrated Circuits |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Successor | Microsemi
revenue =  US$191 Million (FY 2009)[1] |
Key people | location = San Jose, CA, United States |
| Products | FPGAs, Embedded Processors |
 US$-21.3 Million (FY 2009)[1] | |
| US$-46.2 Million (FY 2009)[1] | |
| Total assets | US$307 Million (FY 2009)[2] |
| Total equity | US$233 Million (FY 2009)[2] |
Number of employees | 500+[3] |
| Website | www.actel.com www.microsemi.com |
Actel Corporation (formerly NASDAQ:ACTL) (now Microsemi) was a manufacturer of nonvolatile, low-power field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),[5] mixed-signal FPGAs,[6] and programmable logic solutions.[7][8][9] It is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with offices worldwide.
History and competition
Actel became a publicly traded company in 1985 and became known for its high-reliability and antifuse-based FPGAs, used in the military and aerospace markets.[10]
In 2000, Actel acquired GateField which expanded Actel's antifuse FPGA offering to include flash-based FPGAs. In 2004, Actel announced it had shipped the one-millionth unit of its flash-based ProASICPLUS FPGA.[11]
In 2005, Actel introduced a new technology known as Fusion to bring FPGA programmability to mixed-signal solutions. Fusion was the first technology to integrate mixed-signal analog capabilities with flash memory and FPGA fabric in a monolithic device.[12]
In 2006, to address the tight power budgets of the portable market, Actel introduced the IGLOO FPGA. The IGLOO family of FPGAs was based on Actel's nonvolatile flash technology and the ProASIC 3 FPGA architecture.[13] Two new IGLOO derivatives were added in 2008: IGLOO PLUS FPGAs with enhanced I/O capabilities, and IGLOO nano FPGAs, the industry's lowest power solution at 2 µW. A nano version of ProASIC3 also became available in 2008.
In 2010, Actel introduced the SmartFusion line of FPGAs. SmartFusion includes both analog components and a programmable flash-based logic fabric within the same chip. SmartFusion was the first FPGA product to additionally include a hard ARM processor core.[14]
Altera and Xilinx are the other key players in the market, however their main focus is on SRAM FPGAs. Lattice Semiconductor is another competitor.[15][16]
In November 2010, Actel Corporation was acquired by Microsemi Corporation.[17][18][19]
Technologies
Actel's portfolio of FPGAs is based on two types of technologies: antifuse-based FPGAs (Axcelerator, SX-A, eX, and MX families) and flash-based FPGAs (Fusion, IGLOO, and ProASIC3 families).
Actel's antifuse FPGAs have been known for their nonvolatility, live at power-up operation[citation needed], single-chip form factor[clarification needed][citation needed], and security[citation needed]. Actel's flash-based FPGA families include these same characteristics[citation needed] and are also reprogrammable and low power.[citation needed]
Actel also develops system-critical FPGAs (RTAX and ProASIC3 families), including extended temperature automotive, military, and aerospace FPGAs, plus a wide variety of space-class radiation-tolerant devices. These flash and antifuse FPGAs have high levels of reliability[citation needed] and firm-error immunity[clarification needed][citation needed].
Controversy
In March 2012, researchers from Cambridge University discovered that a backdoor exists in the JTAG interface of the ProASIC3 family of low-powered FPGAs.[20] They defended their theory at a cryptography workshop held in Belgium in September 2012.[21]
References
- ^ a b c Actel (ACTL) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
- ^ a b Actel (ACTL) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
- ^ "Corporate Factsheet" (PDF). Actel Corporation. August 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
- ^ "Company Profile for Actel Corp (ACTL)". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "Actel FPGAs cut power drain to target mobile market." Aug 30, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ Paul Buckley, EETimes. "Micrium supports Actel SmartFusion FPGAs." March 8, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ EETimes India. "Actel designs IP core for nonvalatile FPGAs." Mar 23, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ EETimes Asia. "Seiko Epson goes with Actel FPGAs for multimedia viewers." Dec 10, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ EETimes Asia. "Free controller cores roll for Actel FPGAs." Feb 8, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ Andrew Hamm, SJ Business Journal. "The sky's the limit for Actel chips in planned European satellites." August 1, 2003. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- ^ Company Release. "Actel Achieves Key Milestone with its Cost-Effective, Flash-Based FPGAs; Company Ships More Than 1 Million Units." March 29, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- ^ EETimes. "Actel Claims To Usher In Era Of 'Programmable System Chip'." July 18, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- ^ Company Release. "Actel Brings Portable Market In from the Cold With Industry's Lowest Power FPGA Family." August 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- ^ EETimes. "Actel rolls mixed-signal FPGA with hard ARM core." March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ Electronics Weekly. "FPGA / PLD." Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ John Edwards, EDN. "No room for Second Place." Jun 1, 2006. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
- ^ Microsemi press release "Microsemi Completes Tender Offer for Actel Corporation"
- ^ Mark Lapedus, EE Times. "Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
- ^ MELISSA KORN, Wall Street Journal. "Microsemi to Buy Rival Actel for $430 Million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
- ^ Sergei Skorobogatov. "Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip"
- ^ CHES 2012 "Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems"