iCE (FPGA)
iCE is the brand name used for a family of low-power
Lattice received the iCE brand as part of its 2011 acquisition of SiliconBlue Technologies.
History
FPGAs | |
Website | www.siliconbluetech.com (archived copy from 2012) |
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The iCE brand was originally used by SiliconBlue Technologies Corporation, a former
In 2006, SiliconBlue was funded with
In 2009, the first iCE65 L devices were shipped to customers.[7] SiliconBlue also registered SiliconBlue Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited, which remains as a subsidiary of Lattice Semiconductor.[8][9]
In 2010, the lowest-end of the iCE65 P devices was announced by SiliconBlue. The devices were claimed to be as much as 30% faster than iCE65 L devices while maintaining similar power consumption.[10][11] In the June of the same year, SiliconBlue closed a $15 million Series C funding round.[12]
In April 2011, SiliconBlue announced that it was to release new product families, code-named "Los Angeles" and "San Francisco," using a TSMC
On 9 December 2011, SiliconBlue Technologies was acquired by Lattice Semiconductor in a $63.2 million cash buyout. As part of this buyout, Lattice received the iCE brand, manufacturing capabilities with TSMC, and a licence for various patents from Kilopass Technologies, including for its XPM
In April 2012, Lattice announced that the iCE65 families would be discontinued.[18] The iCE40 LP and HX device families entered volume production the following month.[19] The iCE40 LP family won the Elektra Digital Semiconductor Product of the Year award for 2012.[20]
In July 2014, the iCE40 Ultra family was announced.[21]
In February 2015, Lattice launched the iCE40 UltraLite device family. The devices in this family are claimed to operate at 30% less power than those of unspecified competitors, and are claimed to be the world's smallest FPGAs, being available in 1.4×1.4 mm packages.[22] The family won the 2015 Elektra Digital Semiconductor Product of the Year award.[23]
In December 2016, Lattice launched the iCE40 UltraPlus device family. UltraPlus devices provide additional memory, additional processing elements, and support for newer interfaces and protocols compared to previous iCE40 Ultra/UltraLite devices.[24][25]
Architecture
iCE65 and iCE40 devices are constructed as an array of programmable logic blocks (PLBs), where a PLB is a block of eight
Compared to LUT6-based architectures (such as
iCE devices use volatile SRAM to store configuration data. As a result, the data must be loaded onto the device each time power is lost. All iCE devices support loading configuration data from a programmer, from an external flash memory chip, or, with the exception of iCE40 LM devices,[28] from a so-called NVCM, or non-volatile configuration memory. The NVCM is a one-time-programmable (OTP) memory integrated into the FPGA to negate the need for an external memory chip. Lattice claims that using the NVCM can improve design security by making reverse engineering more difficult.[29]
The
: 11Development
iCE FPGAs, as with most FPGAs and
Open source
The details of a specific FPGA's bitstream format (which defines how the internal elements of the FPGA are connected and interact with each other) are not usually published by FPGA vendors. This means that, generally, an engineer creating a design for an FPGA must use the tools provided by the FPGA's manufacturer.
In December 2015, at
List of iCE devices
iCE65 (65 nm)
The iCE65 name was used by SiliconBlue Technologies for the devices it designed for a 65 nm process node. Following the acquisition of SiliconBlue in 2011, the name was used by Lattice Semiconductor until the family was discontinued in April 2012.[18]
iCE65 L
Series | Device | LEs | RAM | PLLs | Max. I/Os |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
iCE65 L | L01 | 1280 | 64 kbit | — | 95 |
L04 | 3520 | 80 kbit | 176 | ||
L08 | 7680 | 128 kbit | 222 | ||
L16 | 16 896 | 384 kbit | Unknown | ||
iCE65 P | P04 | 3520 | 80 kbit | 1 | 174 |
P08 | 7680 | 128 kbit | 2 | Unknown | |
P12 | 12 160 | 160 kbit | 2 | Unknown |
The iCE65 L series of devices was intended for low-power applications and handheld devices. The series was first announced in mid 2008,[6] and first shipped to volume customers in early 2009.[7]
Information about a larger device in the series, the iCE65L16, was listed on the SiliconBlue website in 2010,[33] but no mention is made in a 2012 revision of the L-series datasheet.[27] It is unclear whether the device was ever produced commercially.
iCE65 P
The iCE65 P-series devices were marketed as a higher-performance version of the L-series devices, intended for use in display, memory, and SERDES applications,[34] and were announced in early 2010.[10][11] Three devices were listed as being part of the series but only one device, the lowest-end iCE65P04, was fully specified. The latest datasheet for the family, published in 2011, lists the other two parts but does not give specifications.[35] Whether these other two devices were ever commercially produced is unclear.
iCE40 (40 nm)
Lattice uses the iCE40 name for its iCE-branded devices produced on a 40 nm process node. The company has also used the codename "Los Angeles" in press releases. The iCE40 family was launched in July 2011 with iCE40 LP and HX parts,[16] and was updated in July 2014 with the iCE40 Ultra parts,[21] in February 2015 with the iCE40 UltraLite parts,[22] and in December 2016 with the iCE40 UltraPlus parts.[24]
iCE40 Ultra, UltraLite, & UltraPlus
Family | Device | LEs | RAM | I²C | SPI | DSP | PWM | Max. I/Os |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UltraLite | UL640 | 640 | 56 kbit | 2 | — | 26 | ||
UL1K | 1280 | 56 kbit | 2 | 26 | ||||
Ultra | iCE5LP1K | 1100 | 64 kbit | 1 | 1 | 2 | 39 | |
iCE5LP2K | 2048 | 80 kbit | 2 | 2 | 4 | 39 | ||
iCE5LP4K | 3520 | 80 kbit | 2 | 2 | 4 | 39 | ||
UltraPlus | UP3K | 2800 | 1104 kbit | 2 | 2 | 4 | 21 | |
UP5K | 5280 | 1144 kbit | 2 | 2 | 8 | 39 |
The iCE40 Ultra, UltraLite, and UltraPlus devices are intended for applications with especially low limits on available space and power, such as in
Lattice launched the Ultra family in mid 2014,[21] and the UltraLite family in early 2015.[22] In 2015, the UltraLite family won the Elektra Digital Semiconductor Product of the Year award.[23]
In September 2016, the
In December 2016, Lattice launched the UltraPlus family intended for
iCE40 LP & LM
Family | Device | LEs | RAM | I²C | SPI | PLLs | Max. I/Os |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LP | LP384 | 384 | — | 39 | |||
LP640 | 640 | 32 kbit | 11 | ||||
LP1K | 1280 | 64 kbit | 1 | 97 | |||
LP4K | 3520 | 80 kbit | 2 | 180 | |||
LP8K | 7680 | 128 kbit | 2 | 180 | |||
LM | LM1K | 1100 | 64 kbit | 2 | 2 | 1 | 39 |
LM2K | 2048 | 80 kbit | 2 | 2 | 1 | 39 | |
LM4K | 3520 | 80 kbit | 2 | 2 | 1 | 39 |
The iCE40 LP (low power) and LM (low power with
LP devices differ from the Ultra devices in that they do not include hard IP cores. Instead, any interface logic must be implemented in the FPGA fabric. This is generally less preferable, as so-called "soft cores" are less power-efficient than hard cores, and often are unable to operate at the same frequencies. A soft core also reduces the number of logic cells available to the application. LM devices integrate two I²C and two SPI hard cores, as well as two strobe generators. Most LP and LM devices integrate one or two phase-locked loops.
The families were launched in mid 2011 and entered volume production in mid 2012.[16][19] They won the Elektra Digital Semiconductor Product of the Year award for 2012.[20] In 2015, it was announced that ZTE would use LM devices to provide sensor hub and infrared remote control functionality in its Star 2 smartphone.[38]
iCE40 HX
Device | LEs | RAM | PLLs | Static current | Max. I/Os |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
HX1K | 1280 | 64 kbit | 1 | 296 μA | 98 |
HX4K | 3520 | 80 kbit | 2 | 1140 μA | 109 |
HX8K | 7680 | 128 kbit | 2 | 1140 μA | 208 |
The iCE40 HX devices are intended for high-performance applications. Compared to iCE40 LP and Ultra devices, they offer lower maximum
The HX parts were launched in mid 2011 alongside the LP parts,[16] and entered volume production in mid 2012.[19]
See also
- Digital logic
References
- ^ "iCE40 Ultra / UltraLite - Lattice Semiconductor". Lattice Semiconductor. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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- ^ "SiliconBlue Team". SiliconBlue Technologies. 2006. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
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- ^ a b "SiliconBlue Secures $24 Million in Series-B Funding" (Press release). SiliconBlue Technologies. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ a b "SiliconBlue Pioneers New FPGA Technology for Handheld, Ultra-Low Power Applications". SiliconBlue Technologies. 2 June 2008. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- ^ a b "SiliconBlue announces volume production shipments of iCE65 ultra-low-power FPGAs". EETimes. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
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- ^ a b "SiliconBlue Enables Differentiated Mobile Broadband Products with New P-Series mobileFPGA Devices" (Press release). Reuters. 15 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 November 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ a b "SiliconBlue unveils new series of FPGAs targeting mobile apps". EETimes. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "SiliconBlue Completes $15M Series C Preferred Stock Financing" (Press release). BusinessWire. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Clarke, Peter (5 April 2011). "SiliconBlue tips FPGA move to 40-nm". EETimes. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "SiliconBlue Raises $18 Million in Series D Funding" (Press release). BusinessWire. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Wauters, Robin (29 June 2011). "SiliconBlue Scores $18 Million in Series D Funding". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d Maxfield, Clive (11 July 2011). "SiliconBlue launches 40nm mobileFPGA family (code name "Los Angeles")". EETimes. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Form 10-K - Lattice Semiconductor Corporation. US Securities and Exchange Commission. 2012.
- ^ a b PCN# 08B-12: Notification of Intent to Discontinue the iCE65 Product Family. Lattice Semiconductor. 2012.
- ^ a b c "Lattice Announces Production Release Of iCE40 Los Angeles LP-Series And HX-Series mobileFPGA Device Families". Lattice Semiconductor. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "2012 Winners :: Elektra Awards". Electronics Weekly. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d "Lattice Semiconductor Launches iCE40 Ultra™ Platform for Wearable Device Development". Lattice Semiconductor. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c "Lattice Semiconductor's New iCE40 UltraLite Device Enables OEMs to Accelerate Time-to-Market of Feature-Rich Mobile Devices". Lattice Semiconductor. 3 February 2015. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "2015 Winners :: Elektra Awards". Electronics Weekly. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c "New iCE40 UltraPlus Devices from Lattice Semiconductor Accelerate Customer Innovation in Smartphones and IoT Edge Devices" (Press release). Lattice Semiconductor. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ a b Maxfield, Max (22 December 2016). "Lattice introduces iCE40 UltraPlus high-performance low-power FPGAs". EETimes. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ a b c d DS1040 - iCE40 LP/HX Family Data Sheet v3.2. Lattice Semiconductor. 2015.
- ^ a b c iCE65™ Ultra Low-Power mobileFPGA™ Family Datasheet v2.42. Lattice Semiconductor. 2012.
- ^ a b c "iCE40 LP/HX/LM - Lattice Semiconductor". Lattice Semiconductor. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Lattice TN1248 - iCE40 Programming and Configuration v2.8. Lattice Semiconductor. 2015.
- ^ "Schedule 32. Chaos Communication Congress". Chaos Computer Club. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
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- ^ "Project IceStorm". Claire Wolf. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ The iCE65 mobileFPGA Family Product Table v1.1. Lattice Semiconductor.
- ^ iCE65™ P-Series Ultra Low-Power mobileFPGA™ Family v1.31. SiliconBlue Technologies. 22 April 2011.
- ^ TN 1288 - iCE40 LED Driver Usage Guide. Lattice Semiconductor. 2014.
- ^ "Apple iPhone 7 Teardown | Chipworks". Chipworks Inc. 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "ZTE Chooses Lattice Semiconductor for Feature Differentiation and Integration on Star 2 Smartphone". Reuters. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.