Anadigm Ships Industry's First Dynamically Reconfigurable Field-Programmable Analog Array.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2002 New Device Family From Anadigm Allows Rapid Analog Design Implementation and On-the-Fly Reconfiguration Anadigm(R) today announced that it is shipping the AN220E04, the industry's first field-programmable analog array (FPAA FPAA Field-Programmable Analog Array FPAA Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association FPAA Fairmount Park Art Association (Philadelphia, PA) FPAA Fresh Produce Association of the Americas FPAA Fire Protection Association of Australia ) that can be dynamically reconfigured to allow real-time control Real-time control is a popular term for a certain class of digital controllers. For effective digital control, it is critical that sample time be constant. Real-time control achieves nearly constant sample time. See also
Anadigm's proprietary FPAA technology brings the industry an analog equivalent to the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) A type of gate array that is programmed in the field rather than in a semiconductor fab. Containing up to hundreds of thousands of gates, there are a variety of FPGA architectures on the market. , allowing complex analog signal conditioning and processing functions to be integrated within an off-the-shelf, pretested device. The new AN220E04 makes its debut as the silicon component of Anadigmvortex, a second-generation product family that combines a powerful EDA (1) (Electronic Design Automation) Using the computer to design, lay out, verify and simulate the performance of electronic circuits on a chip or printed circuit board. tool, configurable analog modules (CAMs), and programmable silicon to reduce the time required for analog design implementations from months to minutes. In addition to enabling a short analog design and implementation cycle, the functionality of the AN220E04 can be reconfigured in-system by the designer or on the fly by a microprocessor. A single AN220E04 can thus be programmed to implement multiple analog functions and/or to adapt on the fly to maintain precision operation despite system degradation and aging. The AN220E04 will be used to replace discrete components and analog ASIC/ASSP devices for signal conditioning, filtering, data acquisition, closed-loop control, and other analog applications in a wide range of industrial, automotive, medical, communications, automatic test equipment, and instrumentation systems. "Anadigm's flexible analog signal processing Analog signal processing is any signal processing conducted on analog signals by analog means. "Analog" indicates something that is mathematically represented as a set of continuous values. This differs from "digital" which uses a series of discrete quantities to represent signal. technology complements digital signal processing See DSP. Digital Signal Processing - (DSP) Computer manipulation of analog signals (commonly sound or image) which have been converted to digital form (sampled). technology, and the AN220E04 can be useful in conjunction with DSP (1) (Digital Signal Processor) A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications (see definition #2 below). It provides ultra-fast instruction sequences, such as shift and add, and multiply and add, which are commonly used in math-intensive chips and can even replace DSPs in specific audio applications," said Will Strauss, president of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. Based on a fully differential switched capacitor technology with an analog switch fabric, the second-generation AN220E04 has been redesigned to boost device functionality and performance. Compared with Anadigm's first-generation FPAAs, the AN220E04 architecture provides a significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio The ratio of the power or volume (amplitude) of a signal to the amount of unwanted interference (the noise) that has mixed in with it. Measured in decibels, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N) measures the clarity of the signal in a circuit or a wired or wireless transmission channel. as well as higher bandwidth. A successive approximation register-based A/D converter can be combined with an on-board look-up table to provide advanced analog functions including sensor response linearization In mathematics and its applications, linearization refers to finding the linear approximation to a function at a given point. In the study of dynamical systems, linearization is a method for assessing the local stability of an equilibrium point of a system of nonlinear differential , arbitrary waveform synthesis, signal-dependent functions, analog multiplication, and signal companding (1) In the analog world, a method for improving audio reproduction by altering the dynamic range of the signals. On outgoing transmission, it raises the amplitude of weak signals and lowers the amplitude of strong signals. . Until now, analog functionality within a system could be changed only by developing a new system board with new discrete values. With the Anadigmvortex family, these functions can interact with other parts of the system through software, putting analog under the absolute control of the system processor. The benefits to manufacturers are numerous. Examples include the ability to adapt the system for sensor degradation, laser aging, or changing customer requirements; increased system functionality; and the ability to improve accuracy in end products. "Our first-generation FPAAs created an entirely new paradigm New Paradigm In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business. Notes: The word "paradigm" is defined as a pattern or model, and it has been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework. for analog design by allowing even non-specialists to design and implement complex analog circuits in a fraction of the time required by designers using discrete components or analog ASICs," said Mike Kay, Anadigm president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "With the dynamic reconfigurability introduced by the Anadigmvortex family, the comparative benefits of FPAAs become even more dramatic, not only for the process of analog design but as a redefinition of the way analog will work and be controlled in the software-centric systems of today and tomorrow." Packaged in the 44-pin QFP (Quad FlatPack) A square, surface mount chip package that has leads on all four sides and comes in several varieties. PQFP (Plastic QFP) may refer to all of the following QFP types. All quad flatpacks use gull-wing leads, except for the CQFP, which stick straight out. , samples and production quantities of the AN220E04 are available now. Pricing in 10,000-piece quantities for U.S. delivery starts at $15.00. A multimedia demonstration of the new AnadigmDesigner(R)2 EDA tool, designed for use with the AN220E04, can be viewed at the Anadigm Web site at www.anadigm.com. A complete evaluation kit with a development board, entry-level software, and updated documentation is now available for $499.00. To view a datasheet, visit the Anadigm literature library at http://www.anadigm.com/Supp_05.asp. About Anadigm Anadigm combines the three most powerful design trends from the digital world (design automation, field-programmable ICs, real-time updating) into a platform for analog design, greatly reducing cost of ownership for analog signal conditioning and processing functions across many market segments. Founded in January 2000 as a venture-backed technology spinoff from Motorola, the company maintains U.S. headquarters in Campbell, Calif., and European headquarters in Crewe, U.K. For further information, visit Anadigm on the Web at www.anadigm.com. Anadigm and AnadigmDesigner are registered trademarks of Anadigm, Inc. |
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