Atmel Adds FPSLIC Support to AVR Starter Kit; Low-cost STK 594 Daughter Board Plugs into STK500.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2002 Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML ATML Automatic Test Markup Language ATML Automated Test Markup Language ) announced today the availability of the STK 594, a low-cost add-on board that supports the FPSLIC FPSLIC Field Programmable System Level Integrated Circuit (TM) Product Family. Atmel's AVR(R)-based FPSLIC components integrate a 20+ MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) The execution speed of a computer. For example, .5 MIPS is 500,000 instructions per second; 100 MIPS is a hundred million instructions per second. 8-bit AVR microcontrollwith a 5,000 to 40,000 gate 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. , up to 36 K-bytes of SRAM See static RAM. SRAM - static random-access memory , and peripherals. FPSLIC devices provide programmable logic and an AVR microcontroller on a single chip. The STK594 add-on board plugs directly into an AVR STK500 development board, creating a low cost FPSLIC development environment. Atmel's FPSLIC devices offer designers a single chip solution with the additional memory and programmable logic. The STK594 development kit offers these designers a low cost and easy way to develop FPSLIC designs using the AVR development environment. Since FPSLIC code executes from on-chip SRAM, the AVR microcontroller performance is 20 or more MIPS. The STK 594 includes the FPSLIC daughter board, Atmel's System Designer co-verification, code-development, and EDA tool suite. The HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. Planner tool in System Designer automates the generation of the FPGA design, so embedded designers who are not familiar with a hardware description language (language) Hardware Description Language - (HDL) A kind of language used for the conceptual design of integrated circuits. Examples are VHDL and Verilog. (HDL) can quickly and easily create the FPGA portion of the design. System Designer's co-verification back plane supports the simultaneous debugging of the processor code during the FPGA simulation. According to Saroj Pathak, Atmel's Programmable SLI Product Line Director, "Frequently, system designers find they need to add custom peripherals or additional logic to their MCU-based designs. However, the addition of an external FPGA or CPLD (Complex PLD) A programmable logic device that is made up of several simple PLDs (SPLDs) with a programmable switching matrix in between the logic blocks. CPLDs typically use EEPROM, flash memory or SRAM to hold the logic design interconnections. See PLD and SPLD. increases cost, board real estate, power consumption and design complexity. Adding external logic usually means that the embedded designer must learn how to use a hardware description language (HDL) or bring in a HDL designer -- lengthening the design cycle. "The System Designer tool suite is very friendly to code developers. It integrates the code development and FPGA design tools in a co-verification environment that automates the generation of syntactically correct Verilog or VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) A hardware description language (HDL) used to design electronic systems at the component, board and system level. VHDL allows models to be developed at a very high level of abstraction. from a library of over 50 point-and-click logic and memory functions selected by the designer. Embedded system designers who have no knowledge of hardware description languages can create the FPGA portion of the FPSLIC design quickly and easily with these tools," Pathak concluded. Atmel's STK594 FPSLIC development kit is available now, priced at $149. The STK500 AVR Development Kit is available with a list price of $79.00 About Atmel Founded in 1984, is headquartered in San Jose, California San Jose (IPA: /ˌsænhoʊˈzeɪ/) is the third-largest city in California, and the tenth-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Santa Clara County. with manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe. Atmel designs, manufactures and markets worldwide, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and RF semiconductors. Atmel is also a leading provider of system-level integration semiconductor solutions using CMOS, BiCMOS, SiGe, and high-voltage BCDMOS process technologies. Atmel, the Atmel logo, AVR, and combinations thereof are registered trademarks, FPSLIC and others contained herein are trademarks, of Atmel Corporation. Other terms and product names in this document may be the trademarks of others. Information: Atmel's product information may be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/atmel/acrobat/doc2819.pdf Requests may be sent via e-mail to literature@atmel.com or by visiting Atmel's website at www.atmel.com |
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