SOLID STATE SUPPLIES APPOINTED UK REPRESENTATIVES FOR MATHSTAR.

Solid State Supplies have added field reprogrammable ICs which process logic functions at a clock rate of up to 1GHz to their already impressive specialist component portfolio, following their appointment as the UK representative for US based manufacturer MathStar.

This new class of logic platform chips called Field Programmable Object Arrays (FPOAs) offer up to four times the performance of commercially available FPGAs. MathStar believe that system level solutions in many modern applications, such as image and media processing, have evolved to the point of requiring hundreds of billions of computations per second (GOPS) of digital processing performance to compete in today's markets.
                
To achieve these computational rates, many of these applications currently use special purpose ASICs which are generally viewed as cost effective only for large volume, fixed function applications. FPOAs are an attractive alternative to ASICs in high performance applications because they combine the life cycle cost, time-to-market and time-in-market advantages of existing programmable logic devices while delivering the performance of ASICs.
 
Consisting of silicon objects arranged in an internal grid pattern, memory and input/outputs, the object grid of an FPOA is overlaid with a patented, high speed interconnect system creating the silicon object array. This array of objects and interconnect matrix is programmed to execute unique customer applications. FPOAs provide a new way of implementing high performance algorithmic functions in silicon integrated circuits.

They are not programmed at the gate level but instead are programmed at the silicon object level, which reduces their development time and cost as compared to other methods of chip design.  

Richard Bethell, Solid State’s Technical Director said: “We believe that FPOAs are ideally suited to implement high-performance algorithmic functions in many image processing, communications, computing, industrial and military/aerospace applications and are delighted with the appointment enabling us to supply components which will sit nicely with a number of other specialized solutions we are able to offer

• Connectivity
• Defence/Aerospace
• Industrial