1 – ProASIC3E Device Family Overview
General Description
ProASIC3E, the third-generation family of Actel flash FPGAs, offers performance, density, and
features beyond those of the ProASICPLUS® family. Nonvolatile flash technology gives ProASIC3E
devices the advantage of being a secure, low-power, single-chip solution that is live at power-up
(LAPU). ProASIC3E is reprogrammable and offers time-to-market benefits at an ASIC-level unit cost.
These features enable designers to create high-density systems using existing ASIC or FPGA design
flows and tools.
ProASIC3E devices offer 1 kbit of on-chip, programmable, nonvolatile FlashROM storage as well as
clock conditioning circuitry based on six integrated phase-locked loops (PLLs). ProASIC3E devices
have up to three million system gates, supported with up to 504 kbits of true dual-port SRAM and
up to 620 user I/Os.
Several ProASIC3E devices support the Cortex-M1 soft IP cores, and the ARM-Enabled devices have
Actel ordering numbers that begin with M1A3PE.
Flash Advantages
Reduced Cost of Ownership
Advantages to the designer extend beyond low unit cost, performance, and ease of use. Unlike
SRAM-based FPGAs, flash-based ProASIC3E devices allow all functionality to be live at power-up; no
external boot PROM is required. On-board security mechanisms prevent access to all the
programming information and enable secure remote updates of the FPGA logic. Designers can
perform secure remote in-system reprogramming to support future design iterations and field
upgrades with confidence that valuable intellectual property (IP) cannot be compromised or
copied. Secure ISP can be performed using the industry-standard AES algorithm. The ProASIC3E
family device architecture mitigates the need for ASIC migration at higher user volumes. This
makes the ProASIC3E family a cost-effective ASIC replacement solution, especially for applications
in the consumer, networking/ communications, computing, and avionics markets.
Security
The nonvolatile, flash-based ProASIC3E devices do not require a boot PROM, so there is no
vulnerable external bitstream that can be easily copied. ProASIC3E devices incorporate FlashLock,
which provides a unique combination of reprogrammability and design security without external
overhead, advantages that only an FPGA with nonvolatile flash programming can offer.
ProASIC3E devices utilize a 128-bit flash-based lock and a separate AES key to secure programmed
intellectual property and configuration data. In addition, all FlashROM data in ProASIC3E devices
can be encrypted prior to loading, using the industry-leading AES-128 (FIPS192) bit block cipher
encryption standard. The AES standard was adopted by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) in 2000 and replaces the 1977 DES standard. ProASIC3E devices have a built-in
AES decryption engine and a flash-based AES key that make them the most comprehensive
programmable logic device security solution available today. ProASIC3E devices with AES-based
security allow for secure, remote field updates over public networks such as the Internet, and
ensure that valuable IP remains out of the hands of system overbuilders, system cloners, and IP
thieves. The contents of a programmed ProASIC3E device cannot be read back, although secure
design verification is possible.
Security, built into the FPGA fabric, is an inherent component of the ProASIC3E family. The flash
cells are located beneath seven metal layers, and many device design and layout techniques have
been used to make invasive attacks extremely difficult. The ProASIC3E family, with FlashLock and
AES security, is unique in being highly resistant to both invasive and noninvasive attacks. Your
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ACTEL [ Actel Corporation ]
