Company:Actel

From HandWiki
Actel Corporation
TypePublic
NASDAQ: ACTL
IndustryIntegrated Circuits
SuccessorMicrosemi
Founded1985; 41 years ago (1985)
Headquarters
San Jose, California
,
United States
ProductsFPGAs, Embedded Processors
RevenueIncrease US$191 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Decrease US$-21.3 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Decrease US$-46.2 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Total assetsDecrease US$307 Million (FY 2009)[2]
Total equityDecrease US$233 Million (FY 2009)[2]
Number of employees
500+[3]
Websitewww.actel.com www.microsemi.com

Actel Corporation was an American manufacturer of nonvolatile, low-power field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),[4] mixed-signal FPGAs,[5] and programmable logic solutions.[6][7][8] It had its headquarters in Mountain View, California, with offices worldwide. In November 2010, Microsemi acquired Actel for $430 million.[9][10][11][12] In May 2018, Microchip Technology acquired Microsemi.[13]

History and competition

Actel was founded in 1985 and became known for its high-reliability and anti-fuse-based FPGAs, used in the military and aerospace markets.[14]

Actel acquired GateField in 2000, which expanded Actel's anti-fuse FPGA offering to include flash-based FPGAs. Actel announced in 2004 that it had shipped the one-millionth unit of its flash-based ProASICPLUS FPGA.[15]

In 2005, Actel introduced a new technology known as Fusion to bring FPGA programmability to mixed-signal solutions. Fusion was the first technology to integrate mixed-signal analogue capabilities with flash memory and FPGA fabric in a monolithic device.[16]

In 2006, to address the tight power budgets of the portable market, Actel introduced the IGLOO FPGA. The IGLOO family of FPGAs was based on Actel's nonvolatile flash technology and the ProASIC 3 FPGA architecture.[17] Two new IGLOO derivatives were added in 2008: IGLOO PLUS FPGAs with enhanced I/O capabilities, and IGLOO nano FPGAs, a low power solution at 2 μW. A nano version of ProASIC3 also became available in 2008.

In 2010, Actel introduced the SmartFusion line of FPGAs. SmartFusion includes both analogue components and a programmable flash-based logic fabric within the same chip. SmartFusion was the first FPGA product to additionally include a hard ARM processor core.[18]

Altera and Xilinx are the other key players in the market, however, their main focus is on SRAM FPGAs. Lattice Semiconductor is another competitor.[19][20]

Technologies

Actel's portfolio of FPGAs is based on two types of technologies: anti-fuse-based FPGAs (Axcelerator, SX-A, eX, and MX families) and flash-based FPGAs (Fusion, PolarFire, IGLOO, and ProASIC3 families).

Actel's anti-fuse FPGAs have been known for their nonvolatility, live-at power-up operation,[21] single-chip form factor[clarification needed] , and security[<span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (March 2011} s include these same characteristics[citation needed] and are also reprogrammable and rch 2011)">citation needed] Actel also develops system-critical FPGAs (RTAX and ProASIC3 families), including extended temperature automotive, military, and aerospace FPGAs, plus a wide variety of space-class radiation-tolerant devices. These flash and anti-fuse FPGAs have high levels of reliability and firm-error immunity.[clarification needed]{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}

Controversy

In March 2012, researchers from the University of Cambridge discovered a backdoor in the JTAG interface of the ProASIC3 family of low-powered FPGAs.[22] They defended their theory at a cryptography workshop held in Belgium in September 2012.[23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Actel (ACTL) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Actel (ACTL) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  3. ↑ "Corporate Factsheet". Actel Corporation. August 2009. http://www.actel.com/documents/corp/CorporateFactSheet.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "Actel FPGAs cut power drain to target mobile market ." Aug 30, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ Paul Buckley, EETimes. "Micrium supports Actel SmartFusion FPGAs ." March 8, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ EETimes India. "Actel designs IP core for nonvalatile FPGAs ." Mar 23, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ EETimes Asia. "Seiko Epson goes with Actel FPGAs for multimedia viewers ." Dec 10, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ EETimes Asia. "Free controller cores roll for Actel FPGAs ." Feb 8, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  9. ↑ Microsemi press release "Microsemi Completes Tender Offer for Actel Corporation "
  10. ↑ Mark Lapedus, EE Times. "Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  11. ↑ MELISSA KORN, Wall Street Journal. "Microsemi to Buy Rival Actel for $430 Million." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million". https://www.eetimes.com/microsemi-buys-actel-for-430-million/#. 
  13. ↑ "Microchip Technology Announces Completion of Microsemi Acquisition" (in en). 2018-05-29. https://ir.microchip.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/399/microchip-technology-announces-completion-of-microsemi-acquisition. 
  14. ↑ Andrew Hamm, SJ Business Journal. "The sky's the limit for Actel chips in planned European satellites." August 1, 2003. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  15. ↑ Company Release. "Actel Achieves Key Milestone with its Cost-Effective, Flash-Based FPGAs; Company Ships More Than 1 Million Units ." March 29, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  16. ↑ EETimes. "Actel Claims To Usher In Era Of 'Programmable System Chip'." July 18, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  17. ↑ Company Release. "Actel Brings Portable Market In from the Cold With Industry's Lowest Power FPGA Family ." August 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  18. ↑ EETimes. "Actel rolls mixed-signal FPGA with hard ARM core." March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  19. ↑ Electronics Weekly. "FPGA / PLD." Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  20. ↑ John Edwards, EDN. "No room for Second Place." Jun 1, 2006. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Introduction To Actel FPGA Architecture PDF | PDF | Logic Gate | Field Programmable Gate Array" (in en). https://www.scribd.com/document/370703365/Introduction-to-Actel-FPGA-Architecture-pdf. 
  22. ↑ Sergei Skorobogatov. "Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip"
  23. ↑ CHES 2012 "Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems"



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