Lattice, Altera gain EN-Genius recognition

Kudos to Lattice Semiconductor and Altera Corp. for winning product of the year awards from EN-Genius. Altera took a first prize in high-end FPGA devices for Stratix IV, while Lattice took top system interconnect for the SPI4.2 MACO cores. Paul McGoldrick, editor in chief of the online site, referred to the queuing and scheduling capabilities of the cores for offloading traffic management functions from a separate network processor. Lattice’s FPGA development system took an honorable mention.

The Altera award throws down the gauntlet to its chief rival, Xilinx, by relying on a 40-nm process from TSCMC, and by offering different versions optimized for DSP and transceiver functions. EDN also cited the Stratix IV in its recent Hot 100 Electronic Products.

The awards reinforce the message of my recent post on Serdes cores: Sometimes, it’s not the fastest core or the most interface cores on an FPGA that makes the difference, but the way in which traffic is managed and buffered among coprocessors, and between FPGAs and the system at large. Put simply, speed alone may not be as important as efficiency of packet transport.

While you’re taking a look at EN-Genius, be sure to check out the editorials on green power and Burt Munro from my friend Lee Goldberg. He’s always ready to stir up some fun.