700 MHz Modular Array ASIC from Lightspeed Custom Silicon in Less Than 3 Months
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 2002--Lightspeed
Semiconductor
-0-
-- Solution addresses $10B+ growing market
-- Shaves cost by 90% over FPGAs and 80% over traditional ASICs
Lightspeed Semiconductor today announces Luminance, its new
Modular Array ASIC technology for design of custom chips manufactured
on .13u process from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Ltd NYSE:TSM). With the announcement of Luminance, Lightspeed extends
its leadership position developing innovative products that deliver
the fastest time to custom silicon.
Luminance technology includes the patented modular array
architecture, industry standard third-party tools, a rich portfolio of
Lightspeed and third-party intellectual property (IP) and
industry-renowned customer support.
"We designed our modular array ASIC approach to allow more design
teams effective access to deep submicron technologies," said Dave
Holt, President and CEO of Lightspeed. "Until Luminance, companies
have been saddled with two expensive choices: slower, power-hungry
FPGA prototyping solutions that are extremely expensive in volume
production; or standard-cell ASICs with the inherent problems of
development times up to 18 months and high NREs. We've solved these
problems with a solution that delivers the fastest time to market at
blazing fast speeds."
Utilizing a two metal mask, one via mask customization in
conjunction with TSMC's .13u 8 layer copper, high performance CMOS
process technology, Lightspeed's newest Modular Array ASIC will
provide up to 10 million usable ASIC gates and up to five million bits
of embedded dual-port RAM. The high-density architecture includes
embedded PLLs, SRAMs and configurable I/O cells. These elements are
optimized for maximum array efficiency that delivers an unparalleled
degree of versatility for designing high-performance systems across a
wide range of applications.
Luminance architecture excels in advanced I/O systems including
the emerging standards such as SPI 4.2 and HyperTransport. Selected
family members will have on-chip 622 Mb/s-3.2Gb/s SERDES. All family
members are designed to support high performance flip chip packaging.
The underlying AutoTest® structure ensures that 100%
stuck-at-fault detection is accomplished without any design-for-test
rules, user intervention or test overhead implications for the logic
designer. Lightspeed's innovative AutoBIST(TM) technology enables the
detection of path delay faults. Additionally, SiliconView(TM) allows
in-system access to all chip states to assist with initial system
bring-up and debug, allowing the designer to set states that are
difficult to create through normal user-modes.
Lightspeed design kits are based on industry standard synthesis
and timing analysis tools from Synopsys, Synplicity, Cadence and
Mentor Graphics. Verilog and VHDL synthesis libraries available now.
About Lightspeed Semiconductor
Lightspeed Semiconductor, Inc. is a privately held, fabless ASIC
company delivering an innovative family of Modular Array ASICs. As
Inventors of the Modular Array, Lightspeed continues to break down the
barriers to ASIC by delivering high performance ASIC solutions with
low NREs in volumes of 1K to 100K.
Modular Array ASICs are the emergent design choice for custom
digital applications. They are production-ready devices suitable for a
broad class of applications. Lightspeed's ground-breaking next
generation product will continue making Modular Arrays The Easy Way to
ASIC(TM).
Founded in 1996, Lightspeed Semiconductor maintains design centers
in Sunnyvale, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Salem, N.H. and
Berkshire, England. Lightspeed has seven direct sales offices and more
than 50 sales representative locations worldwide. For more
information, contact Darwa Peterson, marketing communications manager
of Lightspeed Semiconductor, at 408/616-3247; or visit
www.lightspeed.com.
Contact:
Lightspeed Semiconductor
Darwa Peterson, 408/616-3247
Marketing Communications Manager
press@lightspeed.com
or
Cain Communications
Hillary Cain, 831/685-0195 (voice) or 415/350-4860 (cell)
hcain@caincom.com
Source:
Lightspeed Semiconductor
