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Microchip FPGAs are field programmable gate array chips designed and manufactured by Microchip
Technology. As one of the leading FPGA vendors, Microchip offers a comprehensive portfolio of FPGAs
for a wide range of applications.
This article provides an overview of Microchip’s FPGA products, key features and technologies, design
software tools, target applications, and competitive positioning.
PolarFire FPGAs
PolarFire FPGAs are Microchip’s low power, security-minded FPGAs for demanding embedded
applications.
Key attributes:
SmartFusion2 integrates an FPGA fabric along with an ARM Cortex-M3 CPU, memory, and peripherals for
a complete system-on-chip (SoC).
Key highlights:
IGLOO2 FPGAs
IGLOO2 chips are optimized as low power FPGAs for automotive, industrial and consumer applications.
Key features:
The RTG4 FPGAs are designed for high reliability in space flight systems and high energy physics.
Highlights:
This wide portfolio addresses needs across defense, automotive, industrial, aerospace, and other sectors.
Through innovations like 40nm fabrication, advanced power gating, and voltage scaling, Microchip FPGAs
achieve remarkably low static and dynamic power. This allows efficient deployment in power-constrained
embedded systems.
Microchip FPGAs provide hardware and intellectual property protection through secure boot, key
management, authentication, anti-tamper detectors, and encryption engines.
Selected Microchip FPGAs feature RISC-V CPU cores for hybrid FPGA+SoC designs. RISC-V is an open
standard instruction set architecture.
Radiation Hardness
For space applications, Microchip’s RTG4 and PolarFire FPGA options provide industry-leading radiation
tolerance and reliability.
FPGA+SoC Convergence
Unique solutions like SmartFusion2 combine FPGA flexibility with ARM CPU capabilities for a
pre-integrated SoC in one chip.
These technology capabilities allow Microchip to target a broad spectrum of embedded, industrial, aerospace
and other applications.
Design Ecosystem
To simplify and accelerate development with Microchip FPGAs, the company offers several software tools:
Libero is Microchip’s unified IDE for FPGA design, simulation, synthesis, place and route,
and programming. It streamlines the full FPGA workflow.
Key features:
SoftConsole is an Eclipse based IDE for software development targeting Microchip’s SoC FPGAs like
SmartFusion2 and PolarFire. It enables embedded C/C++ application development, RTOS integration,
debugging and more.
For ARM and PIC microcontroller development, Microchip provides the MPLAB ecosystem of tools
including MPLAB Harmony SDK and MPLAB X IDE. These can be used in conjunction with SoC FPGAs.
By providing a unified set of design tools tailored for its FPGAs, Microchip simplifies and accelerates time
to market.
Target Applications
Microchip FPGAs are designed into a diverse set of applications across industries:
Automotive
ADAS systems
In-vehicle networking
Battery management systems
Industrial
Motor drives
Power monitoring and control
Remote I/O modules
Medical
Consumer
With their focus on low power and reliability, Microchip FPGAs are well suited for embedded systems in
rugged environments. The company continues to expand into emerging applications like artificial
intelligence (AI) as well.
Competitive Positioning
The FPGA market is dominated by Xilinx and Intel (formerly Altera). However, Microchip is staking out a
strong position through its focus segments:
Microchip’s low power innovations have carved out a niche in embedded applications where Xilinx and
Intel FPGAs are often too power hungry.
In the satellite and space segment, Microchip’s radiation tolerant RTG4 FPGAs have a commanding market
share.
Automotive
FPGAs like IGLOO2 and PolarFire offer the reliability and security needed in vehicle systems.
Mid-Range Densities
By targeting FPGAs with 10K to 500K logic elements, Microchip avoids direct competition with the FPGA
giants.
SoC Integration
Unique hybrid FPGA+SoC devices like SmartFusion2 provide integrated solutions unmatched by
competitors.
Through these focused efforts, Microchip has emerged as a formidable contender in the global FPGA
industry. The company is steadily gaining market share in many expanding applications.
Conclusion
With each new product generation, Microchip continues innovating in power efficiency, performance,
reliability, and security. Backed by its strengths in embedded systems, Microchip is cementing its position as
a top FPGA provider for mission-critical applications.
Major FPGA families include PolarFire, IGLOO2, SmartFusion2, and RTG4. Each targets different densities,
power levels, features, and applications.
Microchip provides the Libero SOC FPGA design suite, SoftConsole IDE for SoC development, and
MPLAB ecosystem for programming and debugging.
Advantages include extremely low power, integrated SoC capabilities, radiation tolerance, defense-grade
security, and a focus on the specific needs of embedded and industrial applications.
Key target applications span aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical, defense, and consumer segments.
Specific uses cases include flight systems, vehicle networks, motor drives, patient monitoring and more.
Microchip carves out segments such as low power embedded, radiation hardening and SoC hybrids while
avoiding head-on competition across the entire market with Xilinx and Intel.
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https://www.raypcb.com/microchip-fpga/