Herbert Graf wrote:
> On Fri, 2011-10-14 at 15:55 +0100, Mike Harrison wrote:
> > http://www.silego.com/
> > Greenpak devices
> > Micro FPGA with analogue functions, cheap ($0.24 100x), 1.8-5V supply
> > (GreenPak2 version), schematic based devtool, and unlike all other curr=
ent
> > FPGAs, internals are fully documented.
> > Only downside I can see is that it's OTP, presumably to save cost.
>=20
> OTP does not an FPGA make. The whole point of FPGAs are their field
> programmability.

The alternative to field programmable is factory (i.e., mask) programmable,
which requires large NRE charges and large minimum quantities. Any form of
field programmability, including OTP, is a huge advantage for certain types
of development.

> I can't imagine trying to debug a design on a OTP device. It looks like
> they don't have any option to test your design other then simulating
> (which is NEVER enough) or going through tons of OTP parts to figure out
> what's wrong.

Are you an engineer or a hacker? I developed my FPGA chops over many years
on Actel's lines of OTP (antifuse-based) FPGAs, with designs in the range o=
f
thousands of gate-equivalents. With proper design discipline in the first
place, and the willingness to wring as much information as possible out of
each design iteration, OTP was never a real problem.

-- Dave Tweed
--=20
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