Flash Advantages Reduced Cost of Ownership
Beyond performance and ease of use, cheap unit cost is just one benefit to the designer. With flash-based ProASIC3E devices, full functionality is Instant On without the need for an additional boot PROM, in contrast to SRAM-based FPGAs. Security features built into the board limit access to all programming data and allow for safe remote updates of the FPGA logic. Designers can execute secure remote in-system reprogramming with confidence that priceless intellectual property (IP) cannot be compromised or copied in order to support future design revisions and field upgrades. The industry-standard AES algorithm can be used for secure ISP. At greater user volumes, the ProASIC3E family device architecture reduces the need for ASIC migration. Because of this, the ProASIC3E family is a viable alternative to ASICs, particularly for applications in the consumer, networking/communications, computer, and avionics markets.
Security
Since the nonvolatile, flash-based ProASIC3E devices don't need a boot PROM, there isn't an external bitstream that is easily copied and is hence insecure. FlashLock is a feature of ProASIC3E devices that offers reprogrammability and design security without the need for external overhead, benefits that can only be provided by an FPGA with nonvolatile flash programming.
