Actel: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox company|

| name = Actel Corporation |

| logo = [[File:Actel logo.svg|150px|Actel logo]]|

| assets revenue = {{lossprofit}} [[United States dollarDollar|US$]]307191 Million <small>(''FY 2009'')</small><ref name = 09BalanceSheet09IncomeStatement>[[https://web.archive.org/web/20110316100722/http://www.wikinvest:.com/stock/Actel Actel_(ACTL)/Data/BalanceIncome_Statement Sheet|Actel (ACTL) annual SEC balanceincome sheetstatement filing via Wikinvest]]</ref>|

| equity operating_income = {{decreaseloss}} [[United States dollarDollar|US$]]233-21.3 Million <small>(''FY 2009'')</small><ref name = 09BalanceSheet09IncomeStatement/>|

'''Actel Corporation''' (formerlywas [[NASDAQ]]:ACTL) (now [[Microsemi]]) wasan aAmerican manufacturer of nonvolatile, low-power field-programmable gate arrays ([[FPGA]]s),<ref>Dylan McGrath, EETimes. "[http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800431775_1800001_NP_494f6750.HTM Actel FPGAs cut power drain to target mobile market] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510175738/http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800431775_1800001_NP_494f6750.HTM |date=2015-05-10 }}." Aug 30, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref> mixed-signal FPGAs,<ref>Paul Buckley, EETimes. "[http://www.analog-eetimes.com/en/micrium-supports-actel-smartfusion-fpgas.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222900516 Micrium supports Actel SmartFusion FPGAs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703215810/http://www.analog-eetimes.com/en/micrium-supports-actel-smartfusion-fpgas.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222900516 |date=2013-07-03 }}." March 8, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref> and programmable logic solutions.<ref>EETimes India. "[http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800411544_1800000_NP_a6b71dcb.HTM Actel designs IP core for nonvalatile FPGAs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510142424/http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800411544_1800000_NP_a6b71dcb.HTM |date=2015-05-10 }}." Mar 23, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref><ref>EETimes Asia. "[http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800555824_499486_NT_0c1d0de2.HTM Seiko Epson goes with Actel FPGAs for multimedia viewers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528013845/http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800555824_499486_NT_0c1d0de2.HTM |date=2013-05-28 }}." Dec 10, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref><ref>EETimes Asia. "[http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800452409_499485_NP_209609f1.HTM Free controller cores roll for Actel FPGAs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528013653/http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800452409_499485_NP_209609f1.HTM |date=2013-05-28 }}." Feb 8, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref> It washad its headquarteredheadquarters in [[Mountain View, California]], with offices worldwide. In November 2010, [[Microsemi]] acquired Actel for $430 million.<ref>Microsemi press release "[http://investor.microsemi.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=525805 Microsemi Completes Tender Offer for Actel Corporation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305153221/http://investor.microsemi.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=525805 |date=March 5, 2011 }}"</ref><ref>Mark Lapedus, EE Times. "[http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4209259/Microsemi-buys-Actel-for--430-million-Semiconductor Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million]." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.</ref><ref>MELISSA KORN, Wall Street Journal. "[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531922167169384 Microsemi to Buy Rival Actel for $430 Million]." Oct 4, 2010. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eetimes.com/microsemi-buys-actel-for-430-million/#|title=Microsemi buys Actel for $430 million|website=eetimes.com}}</ref>

Actel became a publicly tradedwas companyfounded in 1985 and became known for its high-reliability and [[antifuse|anti-fuse]]-based FPGAs, used in the military and aerospace markets.<ref>Andrew Hamm, SJ Business Journal. "[http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/08/04/smallb3.html The sky's the limit for Actel chips in planned European satellites]." August 1, 2003. Retrieved January 11, 2010.</ref>

In 2000, Actel acquired GateField in 2000, which expanded Actel's antifuseanti-fuse FPGA offering to include flash-based FPGAs. In 2004, Actel announced in 2004 that it had shipped the one-millionth unit of its flash-based ProASIC^<u>PLUS</u> FPGA.<ref>Company Release. "[http://www.actel.com/company/press/2004/3/29/ Actel Achieves Key Milestone with its Cost-Effective, Flash-Based FPGAs; Company Ships More Than 1 Million Units] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829235012/http://www.actel.com/company/press/2004/3/29/ |date=August 29, 2008 }}." March 29, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2010.</ref>

In 2005, Actel introduced a new technology known as Fusion to bring FPGA programmability to mixed-signal solutions. Fusion was the first technology to integrate mixed-signal analoganalogue capabilities with flash memory and FPGA fabric in a monolithic device.<ref>EETimes. "[http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=166400480 Actel Claims To Usher In Era Of 'Programmable System Chip']." July 18, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2010.</ref>

In 2006, to address the tight power budgets of the portable market, Actel introduced the IGLOO FPGA. The IGLOO family of FPGAs was based on Actel's nonvolatile flash technology and the ProASIC 3 FPGA architecture.<ref>Company Release. "[http://www.actel.com/company/press/2006/8/28/ Actel Brings Portable Market In from the Cold With Industry's Lowest Power FPGA Family] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707081714/http://www.actel.com/company/press/2006/8/28/ |date=July 7, 2011 }}." August 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2010.</ref> Two new IGLOO derivatives were added in 2008: IGLOO PLUS FPGAs with enhanced I/O capabilities, and IGLOO nano FPGAs, a low power solution at 2&nbsp;µWμW. A nano version of ProASIC3 also became available in 2008.

In 2010, Actel introduced the [[SmartFusion]] line of FPGAs. SmartFusion includes both analoganalogue components and a programmable flash-based logic fabric within the same chip. SmartFusion was the first FPGA product to additionally include a hard ARM processor core.<ref>EETimes. "[http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223101108 Actel rolls mixed-signal FPGA with hard ARM core]." March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.</ref>

[[Altera]] and [[Xilinx]] are the other key players in the market, however, their main focus is on SRAM FPGAs. [[Lattice Semiconductor]] is another competitor.<ref>Electronics Weekly. "[http://www.electronicsweekly.com/products/clist.aspx?sID=127&NavigationID=65&SlotPageID=42 FPGA / PLD]." Retrieved June 13, 2012.</ref><ref>John Edwards, EDN. "[http://www.edn.com/electronics-news/4320763/No-room-for-Second-Place No room for Second Place]." Jun 1, 2006. Retrieved Jan 10, 2013.</ref>

Actel's portfolio of FPGAs is based on two types of technologies: antifuseanti-fuse-based FPGAs (Axcelerator, SX-A, eX, and MX families) and flash-based FPGAs (Fusion, PolarFire, IGLOO, and ProASIC3 families).

Actel's antifuseanti-fuse FPGAs have been known for their nonvolatility, live -at power-up operation,<ref>{{CitationCite web needed|title=Introduction To Actel FPGA Architecture PDF {{!}} PDF {{!}} Logic Gate {{!}} Field Programmable Gate Array |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/370703365/Introduction-to-Actel-FPGA-Architecture-pdf |access-date=March2023-08-30 2011|website=Scribd |language=en}},</ref> single-chip form factor{{Clarify|date=March 2011}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}, and security{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}. Actel's flash-based FPGA families include these same characteristics{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} and are also reprogrammable and low power.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Actel also develops system-critical FPGAs (RTAX and ProASIC3 families), including extended temperature automotive, military, and aerospace FPGAs, plus a wide variety of space-class radiation-tolerant devices. These flash and antifuseanti-fuse FPGAs have high levels of reliability{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} and firm-error immunity.{{Clarify|date=March 2011}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}.

In March 2012, researchers from Cambridgethe [[University discoveredof thatCambridge]] discovered a [[backdoor exists(computing)|backdoor]] in the [[JTAG]] interface of the ProASIC3 family of low-powered FPGAs.<ref>Sergei Skorobogatov. "[http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~sps32/Silicon_scan_draft.pdf Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip]"</ref> They defended their theory at a [[cryptography]] workshop held in Belgium in September 2012.<ref>CHES 2012 "[https://www.cosic.esat.kuleuven.be/ches2012/papers.shtml Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems]"</ref>

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060331192710/http://www.actel.com:80/ Corporate website]

[[Category:ElectronicsDefunct semiconductor companies of the United States]]

[[Category:CompaniesTechnology formerlycompanies listedbased onin NASDAQthe San Francisco Bay Area]]

[[Category:TechnologyAmerican companies established in 1985]]