Altera's HardCopy® ASIC series enables you to take your system designs from prototyping into volume production much faster AND with much less risk.
Now available with 6.5+ Gbps transceivers, the HardCopy ASIC uses Stratix® FPGA series-based low-risk prototyping. This allows you to create one design using one methodology, one tool, and one company and then ramp production when it makes sense for your market. Learn how to get started with HardCopy ASIC series today.
In addition to other HardCopy ASIC series benefits, by choosing Altera's HardCopy ASICs you reduce your development time and product development risk:
- Design once, delivering both the FPGA design and the ASIC design
- Design using one set of intellectual property (IP) for both FPGA and ASIC implementation
- Design using one tool (Quartus® II development software) and one supplier for both FPGA and ASIC
Table 1 provides an overview of the HardCopy ASIC series, and Table 2 compares the ASICs in the HardCopy series.
| Table 1. HardCopy ASIC Series Introduction | |||||
| Device Family | HardCopy APEX | HardCopy Stratix | HardCopy II | HardCopy III | HardCopy IV |
| Year of Introduction | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2008 | 2008 |
| Process Technology | 180 nm | 130 nm | 90 nm | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Recommended for New Designs? | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Table 2. Comparison of ASICs in the HardCopy Series | ||||
| Feature | HardCopy II | HardCopy III | HardCopy IV E | HardCopy IV GX |
| Usable ASIC Gates (1) | 1M–3.6M | 2.7M–7.0M | 3.8M–15M | 2.8M–11.5M |
| Transceivers | - | - | - | 8–36 6.5+ Gbps |
| Embedded Memory | 0.86 Mb–8.6 Mb | 4.1 Mb–15.9 Mb | 8.1 Mb–18.4 Mb | 6.3 Mb–20.3 Mb |
| 18 x 18 Multipliers (2) | 64–384 | 288–896 | 512–1360 | 384–1288 |
- Calculated using 12 times the number of LEs plus 5000 times the number of 18 x 18 multipliers.
- Multipliers are implemented using HCells.
Find out what customers are saying about HardCopy ASICs and their HardCopy ASIC experiences.
