FPGAs & Functional Safety in Industrial Applications

Joe Mallett, Synopsys
EETimes (10/14/2015 01:45 PM EDT)

The integration of FPGAs into applications found on the factory floor is increasing due to their long lifetimes, high processing bandwidth, and flexibility to integrate many IP technologies.

The increasing adoption of automation on the factory floor is a key driver for more processing bandwidth, integration of industrial-specific communications, and functional safety. The integration of FPGA devices into applications found on the factory floor, like programmable logic controllers (PLCs), industrial networking switches, and motor controllers is increasing due to their long lifetimes, high processing bandwidth, and flexibility to integrate many IP technologies. Due to the increasing adoption of automation technologies enabled by FPGA devices, which translates to greater interaction between people and machines, there is a need to integrate functional safety into FPGA-based products. To facilitate building functionally safe designs, robust synthesis tools that support defined methods are needed. One such tool is Synplify Premier, which provides FPGA designers with technologies that enable functional safety capabilities into their products.

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