Industry's highest density FPGA features 340K logic elements

The folks at Altera have announced availability of what they claim to be the industry's highest density FPGA. A member of Altera's 65-nm Stratix III family, the EP3SL340 features 340K logic elements (LEs), supports DDR3 memory with interface speeds in excess of 1067 Mbps, and is said to offer the lowest power consumption of any high-density, high-performance programmable logic device (PLD). Altera says that Stratix III FPGAs are an ideal solution for a broad range of applications in a variety of end markets, including communications, computer and storage and military/aerospace.

The Stratix III EP3SL340 FPGA is also claimed to provide a 25 percent performance advantage over competing high-density FPGAs and leverages Altera's Programmable Power Technology, delivering 29 percent lower power consumption. The devices also provide greater than 1067 Mbps DDR3 memory interface speeds, a 33 percent advantage in memory performance over competing FPGA solutions. The combination of 340K LEs, 17 Mbits of embedded memory and 575 18×18 multipliers are said to give designers an unparalleled level of functionality.

Fast compile times for greater design productivity
Altera say that: "The combination of Stratix III FPGAs with Altera Quartus II design software delivers a productivity advantage that competitive solutions are unable to match – far shorter compile times for faster overall timing closure. With this capability, possible through the advanced place-and-route algorithms in Quartus II software, high-end design engineers can achieve faster time to market."

Availability
Stratix III EP3SL340 FPGAs are shipping now to customers in volume. For more information about Stratix III FPGAs, including webcasts, handbooks, and other documentation, please visit www.altera.com/stratix3.