Engineers at TELDIX GmbH of Heidelberg, Germany, needed a processor for an airborne data-processing board in the Eurofighter Typhoon weapon system. TELDIX is a subsidiary of Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
They found a solution in the ProASIC Plus field-programmable gate array (FPGA) from Actel Corp., Mountain View, Calif.
TELDIX designers chose Actel’s flash-based, single-chip ProASIC Plus FPGA for use in common processor modules for the Eurofighter Typhoon, a swing-role combat aircraft co-developed by Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The aircraft is in full production, with 620 Eurofighter Typhoons planned for delivery to the four partner nations from 2003 through 2005.
TELDIX developed the common processor module for the Eurofighter’s attack computer, navigation computer, and other flight-critical multiprocessing equipment.
The processor module contains two Actel ProASIC Plus APA150 FPGAs with identical functionality to implement functions such as built-in self-test, interrupt control, and security for external flash memories and custom system timers for synchronizing the various system boards.
“We decided to use Actel ProASIC Plus FPGAs because of their live at power-up nature, their inherent immunity against firm errors and the inherent security of design-benefits not offered by SRAM parts,” explains Michael Feigenbutz, group leader, computer development at TELDIX.
“The parts’ in-system programmability played a critical role by allowing us to quickly implement changes during the development process. Further benefit was derived by allowing us to reduce the total system cost and offering space savings, as Actel FPGAs do not require a boot PROM.” For more information, see www.actel.com.
