Does Easypath make sense for a XC2S15 @ 20K units?

We use a XC2S15 in a consumer app with something on the order of 10-20K units per year. Does easypath make sense in this range? Or is easypath really only for larger FPGAs and larger volumes?

Also, from scanning the newsgroup logs I get the idea that the NRE is much larger than you might think given that there are no masks to make.

Does anyone have any war stories good or bad about using easypath?

thanks.

Reply to
Jeff Cunningham
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only for larger

from xilinx.com I did see NRE of 75,000$ for easypath !

Reply to
Antti Lukats
2S15 are usually a very cheap part and it should/would be difficult to justify a NRE charge on your volume. If you are not getting a good price on 2S15s then work your distributor a bit harder. We do this as a matter of course for our client projects but the trick is knowing what can be achieved. Otherwise consider a board re-spin and go to Spartan-3 but the gain may be marginal if good 2S15 pricing is in place.

John Adair Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development Board.

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Reply to
John Adair

Jeff,

Easypath for us only makes sense on large devices, and large volumes.

The NRE is to cover the test program which then provides a device that is tested for your pattern, as opposed to a regular FPGA which is not tested for your pattern.

The newly introduced Easypath program did reduce the NRE, as well as allowing changes to parts of the design which we must test 100% (eg: LUTs, IO standards, etc.).

This allows changes to be made as long as you do not change the routing.

Often we have had customers come back to us and say "we just need one inversion here instead of what we had before." Changing the LUT contents is perfect for these simple changes.

Can't do that with your ASIC!

If an even larger change is required, we will work with you on that as well. In any event, even with Easypath, you are not totally lost when a problem comes up (like you would be with an ASIC or other "hard" product).

Aust> We use a XC2S15 in a consumer app with something on the order of 10-20K

Reply to
Austin Lesea

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