Altera shipping Arria II GX FPGAs

Arria II GX devices are suited for 3-Gbps transceiver applications requiring low-cost FPGAs with high-end capabilities, according to Altera. They are targeted for applications using mainstream protocols such as PCI Express and Gigabit Ethernet, Altera (San Jose, Calif.) said.

Arria II GXs have up to 16 3.75-Gbps transceivers, 256K logic elements (and 8.5 Mbits of internal RAM, according to Altera. In addition, the Arria II GX FPGAs also support targeted protocols such as CPRI, GPON, XAUI and triple-speed SDI, the company said.

The Arria II GX devices leverage a high-speed logic fabric based on Altera's advanced logic module architecture, the same as in Stratix IV FPGAs, Altera said. They also offer higher memory- and multiplier-to-logic ratios than other low-cost FPGAs, Altera said, important for 3-Gbps applications in the wireless, wireline, broadcast and military markets that utilize high-speed digital signal processing and data processing operations.

The Arria II GX EP2AGX125 device is shipping now, with production devices scheduled for the fourth quarter, Altera said. Pricing for the smallest Arria II GX device, the EP2AGX20, starts as low as $15 for 100,000 unit quantities in 2010, the company said.