Renesas' Dialog Semi Announces Low-Power, Low-Cost ForgeFPGA Range for Smaller Projects

Renesas subsidiary Dialog Semiconductor has announced it is branching out into field-programmable gate arrays, launching the ForgeFPGA family of low-cost, ultra-low-power chips with the promise of easy-to-use software bundled at no extra cost.

"We are eager to extend our leadership in the small, low-cost, programmable market into FPGAs," claims Davin Lee, vice president of the Mixed-Signal Division in Renesas’ IoT and Infrastructure arm, of the move into the field. "We know from experience and from direct conversations that these devices will appeal to companies large and small in numerous markets around the world."

The ForgeFPGA range are designed for affordability, offering chips for project that can squeeze into fewer than 5,000 logic gates. The initial parts offer 1k and 2k look-up tables (LUTs), a projected standby power of under 20µA, and bulk pricing starting "well under" $0.50 per chip.

A big selling point is the software, which is to be made available to all at no cost and with no license fees involved. For developers relatively new to FPGA programming, it offers a "macrocell mode" schematic capture development flow; for those porting existing projects or with prior experience, it offers a Verilog environment for direct programming.

"Having scooped up programmable device maker Silego with its acquisition of Dialog earlier this year," opines TIRIAS Researc principal analyst Steve Leibson of the move, "Renesas seems determined to repeat Silego's previous success with its ultra-low-end GreenPAK line of programmable mixed-signal devices and super-simple design tools, this time in a low-end FPGA line that will appeal to many companies who just need a bit of programmable logic – a thousand gates or so – to get the job done in myriad products including billions of embedded sensors and IoT devices."

Renesas has confirmed that the first ForgeFPGA part, a 1kLUT chip, will enter volume production in the second quarter of 2022. More information is available on the Dialog Semi website.