Altera Corp. announced the availability of its new 8 by 8 mm2 packaging (M164) for its family of 65 nanometer (nm) Cyclone III field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

The package is aimed at designers of space-constrained high-volume applications in consumer, military and industrial markets.

Altera said the new 164 pin package with up to 16K logic elements (LEs) extends the Cyclone III FPGA's high-density small-package offering that includes 14 by 14 mm2 256 pin (U256) and 17 by 17 mm2 484 pin (U484) packages.

Each of these packages offers the highest amount of logic and input/outputs (I/Os) for its footprint, allowing engineers to use FPGAs in new applications, such as handheld radios, satellite phones, I/O modules and consumer displays, according to the company.

Cyclone III devices provide 5K to 120K LEs, up to 4 Mb of memory and up to 288 digital signal processing (DSP) multipliers. Built on the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) 65 nm low-power (LP) process, the Cyclone III family includes devices that are qualified for commercial, industrial and extended temperatures.

"Many designers of high-volume applications need a solution that provides maximum functionality with the lowest power while using minimal board space," said Luanne Schirrmiester, director of marketing, low-cost products, Altera Corp.

"Our complete lineup of small packages allows designers with demanding space constraints to use the most advanced high-volume, low-power FPGA in the market," she said.