A 40-nm system-on-chip design for industrial applications integrating embedded FPGA and toolchain

This article presents the design and implementation of a programmable heterogeneous System-on-Chip (SoC) that integrates an embedded FPGA (eFPGA) and a Microcontroller Unit (MCU) to address the growing demand for real-time control and monitoring in industrial applications, specifically for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). The eFPGA, featuring 2K four-input Lookup Tables (LUT4) in a 16x16 island-type layout, provides configurable flexibility, excellent performance, and power efficiency. The MCU, based on the open-source RISC-V Xuantie E906 instruction set architecture, supports high-performance control, communication, and monitoring algorithms. The eFPGA includes configurable logic modules, I/O modules, and a robust configuration circuit, accompanied by an EDA tool chain enabling RTL-to-bitstream conversion for seamless integration. Fabricated using TSMC's 40nm low-power process and packaged in a Quad Flat Package (QFP) format, the SoC balances area, frequency, and power consumption while ensuring real-time response and complex computation capabilities. Functional tests on the chip validate its core features, including the eFPGA’s programmable logic performance and the SoC’s control protection circuit. By combining the software programmability of the MCU with the hardware parallel processing capabilities of the eFPGA, the SoC meets the demands of modern industrial IGBT control, offering a scalable and efficient solution.