Dear everybody,

the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera Cyclone
devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should control
a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the following
are the conditions I have to consider:

- extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
- strong mechanical vibrations
- long life duration (> 25 years)
- high degree of reliability
- very low frequency of maintenance

From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best choise
for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some doubts
about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.

Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ? 
What are your opinions about my choise ?

Best Regards

/Alessandro Strazzero

"Alessandro Strazzero" <a...@virgilio.it> wrote in message

news:3...@posting.google.com...
> Dear everybody,
>
> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera 
> Cyclone
> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should 
> control
> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the 
> following
> are the conditions I have to consider:
>
> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
> - strong mechanical vibrations
> - long life duration (> 25 years)
> - high degree of reliability
> - very low frequency of maintenance
>
> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best 
> choise
> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some 
> doubts
> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
>
> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ?
> What are your opinions about my choise ?
>
> Best Regards
>
> /Alessandro Strazzero

I think the Cyclone would be an excellent candidate.  I know its being used 
in the Oil&Gas industry in down hole tools.  This is a far more extreme 
environment than you're describing.

Of course there is no 25 year history.

Ken

"Alessandro Strazzero" <a...@virgilio.it> wrote in message

news:3...@posting.google.com...
> Dear everybody,
>
> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera 
> Cyclone
> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should 
> control
> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the 
> following
> are the conditions I have to consider:
>
> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
> - strong mechanical vibrations
> - long life duration (> 25 years)
> - high degree of reliability
> - very low frequency of maintenance
>
> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best 
> choise
> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some 
> doubts
> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
>
> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ?
> What are your opinions about my choise ?
>
> Best Regards
>
> /Alessandro Strazzero

Alessandro ,

We're using it in the gate drive of a high performance IGBT drive.
The mechanical/thermal environment isn't too bad, but the EMC environment is 
pretty tough.
We have had no problems.

Gary 

Alessandro,

I would request their qualification documents (both process qual, and 
product qual), and arrange to go over them with their Reliability VP or 
director.  Only then can you make an informed decision.

Asking that question here is not going to reveal this information to 
you, only a full reading of the qual reports will supply you with that 
knowledge.

Look for the results of HTOL (high temperature operating life), and how 
they calculate lifetime and wear-out.  Also, number of cycles of 
self-heating and cooling is vitally important, because externally making 
the device hot and cold is not asa stressfull as the device itself 
making itself hot (and cold).

By the way, we would be happy to supply you with that information, and 
discuss it with you for Sprtan 2E, or Spartan 3 (or any other Xilinx 
product).

Austin

Alessandro Strazzero wrote:

> Dear everybody,
> 
> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera Cyclone
> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should control
> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the following
> are the conditions I have to consider:
> 
> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
> - strong mechanical vibrations
> - long life duration (> 25 years)
> - high degree of reliability
> - very low frequency of maintenance
> 
> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best choise
> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some doubts
> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
> 
> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ? 
> What are your opinions about my choise ?
> 
> Best Regards
> 
> /Alessandro Strazzero

I have heared roumors that the PLL in Cyclone
doesn't work below -20C if the
output frequency is higher than the input. There is some fine print in the
datasheet to that effect.

Now I have no way of knowing if that is true or not - I live in California
:))


"Alessandro Strazzero" <a...@virgilio.it> wrote in
message
news:3...@posting.google.com...
> Dear everybody,
>
> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera
Cyclone
> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should
control
> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the
following
> are the conditions I have to consider:
>
> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
> - strong mechanical vibrations
> - long life duration (> 25 years)
> - high degree of reliability
> - very low frequency of maintenance
>
> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best
choise
> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some
doubts
> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
>
> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ?
> What are your opinions about my choise ?
>
> Best Regards
>
> /Alessandro Strazzero

The other question you need to ask is "can I
still get them in 25 years
time"  They usually require some kind of servicing :-)

Simon


"Alessandro Strazzero" <a...@virgilio.it> wrote in
message
news:3...@posting.google.com...
> Dear everybody,
>
> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera
Cyclone
> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should
control
> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the
following
> are the conditions I have to consider:
>
> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
> - strong mechanical vibrations
> - long life duration (> 25 years)
> - high degree of reliability
> - very low frequency of maintenance
>
> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best
choise
> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some
doubts
> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
>
> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ?
> What are your opinions about my choise ?
>
> Best Regards
>
> /Alessandro Strazzero

"Michael Polovykh"
<k...@rissa.ru> writes:

> So you have a fridge. Put Cyclone into it during PLL work for 30minutes :)
> And tell us about this experiment - we are interested in it too :)

I dubt his fridge will go as low as -20 °C.

Petter
-- 
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

"Alex Freed" <a...@mirrow.com> wrote in message 
news:R...@comcast.com...
>I have heared roumors that the PLL in Cyclone doesn't work below -20C if 
>the
> output frequency is higher than the input. There is some fine print in the
> datasheet to that effect.
>
> Now I have no way of knowing if that is true or not - I live in California
> :))
So you have a fridge. Put Cyclone into it during PLL work for 30minutes :)
And tell us about this experiment - we are interested in it too :)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>
> "Alessandro Strazzero" <a...@virgilio.it> wrote in
message
> news:3...@posting.google.com...
>> Dear everybody,
>>
>> the goal of my post is to collect your opinions about the use of Altera
> Cyclone
>> devices in a rugged environment. I have to design a board which should
> control
>> a chopper based on GTOs. The environment is a railway vehicle and the
> following
>> are the conditions I have to consider:
>>
>> - extreme temperature range (-40°C to +85°C)
>> - strong mechanical vibrations
>> - long life duration (> 25 years)
>> - high degree of reliability
>> - very low frequency of maintenance
>>
>> From the point of view of the design I think Altera Cyclone is the best
> choise
>> for this kind of project beacuse its high flexibility. But I have some
> doubts
>> about its functionality in a rugged environment like above.
>>
>> Did you experience the use of Altera Cyclone in a rugged environment ?
>> What are your opinions about my choise ?
>>
>> Best Regards
>>
>> /Alessandro Strazzero
>
> 

"Petter Gustad" <n...@gustad.com> wrote in message 
news:8...@filestore.home.gustad.com...
> "Michael Polovykh" <k...@rissa.ru> writes:
>
>> So you have a fridge. Put Cyclone into it during PLL work for 30minutes 
>> :)
>> And tell us about this experiment - we are interested in it too :)
>
> I dubt his fridge will go as low as -20 °C.
My fridge can go down to -32°C.
>
> Petter
> -- 
> A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> A: Top-posting.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail? 

"Michael Polovykh"
<k...@rissa.ru> writes:

> "Petter Gustad" <n...@gustad.com> wrote in message 
> news:8...@filestore.home.gustad.com...
>> "Michael Polovykh" <k...@rissa.ru> writes:
>>
>>> So you have a fridge. Put Cyclone into it during PLL work for 30minutes 
>>> :)
>>> And tell us about this experiment - we are interested in it too :)
>>
>> I dubt his fridge will go as low as -20 °C.
> My fridge can go down to -32°C.

Impressive, my freezer wont even go that low. My fridge goes down to
+2 °C. If I want -32 °C I will have to put it outside - on an extreme
cold winter night...

Petter
-- 
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?