FPGA lifecycle
Is Spartan-6 obsolete?
What AMD has discontinued in the Spartan-6 family, what it named as the replacement, and what you can still order today.
Updated 5 min readBased on AMD data sheets and notices
Short answer
No. AMD has not discontinued the Spartan-6 family. Its only Spartan-6 discontinuation notice, XCN11008 (January 2011), withdrew the -4 speed grade of commercial LXT devices and named the -3 version of each part as its direct replacement.[1] Spartan-6 LX and LXT devices in the -2, -3 and -1L grades were not affected.
- Family status
- Not discontinued; one grade withdrawn in 2011
- Withdrawn
- LXT -4, commercial (29 parts)
- Final orders / deliveries
- 11 April 2011 / 11 July 2011
- Direct replacement
- Same part in -3 (per XCN11008)
- Core supply
- 1.2 V (-2, -3); 1.0 V (-1L)
- Devices
- 13 XC6S devices, LX4 to LX150T
What AMD discontinued
In January 2011 Xilinx (now AMD) discontinued the -4 speed grade of the Spartan-6 LXT devices in the commercial temperature grade.[1] The notice does not apply to Spartan-6 LX devices, which were never offered in -4. Final orders were accepted until 11 April 2011 and final deliveries were made by 11 July 2011.
The reason was a speed-file upgrade rather than an end of production: AMD upgraded the -3 speed files so that -3 devices perform as well as -4 did, and asked -4 customers to move to the -3 part. The upgraded speed files work with any -3 device already shipped.
Before switching a -4 design to -3
Part numbers ending 0866 are special-order versions; the notice replaces them with the standard -3 part.
What you can still order
Every Spartan-6 LX and LXT device outside that one grade was untouched by the notice. The family runs from the XC6SLX4 to the XC6SLX150T; the LXT devices add GTP transceivers.[2]
Speed and temperature grades
Spartan-6 is ordered in three speed grades, -2 and -3 for standard performance and -1L for low power, in commercial (0 to +85 °C junction) and industrial (−40 to +100 °C) ranges.[2] The -2 and -3 grades run from a 1.2 V core supply; -1L runs from 1.0 V, so it is not a drop-in swap for a -2 or -3 part on the same board.[3]
| Grade | Written in the part number | Core supply | Offered on |
|---|---|---|---|
| -3 | -3 | 1.2 V | LX and LXT |
| -3N | -N3 | 1.2 V | LX and LXT, without memory controller support |
| -2 | -2 | 1.2 V | LX and LXT |
| -1L | -L1 | 1.0 V | LX only |
If you're moving to a newer family
For a new design, AMD's 7-series parts are the natural next step, but they are not pin-compatible with Spartan-6. Spartan-7 runs its core at 1.0 V[4] and uses its own package codes (CPGA196, CSGA225, CSGA324, FTGB196, FGGA484 and FGGA676), none of which is a Spartan-6 package. Moving means a new board and a new design in Vivado rather than ISE.
Spartan-6 vs Spartan-7 compared sets the two families side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Spartan-6 end of life?
No. AMD has not discontinued the Spartan-6 family. Its one Spartan-6 discontinuation notice, XCN11008 (January 2011), covered only the -4 speed grade of commercial LXT devices, with final orders on 11 April 2011.
What replaced the Spartan-6 -4 speed grade?
The -3 version of the same part. XCN11008 names it as the direct replacement for each -4 part: AMD upgraded the -3 speed files so designs that met timing in -4 are expected to meet timing in -3, after re-running timing analysis.
Is Spartan-7 pin-compatible with Spartan-6?
No. Spartan-7 uses different package codes (CPGA196, CSGA225, CSGA324, FTGB196, FGGA484, FGGA676) and a 1.0 V core supply where Spartan-6 -2 and -3 devices use 1.2 V, so moving to Spartan-7 means a new board.
How do you order the Spartan-6 -1L low-power grade?
As -L1 in the ordering code, for example XC6SLX9-L1TQG144C. The -1L grade runs from a 1.0 V core supply and is offered on Spartan-6 LX devices only.
References
- [1]Xilinx (AMD) XCN11008, Product Discontinuation Notice for Spartan-6 LXT -4 Devices (v1.0, 10 January 2011)
- [2]Xilinx (AMD) DS160, Spartan-6 Family Overview (v2.0, 25 October 2011)
- [3]Xilinx (AMD) DS162, Spartan-6 FPGA Data Sheet: DC and Switching Characteristics
- [4]AMD DS180, 7 Series FPGAs Data Sheet: Overview
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