Actel Corporation has today announced that X-traFun has selected its eX field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device for the upcoming Game Boy Advance Bluetooth Wireless PDA Cartridge. Using Actel's FuseLock antifuse technology, the eX FPGA will secure X-traFun's proprietary IP from reverse engineering, and has also enabled significant reductions in the total system cost, size, and weight for the production version of the X-traFun cartridge.

　　"Our unique Bluetooth cartridge will bring a variety of new applications to the ubiquitous Game Boy Advance platform, allowing users to enjoy wireless connectivity wherever they take their Game Boy," said Mark Kramer, president and CEO of X-traFun. "The design security, ease of integration, and component count savings offered by Actel's eX FPGA made it the ideal platform to bringing the X-traFun cartridge to a mass-market audience. With board space at a premium, we used one eX device to run all the glue logic for all the embedded device communications, lowering our component count by a factor of five. At the same time, the eX device provided the performance needed to support interactive wireless gaming and other infotainment applications."

　　"In selecting our eX FPGA for its Game Boy cartridge, X-traFun recognized that design security is a critical consideration when creating portable consumer applications with high-volume potential," added Barry Marsh, vice president of product marketing at Actel. "Built to offer enhanced design security, our antifuse FPGAs incorporate our proprietary FuseLock feature to stop common security problems faced by designers using conventional SRAM devices, including overbuilding, cloning, reverse engineering, and denial of service."

　　X-traFun's Bluetooth Wireless PDA Cartridge will work with both GBA and GBA SP handhelds and will allow up to seven simultaneous users to interact with each other across a wireless network. Using the device, GBA owners will be able to use their console to send and receive e-mail, send text messages to cell phones, and to synchronize with a Bluetooth-enabled PC. The cartridge will support Secure Digital (SD) cards and accessories such as digital cameras, memory cards, global positioning systems, and MP3 players. Eventually, users will also be able to receive streaming video.

　　For more information on the X-traFun Bluetooth Wireless PDA Cartridge, which is currently being made available to business-to-business (B2B) clients for testing and evaluation, check out the company's official Web site.