PolarFire SoC
Lowest Power, Multi-Core RISC-V SoC FPGA
Overview
The PolarFire® SoC FPGA family delivers an unparalleled combination of low power consumption, thermal efficiency and defense grade security for smart, connected systems.
It's the first system on chip (SoC) field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with a deterministic, coherent RISC-V CPU cluster and a deterministic L2 memory subsystem enabling Linux and real-time applications. Built on the award-winning, mid-range, low power PolarFire FPGA Architecture, PolarFire SoC devices deliver up to 50% lower power than alternative FPGAs, span from 25k to 460k logic elements (LEs) and feature 12.7G transceivers. EEMBC CoreMark®-Pro benchmarks chart overpower consumed illustrates the PolarFire SoC low-power advantage. |
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Email to PolarFireSoC@microchip.com to find out more. |
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Mi-V Virtual Summit 2021
Explore PolarFire SoC and the Mi-V RISC-V ecosystem solutions presented at the first Mi-V Virtual Summit. The Mi-V Virtual Summit 2021 was a technology showcase that brought together innovators, academics, clients and collaborators and delivered solutions, hardware, tools and Intellectual Property (IP) for the PolarFire®SoC FPGA family. View the sessions on-demand at www.microchip.com/mi-vsummit.
Reduce your FPGA development time by 5x with Microchip’s High-Level Synthesis compiler. Click here to learn more.
Addressing Key Market Opportunities
PolarFire SoC is ideally suited for secure, power-efficient compute in a wide range of applications within Imaging, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Automation, Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Wireline Access Networks & Cellular Infrastructure.
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Imaging / AI / ML |
Internet of Things |
Industrial Automation |
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Automotive |
Defense |
Communications |
Getting Started
Choose a Platform
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Microchip Evaluation Kits
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Mi-V Partner Boards
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Choose a target to view the compatible reference material
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PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit
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PolarFire SoC Model
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The PolarFire SoC Icicle kit runs Linux out of the box and offers evaluation of PCIe RP, GbE, CAN, USB, UART, SPI, I2C, Debug and Trace. Price: $489.
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Download the reference material compatible with your target
PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit | ||
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| Category | Microchip / Mi-V | Links |
| Getting Started | |
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| Hardware | |
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| Development Tools | |
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| Operating System |
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| Real-Time Operating System |
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| Bare-metal SDK | |
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| Hart Software Services | |
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| Libero Project | |
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| Middleware |
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| Documentation | |
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Support
Get further support from Microchip here.
Try our RISC-V tech support forum here.
Documentation
Product Information
| PolarFire SoC Brochure | 06/2020 |
Datasheet
| PolarFire SoC Product Overview | 02/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Advance Datasheet | 12/2019 |
White Papers
| Measurement of Worst Case Execution Time on PolarFire® SoC FPGA Download PDF, View HTML |
10/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC FPGA Application Waypointing White Paper Download PDF, View HTML |
10/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC FPGA Interrupt Latency Data Transfer Throughput Measurements White Paper Download PDF, View HTML |
07/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC FPGA Opus Codec Benchmarking White Paper Download PDF, View HTML |
04/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC CPU Performance Benchmarking White Paper Download PDF, View HTML |
09/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Linux Boot Time White Paper Download PDF, View HTML |
04/2021 |
Errata
| ER0219: PolarFire SoC FPGA: Engineering Samples (ES) Devices | 07/2020 |
Power Estimation
| PolarFire and PolarFire SoC Power Estimator | 10/2021 |
| UG0897: PolarFire and PolarFire SoC FPGA Power Estimator User Guide | 05/2021 |
Hardware Documentation
| PolarFire SoC FPGA ICICLE Kit User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
05/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit Schematics | 03/2020 |
| PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit BRD File | 03/2020 |
| PolarFire SoC FPGA Board Design Guidelines User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
10/2021 |
User Guides
| PolarFire SoC Software Development and Tool Flow User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
05/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC FPGA MSS Technical Reference Manual Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Register Map | 09/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Standalone MSS Configurator User Guide |
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| UG0758 User Guide PolarFire / PolarFire SoC FPGA Design Flow Libero SoC |
09/2020 |
| UG0851:FlashPro Express v12.5 User Guide for all the families | 09/2020 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Power-Up and Resets User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA System Services User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
09/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Memory Controller User Guide Download PDF , View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Fabric User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Clocking Resources User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Programming User Guide Download PDF,View HTML |
09/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Transceiver User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire and PolarFire SoC DRI User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
06/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA User I/O User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA Security User Guide Download PDF, View HTML |
08/2021 |
| PolarFire FPGA and PolarFire SoC FPGA PCI Express User Guide Download PDF,View HTML |
08/2021 |
Application Notes
| 02/2021 | |
| AC492: Running BareMetal User Applications on PolarFire SoC FPGA Application Note |
01/2021 |
IBIS Models: PolarFire SoC
Industrial
MPFS025/095/160/250/460 IBIS Models
| PolarFire SoC GPIO Industrial IBIS Model |  |
3.8 MB | 09/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC HSIO Industrial IBIS Model | |
2.5 MB | 09/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC MSSIO Industrial IBIS Model | |
1.46 MB | 09/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC Dedicated IO Industrial IBIS Model | |
0.29 MB | 10/2021 |
Military
MPFS025/095/160/250/460 IBIS Models
| PolarFire SoC Dedicated IO MIL IBIS Model | |
0.33 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC GPIO MIL IBIS Model | |
4.47 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC HSIO MIL IBIS Model | |
2.86 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC MSSIO MIL IBIS Model | |
1.85 MB | 08/2021 |
Automotive
MPFS025/095/160/250/460 IBIS Models
| PolarFire SoC Dedicated IO AUTO IBIS Model | |
0.39 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC GPIO AUTO IBIS Model | |
4.45 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC HSIO AUTO IBIS Model | |
2.28 MB | 08/2021 |
| PolarFire SoC MSSIO AUTO IBIS Model | |
1.78 MB | 08/2021 |
IBIS-AMI Models
MPF300T IBIS-AMI Models
| PolarFire IBIS-AMI Package(Applicable to PolarFire SoC) | |
1.46 MB | 01/2020 |
Packaging
Power Comparison
PolarFire SoC vs Competition SoC FPGAs (CoreMarks / W)
~25kLE SoC FPGAs |
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~100kLE SoC FPGAs |
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~460kLE SoC FPGAs |
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Real-Time with Linux
Safety Critical, System Control and Security applications use the flexibility that Linux offers and need Real-Time Determinism to control hardware.
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| Safety Critical systems | AI / ML | Industrial IoT | Robotics | Smart Weapons and UAV |
| Typical SMP implementations may offer the flexibility of a rich operating systems but are terrible for running real-time systems needing deterministic performance. | |
SMP on Quad-core Cortex-A class processor
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ISR execution times vary significantly |
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Designing a deterministic, Linux capable SoC requires a multi-dimensional approach needing architectural innovation, a coherent memory subsystem across cores and configurable branch prediction capabilities.
PolarFire SoC features a multi-core Linux capable processor that is coherent with the memory subsystem allowing a versatile mix of deterministic real-time systems and Linux in a single multi-core CPU cluster.
PolarFire SoC enables you to create a fully deterministic real-time system alongside Linux that executes on-time every time.
AMP Implementation on PolarFire SoC |
The ISR execution times are deterministic |
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Security
Defense-grade Security
Security starts during silicon manufacturing and continues through system deployment and operations. Microchip’s PolarFire SoC FPGAs represent the industry’s most advanced secure programmable FPGAs.
- Secure Hardware
- Secure wafer-sort and packaging
- Spectre and Meltdown immune CPUs
- Design Security
- DPA-resistant bitstream programming
- Anti-tamper
- DPA-resistant secure boot
- Data Security
- CRI DPA countermeasures pass-through license
- DPA-resistant crypto-coprocessor
RISC-V Physical Memory Protection (PMP)
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PolarFire SoC has PMP implemented in each of the processor cores. PMPs are used to enforce memory access restrictions in conjunction with machine's privilege state, i.e. Machine mode, Supervisor mode, and User mode. |
Security Leadership
| Features | PolarFire SoC | Competitor 1 | Competitor 2 | Competitor 3 |
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| TRNG | Hard-IP (SP800-90A CTR_DRBG-256; SP800-90B (draft) NRBG) | ✖ | ✖ | Soft-IP |
| AES | AES-128/192/256 (ECB, CBC, CTR, OFB, CFB, GCM, KeyWrap) | AES-256 (CBC) | AES-256 (CBC) | AES-256 (ECB, GCM) |
| SHA | SHA-1/224/256/384/512, Key Tree | SHA-256 | SHA-256 | SHA-384 |
| HMAC | HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512; GMAC-AES; CMAC-AES | HMAC-SHA2-256 | HMAC-SHA2-256 | ✖ |
| RSA | SigGen (ANSI X9.31, PKCS v1.5), SigVer (ANSI X9.31, PKCS v1.5)-1024/1536/2048/3072/4096 | Soft-RSA –(2048), SigGen(PKCS v1.5), SigVer (PKCS v1.5) |
Soft-RSA –(2048), SigGen(PKCS v1.5), SigVer (PKCS v1.5) |
Software library: RSA primitive (2048) |
| ECDSA | KeyGen, KeyVer, SigGen & SigVer - NIST & Brainpool (P256/384/521); KAS - ECC CDH, PKG, PKV | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| FFC | KAS - DH, DSA SigGen & SigVer (1024/1536/2048/3072/4096) | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Tamper Sense | Voltage, Temperature, Clock Frequency, Clock Glitch, Active Mesh | ✖ | ✖ | Only Voltage & Temperature |
| PUF | PUF protection for Secure Key storage (Secure Boot and Data communication) | ✖ | ✖ | For secure boot key |
| Bitstream Protection | DPA resistant Encrypted bit-stream programming | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| DPA Resistance | DPA resistant hard crypto co-processor supporting all above Crypto algorithms | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
Product Family
| Features | PolarFire SoC FPGA | |||||
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| MPFS025T | MPFS095T | MPFS160T | MPFS250T | MPFS460T | ||
| FPGA Fabric | k Logic Elements (4LUT + DFF) | 23 | 93 | 161 | 254 | 461 |
| Math Blocks (18x18 MACC) | 68 | 292 | 498 | 784 | 1420 | |
| LSRAM Blocks (20k bit) | 84 | 308 | 520 | 812 | 1460 | |
| uSRAM Blocks (64x12) | 204 | 876 | 1494 | 2352 | 4260 | |
| Total RAM Mbits | 1.8 | 6.7 | 11.3 | 17.6 | 31.6 | |
| uPROM Kbits | 194 | 387 | 415 | 470 | 553 | |
| User DLL's/PLL's | 8 each | 8 each | 8 each | 8 each | 8 each | |
| High Speed IO | 12.5 Gbps SERDES Lanes | 4 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 20 |
| PCIe Gen2 End Points/Root Ports | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total FPGA IO | HSIO+GPIO | 108 | 276 | 312 | 372 | 468 |
| Total MSS IO | MSS IO | 136 | 136 | 136 | 136 | 136 |
| MSS DDR | Data Bus | 16 / 32 | 16 / 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Packaging | Type (Size, Pitch) | Total User I/O: MSS-IO / HSIO / GPIO / XCVRs | ||||
| FCSG325 (11x11, 11x14.5*, 0.5 mm) | 102 / 32 / 48 / 2 | 102 / 32 / 48 / 2 | ||||
| FCSG536 (16x16, 0.5 mm) | 136 / 60 / 84 / 4 | 136 / 60 / 108 / 4 | 136 / 60 / 108 / 4 | |||
| FCVG484 (19x19, 0.8 mm) | 136 / 60 / 48 / 4 | 136 / 60 / 84 / 4 | 136 / 60 / 84 / 4 | 136 / 60 / 84 / 4 | ||
| FCVG784 (23x23, 0.8 mm) | 136 / 144 / 132 / 8 | 136 / 144 / 168 / 8 | 136 / 144 / 180 / 8 | |||
| FCG1152 (35x35, 1.0 mm) | 136 / 144 / 228 / 16 | 136 / 180 / 288 / 20 | ||||
Extended Commercial (0°C to 100°C) and Industrial (–40°C to 100°C) Temperature Support for all Die Package Combinations.
PolarFire SoC offers the Smallest Form Factors
PolarFire SoC FPGAs offer best-in-class form factors at 25k, 95k, and 250k LEs.
Block Diagram
PolarFire SoC is based on the award winning PolarFire FPGA architecture and integrates a versatile, low-power, 64-bit, multi-core RISC-V processor subsystem.
- Linux and Real-Time capable in a deterministic and coherent CPU cluster
- Integrated DDR3/4, LPDDR3/4 controllers and Phy
- Defense-grade Secure boot
- SECDED on all memories
PolarFire SoC delivers industry's lowest power at mid-range densities with exceptional security and reliability.
Mi-V Ecosystem
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Antmicro delivers end-to-end hardware, software and FPGA design services for custom engineering projects as well as open source tools such as Renode simulation platform. |
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ARIES Embedded offers hardware products (modular systems and custom designs), services for IP-development and software development (FreeRTOS, U-Boot, Linux) based on Microchip's Polarfire FPGA and SoCs. |
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Digital Core Technologies offers design services covering the entire Life Cycle of a product. This includes Hardware Designs (High Speed, High-Density Digital, Analog, Power and RF), Embedded Logic Ware and Embedded Software |
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DornerWorks specializes in FPGA Design and Engineering, Embedded Software and Hardware Development. Their expertise includes designs for the Aerospace, Medical, Automotive and IoT markets. |
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Emcraft is a leading provider of System-on-Module (SoM) solutions. They provide production-ready, self-maintained Linux BSPs and Software distributions for all of their SoM Solutions. |
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Emdalo Technologies a software engineering development company specializing in delivering solutions in Embedded Systems, Machine Learning, AI, Information Security and IIoT Applications. |
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Enclustra offers highly-integrated FPGA modules (SoM) and FPGA-optimized IP cores. and provides services covering the whole range of FPGA-based system development from high-speed hardware or HDL firmware through to embedded software. |
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Express Logic provides comprehensive X-WARE IoT Platform for embedded developers targeting FPGAs. The THREADX RTOS has been ported to the RISC-V Soft CPU on the PolarFire MPF300-EVAL-KIT evaluation board. |
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Greenhills is a key Mi-V ecosystem partner for Microchip and support PolarFire SoC FPGA, the industry’s first RISC-V based SoC FPGA, with their MULTI® IDE, Green Hills Probe V4 and µ-velOSity RTOS |
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Hex Five Security, Inc. is the creator of MultiZone™ Security, the first trusted execution environment for RISC-V, which provides policy-based hardware-enforced separation for an unlimited number of security domains, with full control over data, code, peripherals and interrupts. |
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IAR Embedded Workbench is an integrated development environment for building and debugging embedded applications using C and C++. The toolchain offers leading code quality, size and speed; extensive debug with simulator and hardware debugging support. | |
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Imperas supports Microchip's RISC-V based SoC FPGAs with the Mi-V FreeRTOS Extendable Platform Kit (EPK), tools to help in development, porting, debug and test. |
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Micrium provides high-quality embedded software components in the form of engineer-friendly source code coupled with unsurpassed documentation and customer support. |
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NuttX is a real-time operating system with an emphasis on standards compliance and small footprint. The primary governing standards in NuttX are Posix and ANSI standards. NuttX port on the PolarFire SoC Icicle kit is now available. |
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PQ Secure Technologies is a leading provider of quantum-safe cryptographic solutions including symmetric and asymmetric algorithms. Their HW and SW IP solutions offer various levels of recommended security, size, and performance configurability. | |
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PQShield is a post-quantum pioneer and participant in NIST's post-quantum cryptography standardization process. PQShield helps customers transition from legacy RSA and Elliptic Curve cryptography to quantum-secure standards. |
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Veridify Security provides security solutions for embedded systems and wireless sensor technologies. Veridify Security is a CompanionCore partner of Microchip and offers optimized IP cores for Microchip FPGAs. |
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Siemens Embedded enables embedded development for a variety of applications including automotive, industrial, smart energy, medical devices, and consumer electronics with their Linux products and Nucleus RTOS. |
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SiFive builds customized silicon based on the open-source RISC-V ISA. SiFive offers customizable RISC-V CPU Core IP for use in Microchip FPGAs reducing time-to-market and cost. |
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Sundance DSP is a world-wide supplier of high-performance DSP and FPGA processor boards (SoM) and I/O modules for high performance, parallel processing applications such as imaging, radar, sonar, industrial control and military. |
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Technolution provides tailor-made solutions such as Fault Tolerant RISC-V soft cores, High speed Interfaces, BSP and Drivers, Real-time Video transport, and High-end Board design. |
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Trenz Electronic develops, manufactures, integrates and sells FPGA and SoC modules (SoM) with main focus on application specific HDL and FPGA design, hardware and software development. |
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UltraSoC is deeply involved in defining the debug architecture for RISC-V standards. UltraSoC is the first company to offer a RISC-V processor trace solution, supporting both open source and commercial processors. |
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WindRiver VxWorks is the world's leading real-time operating system. WindRiver extends VxWorks support to PolarFire SoC. |
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wolfSSL provides Open Source, lightweight and embedded security solutions with an emphasis on speed, size, portability, features, and standards compliance. Their products include wolfSSL, wolfCrypt, yaSSL and wolfSSH. | |
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The Zephyr Project is an open source collaborative effort to build a small, scalable RTOS. Zephyr OS has been ported on the Mi-V RISC-V Soft CPU deployed on the IGLOO2 FPGA on the Evaluation Kit M2GL-EVAL-KIT. |
